Mar 4, 2018It can’t get no worse, says MacriBy M.B. Gambarotta President Mauricio Macri formally opened sessions in Congress on March 1 with a speech on the state of the nation. The political year has finally started. And what an odd start it is. Macri’s speech was crisp and well-rehearsed. It went on for only about 40 minutes…Politics5 min readPolitics5 min read
Feb 25, 2018The abortion cardBy M.B. Gambarotta The big demonstration called by organized labour has happened. Thousands marched on Wednesday heeding the call to rally made by the Peronist trade union leader Hugo Moyano, who controls the powerful truck drivers’ unions. The rally was staged on a section of 9 de Julio Avenue in…Argentina6 min readArgentina6 min read
Feb 18, 2018Labour conflict is in the airBy M.B.Gambarotta This column before taking a summer break had anticipated that all was not quiet on the labour front. And what do you know? Conflict, of the trade union kind, is in the air. The showdown between President Mauricio Macri and Hugo Moyano, the leader of the truck driver’s…Politics6 min readPolitics6 min read
Jan 21, 2018All is not quiet on the labour front IIBy M.B. Gambarotta Heard the one about President Mauricio Macri’s Labour minister? No, it’s not a joke. Here’s how it goes. Jorge Triaca, the Labour minister, was caught in a telephone conversation recording swearing at one of his female employees who had failed to show up at the family country…Politics5 min readPolitics5 min read
Jan 14, 2018All is not quiet on the labour frontBy M.B. Gambarotta President Maurcio Macri, memorably, spent much of the presidential campaign he won in 2015 declaring that defeating inflation would be one of the easiest tasks ahead once he was in office. Now it is 2018. Inflation, as the opposition keeps reminding you, has not been quashed. Inflation…Politics5 min readPolitics5 min read
Jan 7, 2018The Sturzenegger factorBy M.B. Gambarotta Federico Sturzenegger, a US-trained orthodox economist, is the Central Bank’s governor. Or is he? Yes he is. But in Argentine politics nothing is that straightforward. Ask the local pundits about Sturzenegger’s situation and they would probably reply: it’s complicated. A week ago Sturzenegger was “invited” to take…Argentina5 min readArgentina5 min read
Dec 30, 2017December is the cruelest monthBy M.B. Gambarotta You can’t, if you’re politician in Argentina, blink in December. If you’re the president of Argentina you can’t even think you can blink. December is the month when Argentina’s political agitation can run wild. Sure enough this early December was marred by violence over the Lower House’s…Economics6 min readEconomics6 min read
Dec 24, 2017Macri survives DecemberBy M.B.Gambarotta December might be the month to be merry in many parts of the world. But in Argentina it is also notoriously the month when political tension flared up all the way up to Christmas and many times beyond. Argentina’s infamous financial meltdown, which ended with the resignation of…Argentina6 min readArgentina6 min read
Dec 17, 2017Tension in the form of pension reformBy M.B. Gambarotta President Mauricio Macri has said many times that he’s not the leader of a coalition government. But effectively Macri is looking like the head of just that — a coalition. And you know that coalitions have a habit of not working out in Argentina. Macri looked at…Politics7 min readPolitics7 min read
Dec 10, 2017Macri turns rightBy M.B Gambarotta Two years into President Mauricio Macri’s mandate a question begs to be asked. Is this the most right-wing government since 1983? The question can be waved away as being too simplistic. Argentina was always too complex politically to be explained in left and right terms. Yet the…Argentina6 min readArgentina6 min read
