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4 days ago | 
batimes.com.ar | Barnaby Chesterman |Alexandria Sage |James Grainger
Pope Francis called for freedom of thought and tolerance in his Easter Sunday address, as the weakened pontiff made a hoped-for holiday appearance, even circling St Peter's Square in his popemobile.
"Happy Easter," said the 88-year-old Argentine pontiff in a weak voice from his wheelchair on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, to the delight of the crowd in the flower-filled square below.
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1 week ago | 
batimes.com.ar | Adrien De Calan |James Grainger
The spectre of a transatlantic trade war is also fuelling hopes of a silver lining in Europe: that a commerce deal with four South American countries could get a final green light despite longstanding French opposition.
Forced to come to terms with the growing cracks in its biggest trading relationship, worth 1.6 trillion euros (US$1.8 trillion), the EU believes it's time to chase opportunities elsewhere.
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1 week ago | 
batimes.com.ar | Ignacio Olivera Doll |James Grainger
Every morning, Carlos Abons and his six employees visit hardware stores around Buenos Aires, delivering electrical supplies and encouraging customers to place new orders with his family-run business. But this Monday was different for them.
President Javier Milei was about to debut his plan to dismantle most of the currency controls in place for the past five years, a core pillar of Argentina’s new US$20-billion programme with the International Monetary Fund.
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1 week ago | 
batimes.com.ar | Manuela Tobias |Annmarie Hordern |James Grainger
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects Argentina to be able to pay off its swap line with China, even though the US government isn’t considering providing the crisis-prone nation with any direct credit of its own.
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1 week ago | 
batimes.com.ar | Marcelo Rochabrun |John Quigley |James Grainger
Mario Vargas Llosa, the Peruvian winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature, whose novels explored the military dictatorships and political corruption of Latin America, has died. He was 89.
His son, Álvaro, announced his death on social media, without attributing a cause. Mario Vargas Llosa, a towering figure in literature and politics throughout Latin America, had retired from public life at the end of 2023 and was living in Lima.
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1 week ago | 
batimes.com.ar | Patrick Gillespie |James Grainger
Six years after Argentina’s record financial bailout collapsed, the International Monetary Fund is again putting billions of dollars to backstop a similar rescue strategy for the troubled South American economy, this time under the leadership of President Javier Milei.
The US$20-billion programme approved Friday by the IMF executive board marks the 23rd time the Washington-based lender comes to Argentina’s rescue over the past seven decades.
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1 week ago | 
batimes.com.ar | James Grainger
On the eve of a too-close-to-call presidential election, Ecuador declared a state of emergency Saturday in seven of its 24 provinces, including capital Quito, saying it was needed to fight a dramatic rise in drug-linked violence.
The measure, set to last 60 days, took effect just before Sunday's election pitting incumbent Daniel Noboa against his leftist opponent Luisa González, and after the country began the year with its bloodiest start ever, averaging a killing every hour.
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1 week ago | 
batimes.com.ar | Kevin Simauchi |Manuela Tobias |James Grainger
Argentina eliminated a crawling peg on the currency and laid the groundwork for a more flexible system as President Javier Milei looks set to secure a US$20-billion programme with the International Monetary Fund.
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1 week ago | 
batimes.com.ar | Simone Iglesias |James Grainger
Mercosur countries have decided to relax common external tariffs on 50 products of the choice of each of its members, giving them more flexibility to negotiate deals as they seek to avoid Donald Trump’s tariffs, or retaliate against them.
The decision was made in Buenos Aires during a meeting of foreign ministers of the bloc originally formed by Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, according to a statement published Friday.
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1 week ago | 
batimes.com.ar | Manuela Tobias |James Grainger
Argentina’s inflation last month jumped the most since August amid increased currency volatility in the run-up to an expected vote on a fresh financing package from the International Monetary Fund.
Consumer prices rose 3.7 percent from February, surpassing the 2.7 percent median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The previous monthly inflation print came in at 2.4 percent. Annual inflation slowed to 55.9 percent, according to government data published Friday.
