The stories that caught our attention: June 12 to 19

ALPEROVITCH CONVICTED

Former governor and senator of Tucumán, José Alperovich, was sentenced Tuesday to 16 years in prison for the rape and sexual abuse of his former private secretary, as well as banned from holding public office. Alperovich, 69, was convicted of six counts of rape, three counts of sexual abuse and two counts of attempted sexual abuse, all occurring between 2017 and 2018. The prosecution had requested 22 years in prison. After handing down the sentence, Judge Alejo Ramos Padilla ordered Alperovitch to remain in detention until his conviction is confirmed by a higher court. The charges were first filed in November 2019.

THE IMF STARTS TO DELAY

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff report on Monday deepened its forecast for an Argentine economic slowdown this year to 3.5 percent from 2.75 percent in the previous report, while lowering its inflation forecast to 140 percent by the end of the year. to a recovery in demand for pesos. Despite gloomy growth forecasts, the IMF saw the recession bottoming out in some sectors and welcomed the announcement of positive interest rates in real terms, but also said the gradual devaluation of 2% per month should be “adjusted” now that inflation has fallen. been shot. The IMF also said “the authorities remain committed to ending all capital controls and exchange rate restrictions, starting with the largest distortions, including the elimination of the preferential export regime (80 percent at official exchange rate and 20 percent to the market rate) and the PAIS tax by the end of 2024”, but the Ministry of Economy refused to confirm that any of the above measures were considered in an immediate future.

MILEI WEEK

President Javier Milei started the week at the G7 summit in Italy by joking with host Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and hugging Pope Francis, while yesterday he found him in Madrid receiving the International Medal of the Spanish capital from the hands of its mayor Isabel Díaz Ayuso to add it to the decoration of the Order of Liberty received from Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy at the international summit for peace in Ukraine in Geneva as he returned from Italy – all these trips come after Milei became the Argentine president with the most air miles in the first six months of his term. Milei’s presence in Geneva nevertheless aroused the anger of Moscow, which expressed its “deep disappointment” at this “hostile action” through Russian Ambassador Dmitri Feoktistov, who also expressed his concern about the possibility of Argentine tanks being sent to Ukraine via Germany. Returning Tuesday to honor Flag Day in Rosario on Thursday before flying to Spain, Milei made various comments on his government, ratifying Foreign Minister Diana Mondino to his post, confirming the creation of a ministry focused on deregulation for Federico Sturzenegger (“one of the most brilliant economists on the planet”) and warmly defended the Minister of the Economy, Luis Caputo. He would also not “let go of the hand” of the Minister of Human Capital, Sandra Pettovello, who was recently “attacked”.

MEETING BUBU, BULLRICH WITH BUKELE

Security Minister Patricia Bullrich traveled to El Salvador last weekend to learn more about its anti-crime model with a view to exporting it to Argentina. Meetings with President Nayib Bukele and his local counterpart Gustavo Villatoro and visits to the huge CECOT (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo) maximum security prison, the largest in the Americas, and the police academy of the ANSP (Academia Nacional de Seguridad Pública) were the highlights of his mandate. visit. CECOT for the confinement of gang members and “very dangerous” criminals, a Bukele innovation widely commented on abroad, particularly aroused her interest because she would like to see something in Argentina. Bullrich praised El Salvador and Bukele for going from “150,000 murders to one of the safest countries in the world.”

UN HUMAN RIGHTS WARNING

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Austrian Volker Türk, warned on Wednesday that “the recent measures proposed and adopted (by the government of Javier Milei) risk undermining the protection of human rights ‘man’ in Argentina, in his speech at the sessions. of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Türk wasn’t talking about security policies so much as anti-picket protocols or Milei’s “chainsaw,” noting that cuts in public spending “especially affect those furthest outside the system.” “. He further pointed to other measures that undermine fundamental rights, such as the closure of state institutions dedicated to “women’s rights and access to justice.” Türk urged Argentine authorities “to place human rights at the center of their policy formulation in order to build a more inclusive society.” The UN High Commissioner nevertheless expressed much greater concern about the violence in Mexico, referring to the recent bloody elections.

THE NEW BOSS OF TELAM

The main novelty of the daily press conference of the presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, last Tuesday, was the announcement that he himself was the new boss of the state media, while insisting on the fact that they would all be privatized or closed despite their removal from the current sales list Approval by the Senate of ‘Ley de Bases” omnibus bill. Losing their autonomy, “they will now depend on Communication, an area for which I am responsible”, he underlined. The official further explained: “The chief of staff, in charge of businesses public, took the decision to restructure (state news agency Télam, Radio y Televisión Argentina y Contenidos Públicos The plan remains the same: close Télam. decision is that all public enterprises be privatized.” At his press conference on Wednesday, Adorni had nothing spectacular to announce but said the late Néstor Kirchner, the last Argentine president to run a budget surplus, would be proud of Javier Milei But this kinder reference to. Néstor Kirchner did not prevent the Secretary of Energy, Eduardo Rodríguez Chirillo, from complaining about the debt of 11 million dollars left by the previous government for the works of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline.

SOLAR COOLING WITH CHILI

After a stern warning from Chilean President Gabriel Boric himself about solar panels on an Argentine military base mistakenly placed three meters on his side of the border with Tierra del Fuego, the government confirmed on Monday that the error would be corrected the next day. . The base was recently inaugurated by the Argentine Navy on April 26. Some Chilean parliamentarians had proposed the removal of the solar panels without waiting for Argentina’s response, but Boric resisted an escalation of tension.

CRAZY MILITARY FOR FATHER’S DAY

Father’s Day festivities at the 4th Air Force Brigade in Mendoza turned violent when images of soldiers dancing with women in their underwear went viral on social media, leading to severe disciplinary measures. “We have put four senior non-commissioned officers on compulsory retirement and applied severe sanctions to the other three,” Defense Minister Luis Petri (himself from Mendoza) said in press statements. As civilians, women were exempt from military discipline.

WHERE IS THE LOAN?

The whereabouts of Loan Peña, the four-year-old boy who went missing in Corrientes province on June 13, were unknown, but three people, including his uncle, were arrested on Tuesday.

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