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peppertree's JournalIMF frees $7.5 billion for Argentina, lowers bar for economy targets
The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday approved the disbursement of $7.5 billion for Argentina after completing the fifth and sixth reviews of their $44 billion program, the IMF said.
Various economic targets included in the program were eased, as in the fourth review, and waivers for non-observance were also in place, the IMF said.
Total disbursements under the arrangement are now about $36 billion, the fund said.
IMF staff and Argentina had reached an agreement late in July, which had eased economic targets partly because a devastating drought has created a challenging environment for the grains exporter - costing it an estimated $20 billion in export income.
Most of the cash is being used to pay back the fund for the record, $44 billion bailout program - which the IMF granted in 2018 to right-wing former President Mauricio Macri, reportedly at the behest of then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
At: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentina-secures-75-bln-disbursement-imf-board-oks-reviews-govt-2023-08-23/
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa following today's meeting at the Fund's headquarters.
Capping weeks of negotiations, the IMF released a $7.5-billion advance to the hard currency-strapped nation - of which $3.4 billion will be available to fend off attempts to destabilize Argentina's fragile finances by the country's increasingly radicalized right-wing opposition ahead of elections this October.
A surprisingly strong showing by far-right figure Javier Milei in first-round elections on August 13th sent parallel currency markets in Beunos Aires reeling - and today's advance may help stem any future such maneuvers.
Argentina raises interest rate, devalues peso after shock primary election
Argentina's central bank will raise the benchmark interest rate to 118% from 97% previously, an official source said Monday, adding the country's currency will be devalued to 350 pesos per dollar in the aftermath of a shock primary election.
The Argentine central bank rate is now at its highest level since April 1991, when the country was just emerging from a hyperinflation crisis.
Sunday's primary vote, seen as a reliable bellwether for the upcoming presidential elections, propelled ultra-right outsider Javier Milei, who wants to axe the central bank and dollarize the economy, to first place with some 30% of the vote.
The official peso plunged nearly 18% on Monday morning to just over 350 pesos per dollar and the source said the exchange would be fixed at this rate until the October presidential vote.
The parallel, "blue" rate meanwhile jumped from 605 pesos to 685, as worried Argentines rushed to buy dollars.
Latin America's third-biggest economy is battling a severe economic crisis with sky-high inflation and dwindling central bank reserves - partly the result of a foreign debt crisis inherited from right-wing former President Mauricio Macri in 2019.
At: https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/argentina-raises-interest-rate-devalues-peso-after-shock-primary-election-2023-08-14/
Pedestrians walk by Argentina's Central Bank building in downtown Buenos Aires recently.
A surprisingly strong showing by far-right outsider Javier Milei yesterday in nationwide presidential primaries - where Milei garnered 30%, compared to 21% for center-left candidate Sergio Massa and 17% for hard-right candidate Patricia Bullrich (both, establishment figures) - sent Argentines rushing to purchase dollars on the parallel, "blue" market.
Argentines vote in primaries, with neo-fascist candidate ahead
Argentina voted in primary elections today that will determine the final candidates for a presidential ballot on October 22nd, and give a clear gauge on the likely final result as the country battles a swirling economic crisis.
Some 27 presidential candidates are running, as well as 4,168 contenders for 130 congressional and 24 senate seats. All candidates need a minimum 1.5% of the vote to be eligible for the general election.
Outgoing President Alberto Fernández decided not to run for re-election as he suffers from rock-bottom approval ratings amid annual inflation of more than 100% - partly the result of a foreign debt crisis inherited from his right-wing predecessor, Mauricio Macri, in 2019.
Headline candidates
The two main political blocs faced internal leadership battles, and the vote determined who will lead the main right-wing opposition coalition Together for Change - in which center-right Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, 57, lost to hard-line former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, 67.
With 65% of the vote counted, Bullrich bested Larreta by 17% to 10.6%.
Bullrich will run against the ruling, center-left coalition Union for the Homeland, where Economy Minister Sergio Massa, 51, trounced leftist challenger Juan Grabois, 40, by 20.8% to 5%.
