Argentina and Argentine News

 Country Profile
Argentina officially the Argentine Republic  is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil.. It is the 8th largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish Speaking Nations.  It is constituted as a Federation of 23 Provinces and an Autonomous City, Buenos Aires.

Capital                                    Buenos Aires
Currency                                 Peso
Official Language                     Spanish usually called castellano (Castilian) by Argentines
Population                               40 Million(2010 Estimate)
Religion                                   92% Christians;2%Muslim;3%Agnostic and 1% Jews and 2%Others


History







Politics and Government
Argentina is a Constitutional Republic and a Representative Democracy.
The National Government is composed of three branches -
1)Legislative: The Bi-Cameral Congress is made up of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.
The Chamber of Deputies has 257 members, each representing a province for a four-year term. Seats are apportioned among the provinces by population every tenth year. As of 2012, ten provinces have just five deputies, while the Buenos Aires Province, the most populous province,has 70.
The Senate has 72 members with each province having three senators, elected to six-year terms; one third of Senate seats are up for election every other year. A third of the candidates presented by the parties must be women.

2)Executive: The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the military, can veto legislative bills before they become law, and appoints the members of the Cabinet and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.The president serves a four-year term and may be elected to the office no more than twice in a row.he president is elected by Direct Vote.
3)Judicial: The Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the president with Senate approval, interpret laws and overturn those they find Unconstitutional.

 President of Argentina

The current President is Cristina Fernandez Kirchner who was sworn in to a second term on Dec10, 2011.


2011 Argentine General Election - Oct 23,2011

Argentina held National Presidential and Legislative Elections on October 23,2011. Incumbent president Cristina Fernandez Kirchner secured a 2nd term in office after the Front for Victory won just over half of the seats in the National Congress.

Cristina Fernandez Kirchner,Front for Victory - PJ got  54% of the vote

 

 compared to 17% for her closer challenger Hermes Binner of Broad Progressive Front– PS (Socialist Party)

                                             






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11% for Ricardo Alfonsin,Union for Social Development - UCR

 

Argentine Vice-President Amado Boudou faces enrichment probe

 A prosecutor in Argentina is investigating Vice-President Amado Boudou over alleged illegal enrichment.

The inquiry comes after journalist Christian Sanz accused AmadoBoudou of influence peddling and illegally profiting from state contracts, which Mr Boudou has denied 

Amado Boudou is already being investigated in connection with a number of allegations ranging from giving illegal handouts to misuse of public funds.

 

2 ex-Argentine dictators convicted in baby thefts

 

Former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla was convicted and sentenced to 50 years on Thursday July 05,2012 for a systematic program to steal babies from prisoners who were kidnapped, tortured and killed during the military junta’s war on leftist dissidents three decades ago.

Argentina’s last dictator, Reynaldo Bignone, also was convicted and got 15 years. Both men already were in prison for other human rights abuses.

Thousands take to the streets in protest at Argentine government

 

Thousands of Argentines marched against the government of President Cristina Kirchner on Thursday Sep 13,2012

"Cristina, the vote doesn't provide impunity for moral frauds or wiping out the economy," read a huge red sign that a group of young protesters carried into the Plaza de Mayo, in front of the Government Palace.

Their rallying cry, spread on Twitter and Facebook: "We will not let this government keep advancing, march for liberty and for the defence of the national constitution."  

 

Argentina lowers voting age to 16 - Wednesday Oct 31,2012

 

Argentina has lowered its voting age to 16 from 18, a change that could help politically ailing President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner court the youth vote ahead of 2013 midterm elections.

Dozens of opposition members of the Chamber of Deputies(lower house of Congress) walked out of the rancorous late-night session just before the measure won final approval by a vote of 131 to 2.

 

 Anti-Govt Demonstration -Thursday Nov 7,2012

. Thousands of people marched against rising inflation, crime, exchange controls and to express their fear to a constitutional reform that could open the way for a third consecutive reelection of Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez

Protesters carry a large Argentine flag decorated with a black ribbon during an anti-government demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina

   

Protesters demonstrate against Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez in front of the government house in Buenos Aires, Argentina

 

Sceptics say the new law is aimed at drumming up support for the president before legislative elections scheduled a year from now.
Supporters say the measure aims to bring Argentina in line with progressive countries such as Ecuador and Brazil that have already extended voting right to people as young as 16. 

Voting is compulsory for Argentines between the ages of 18 and 70 but it will be discretionary for 16- and 17-year olds under the new law.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who polls well among younger voters, has not ruled out a bid by her supporters to change the constitution to allow her to run for a third term in 2015.

 

  

Looting Spreads Across Argentina - Saturday Dec 22,2012

Argentine TV showed images of people - many of them with their faces covered - throwing stones at the police and trying to break into shops and supermarkets.

The attacks stir memories of the violence witnessed during Argentina's economic crisis in 2001 when unemployed people stormed supermarkets.
Attacks were reported in the industrial cities of Campana and Zarate, in Buenos Aires province, in Resistencia in the north and outside a Carrefour supermarket in San Fernando, on the outskirts of the capital.


''This is probably triggered by the difficult situation the people of Argentina are facing. I cannot imagine that this has been organised by someone," said Hugo Moyano, head of the powerful CGT union.