Mauricio Macri

Global News Post #3: Argentina

Más que luz verde, luz amarilla (More Than Green Light, Yellow Light)

https://www.pagina12.com.ar/97546-mas-que-luz-verde-luz-amarilla

Shiel, Jason. “Women hold LED signs in front of Congress, advocating for free, legal, and safe abortions.” The Bubble. 20 Feb. 2018, http://www.thebubble.com/panuelazo-2018/

This article reports on the recent protests in Buenos Aires concerning the decriminalization of abortion in relation to the disinclination of President Macri and members of his Cambiemos political coalition to pass a contested pro-abortion bill. Activists from the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe, and Free Abortion protested outside of the National Congress Building on February 19th with their signature green handkerchiefs to show their support for the bill. The bill in question, called the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy, proposes legalized abortion (in cases other than rape or those in which the procedure would save the mother’s life and health) up to the 14th week of gestation. The bill will be presented before the Argentine Congress on March 6th, just before International Women’s Day on March 8th. If congress vetoes the bill, it will not be up for vote again until next year.

This article points out that some officials do not want to discuss the bill until amendments are made that bring other women’s issues, such as surrogate pregnancies, increased adoption speeds, and economic aid to women, into the discussion. Others, such as the Republican Proposal (PRO) leader of the Argentine National Congress, Humberto Schiavoni, said that he is willing to enable the conversation about abortion, but that all legislative steps and revisions will take place and “that each legislator [will] vote according to their moral, religious, and personal convictions.” This event is also taking place within Argentina’s increased awareness and activism regarding women’s rights.

The article takes a pro-abortion stance, or at least a more leftist viewpoint in opposition to the Macri government’s decisions. While utilizing quotes from representatives from both sides of the argument, it seems to favor viewpoints which criticize Macri’s Cambiemos (Let’s Change) platform, given that the platform’s name and goals imply a greater capacity to engage in open, representative discussion and action. An quote included from a representative of the Front for Victory stating that the government wishes to draw out the abortion debate in the media to cover its other social and economic faults demonstrates this stance. Further evidence in support of this stance exists in the article’s mentions of PRO congresswoman Carmen Polledo, who has proclaimed her opposition against abortion, and of the fact that women continue to die due to self-induced abortions in the face of criminalization as the debate drags on.

The abortion issue in Argentina is similar across Latin America. In addition to this article, I found data visualizations of the types of abortion legalization and attitudes towards it across Latin America, depicted below.

Gutman Institute. Parvini, Sarah. “Argentina Bans Abortion in Most Cases. So Why Is Its Abortion Rate Far Higher than That of the U.S.?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2017, www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-argentina-abortion-20171029-htmlstory.html.

 

Pew Research Center. “Widespread Opposition to Legal Abortion,” “Chapter 5: Social Attitudes.” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, Pew Research Center, 13 Nov. 2014, www.pewforum.org/2014/11/13/chapter-5-social-attitudes/.

Works Cited:

Gutman Institute. Parvini, Sarah. “Argentina Bans Abortion in Most Cases. So Why Is Its Abortion Rate Far Higher than That of the U.S.?” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2017, www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-argentina-abortion-20171029-htmlstory.html.

“Más que luz verde, luz amarilla.” Página12, 2018 Feb. 23, www.pagina12.com.ar/97546-mas-que-luz-verde-luz-amarilla.

Pew Research Center. “Widespread Opposition to Legal Abortion,” “Chapter 5: Social Attitudes.” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, Pew Research Center, 13 Nov. 2014, www.pewforum.org/2014/11/13/chapter-5-social-attitudes/.

Shiel, Jason. “Women hold LED signs in front of Congress, advocating for free, legal, and safe abortions.” The Bubble. 20 Feb. 2018, http://www.thebubble.com/panuelazo-2018/.

Global News Post #2: Argentina

The Economic Future that Macri Envisions

http://www.pressreader.com/argentina/la-nacion/20180202/textview

Source: Del Rio, José. “El futuro económnco que imagina Macri.” Press Reader, Clarín, 2 Feb. 2018, www.pressreader.com/argentina/la-nacion/20180202/textview.

This article summarizes the central economic goals that Argentina’s president, Mauricio Macri, wishes to accomplish. The first portion of the article focuses on using natural resources as an asset in improving Argentina’s economy. Macri states that the country’s strong Patagonian winds can be used to generate wind energy, that lithium from the Andes can be exported, and that the production of shale, gas, and solar energy needs to continue to advance. He also emphasizes the importance of tourism in restoring in the economy, pointing to Argentina’s waterfalls, glaciers, and wine as a means of attracting foreign travelers.

The article provides contextual evidence regarding Macri’s statements. It mentions recent increases in U.S. investment in lithium as well as initiatives in development that aim to triple its lithium production in the coming years (the article does not provide details about these initiatives). The articles also discusses a law passed in 2015 that aims for 8% of Argentina’s total energy consumption to come from renewable energy sources by 2018 which will increase to a goal of 20% by 2020. The article also presents the plans that Argentina’s Minister of Tourism, Gustavo Santos, has to increase the number of foreign visitors to Argentina from 6.6 million in 2017 to 9 million by 2020.

The second portion of the article focuses on Macri’s goals surrounding debt, employment, and imports. Macri asserts that allowing imports and reducing bureaucratization to facilitate trade in Argentina is necessary and government cuts will need to take place to reduce debt. In addition, Macri believes that the peso will increase in value and has said that if it were not for increasing tourism and importing machinery than the current value of the peso would be much lower. In a similar line of thought, he mentions that foreign investments have helped lower inflation slightly.

Macri also hopes to address Argentina’s new generation of entrepreneurs by strengthening efforts to obtain new patents and achieve advances in health that serve the population, generate new jobs, and induce labor reforms. In the last few lines of the article, he criticizes that leftists are self-destructive in this matter by hindering important sources of employment in the past.

Macri’s economic goals are efforts to remove Argentina from its isolation in the global sphere and transform it into a force able to compete against powerful economic countries around the world. They are part of his ongoing attempt to recover from Argentina’s history of poor economic performance featuring rigid government controls, low exchange rates, devalued currency, and high inflation, unemployment, debt, and corruption, especially during the Kirchner presidencies that preceded Macri’s time in office (“Argentina: Economic Overview”).

This article uses many quotes from Macri and other officials within the Argentine government. Quoting their words directly clearly express their ideas, and the limited economic evidence presented at the beginning of the article helps show the actions the Argentine government is trying to make towards improving the economy.

 

Works Cited:

“Argentina: Economic Overview.” Country Watch, countrywatch.com/Intelligence/CWTopic?Type=text&CountryID=7&Topic=MAOVR. Supplementary sources used according to Country Watch: Roubini Global Economics, Bloomberg, Forbes, CNN Money, MiamiHerald.com and Reuters.

Del Rio, José. “El futuro económnco que imagina Macri.” Press Reader, La nación, 2 Feb. 2018, www.pressreader.com/argentina/la-nacion/20180202/textview.

“Mauricio Macri Sobre El Correo Argentino: ‘Ahí Me Equivoqué.’” Clarín, 12 Mar. 2017, www.clarin.com/politica/mauricio-macri-correo-argentino-ahi-equivoque_0_HyYIpVXse.html.