The primary also revealed how much traction right-wing populist candidate Javier Milei, 52, has gained with voters - with the fiery economist garnering a stunning 32.2%. An admirer of former U.S. President Donald Trump, Milei has attracted voters with an anti-establishment message that has particularly resonated with the young.
Winter of discontent
Over 35 million Argentines were registered to vote in this year's primaries.
Popular discontent depressed turnout somewhat, which at 69% was some 7 points below the last presidential primary in 2019.
Widespread faults with the electronic voting system used in Buenos Aires for that city's local elections led to long lines in some precincts - prompting Federal Judge María Servini de Cubría to announce a criminal probe.
The Change primary in Buenos Aires' mayoral primary - almost tantamount to election outright - pitted right-wing candidate Jorge Macri, 58 (a cousin of the former president), against centrist Senator Martín Lousteau, 52.
With 95% of the vote in, Macri was ahead by 1.4%.
At: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/13/argentinians-set-to-vote-in-presidential-primary-what-to-know
Leading Argentine presidential candidates Sergio Massa (center-left), Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (center-right), Patricia Bullrich (hard-right), and Javier Milei (far-right).
Representing the governing coalition, the pragmatic Massa will face off against the hard-line Bullrich and the neo-fascist Milei in general elections this October.
Ecuador presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio assassinated at campaign event
Source: CNN
An opposition candidate in Ecuador’s upcoming presidential election, Fernando Villavicencio, was assassinated at a campaign event Wednesday, President Guillermo Lasso confirmed on social media, vowing the killing will not go unpunished.
Villavicencio, 59, was shot dead at a Movimiento Construye political rally at a school north of the capital Quito, campaign team members Cristián Zurita and Rodrigo Figueroa told CNN.
He was gunned down 10 days before the first round of the presidential election was set to take place on August 20.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/09/americas/ecuador-presidential-candidate-fernando-villavicencio-assassinated-intl-hnk/index.html
Fernando Villavicencio, 1963-2023.
Villavicencio, a centrist, was one of eight candidates vying to replace disgraced President Guillermo Lasso, who was forced to call early elections after dissolving the National Assembly on May 17 - just days from a likely impeachment.
https://twitter.com/EmergenciasGye/status/1689433699916320768
Argentina's 'notebook' scandal: police confirm calligraphic alterations and dictation
On the fifth anniversary of the dissemination of the “notebooks” scandal that shook Argentine politics, two calligraphic analyses ordered by a federal judge confirmed irregularities detected by two previous, privately-commissioned studies - and determined that these alterations, and extensive dictation, had been the work of former police officer Jorge Bacigalupo.
Bacigalupo, 77, is close to Oscar Centeno, 68, a former government chauffeur and erstwhile intelligence agent who claims to have written the eight journals - which purported to chronicle a long-running bribery scheme by Public Works Ministry officials under former Presidents Néstor Kirchner (2003-07) and his wife Cristina Kirchner (2007-15).
The studies, ordered by Judge Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi, were conducted by the Argentine Federal Police's Scopometry Division and the University of Buenos Aires pursuant to a complaint filed by wholesaler Armando Losón, 76 - who was repeatedly cited in the notebooks.
A private study commissioned earlier by Losón and published in April 2022 detected “over 1,600 alterations of the original text: 1,373 overwrites, 195 white-outs, and 55 amendments - among other anomalies.”
A second study published in October showed that much of the text had been “dictated” to Centeno.
No proof - but no doubt
The notebooks scandal emerged on August 1, 2018, when Diego Cabot of the right-wing La Nación published excerpts of the eight notebooks turned over to him by Bacigalupo.
Submitted to Federal Prosecutor Carlos Stornelli - later indicted for his role in a massive espionage and extortion case known as d'Alessiogate - the notebooks allowed Stornelli to promptly issue indictments against 136 public contractors, 14 associates, and 22 Kirchner-era officials.
The news was widely seen as a boost to then-President Mauricio Macri's re-election campaign - which was saddled by severe foreign debt and economic problems known as the “Macrisis.”
The notebooks themselves, however, were never subjected to forensic examination. Cabot admitted to having only “photocopies” of the originals - which Centeno claimed to have “burned.”
The case for which they were originally used - alleging overcharges for liquefied natural gas imports - was dropped after it was shown to be based on fabricated estimates by a court-appointed expert (Daniel Cohen) later convicted of perjury.
They were, however, cited in Cristina Kirchner's conviction last year on bid-rigging charges - which a federal court described in its ruling as “there being no proof of - but no doubt.”
The conviction led Mrs. Kirchner, 70, to opt out of running in this year's presidential election - leaving the ruling, center-left coalition without its most popular, if controversial, figure.
At: https://www-infobae-com.translate.goog/judiciales/2023/07/31/causa-cuadernos-un-peritaje-caligrafico-confirmo-que-el-amigo-de-oscar-centeno-manipulo-los-anotadores/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Disgraced Argentine Federal Prosecutor Carlos Stornelli (left) parades purported “notebooks” author Oscar Centeno after their bombshell publication on local right-wing media in August 2018.
The notebooks - never subjected to forensic examination - were touted as proof of a long-running bribery scheme by Public Works Ministry officials under former Presidents Néstor Kirchner (2003-07) and his wife Cristina Kirchner (2007-15).
But two private studies and two court-ordered ones have confirmed generalized alterations, third-party dictations and other forms of tampering.
The notebooks have nevertheless been “recycled” as evidence against numerous public contractors and Kirchner-era officials - including Vice President Cristina Kirchner herself.
Missionary accused of blowing $33M of Bible donations on diamonds, gambling and $7M on family farm
Jason Gerald Shenk, 45, is wanted in relation to the alleged plot, which feds claim was carried out over the course of nine years between 2010 and 2019.
Agents say Shenk - who lives on a sprawling farm that's been in his family for years - took the sum under the guise it'd be spent on bible distribution.
Now considered a fugitive, Shenk allegedly spent it on personal effects such as diamonds and precious metals, gambling, and roughly $7 million on his farm.
A middle-aged missionary is being sought by feds for allegedly orchestrating a scheme that saw him misdirect more than $33million in donations meant for bibles - and instead spending it on a slew of personal splurges and illegal sports betting.
At: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/missionary-accused-of-blowing-33m-of-bible-donations-on-diamonds-gambling-and-7m-of-improvements-to-his-family-s-farm-in-elaborate-nine-year-scheme-is-on-the-run-from-feds/ar-AA1eFN6e
Holy roller: Now considered a fugitive, 45-year-old Jason Gerald Shenk is wanted on multiple federal charges in relation to an alleged plot saw him misdirect more than $33 million in donations over the course of nine years.
Prolific Brazilian composer and pianist Joao Donato dies at 88
Brazilian composer and pianist João Donato, who helped lay the groundwork for bossa nova but throughout his career defied confinement to any single genre, died Monday. He was 88.
Donato was prolific and inventive, collaborating with top artists at home and abroad, including Chet Baker, João Gilberto, Sergio Mendes, Tito Puente, Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa and countless others.
"Today we lost one of our greatest and most creative composers," Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wrote on Twitter.
"João Donato saw music in everything. He innovated, he passed through samba, bossa nova, jazz, forro and in the mixture of rhythm built something unique. He kept creating and innovating until the end."
At: https://www.npr.org/2023/07/17/1188217314/pianist-joao-donato-dead-bossa-nova
Brazilian Jazz composer João Donato and his 1973 hit, Amazonas.
'Soap,' 'Benson' actress Inga Swenson dead at 90
Soap and Benson actress Inga Swenson has died in Los Angeles at the age of 90.
The Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee's son, Mark, told TMZ her husband, Lowell Harris, was by her side when she died at a nursing home about six months after her health began to decline.
No official cause of death has been disclosed yet.
Her other credits include North & South, Nutcracker: Money, Madness & Murder, Advise and Consent, The Miracle Worker, Newhart, The Golden Girls and Hotel.
She retired from acting in 1998.
At: https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/TV/2023/07/29/inga-swenson-obit/2691690646628/
Actress Inga Swenson in her iconic role as the high-strung German housekeeper, Ms. Kraus, in the hit early-1980s comedy series Benson.
Joe Lewis, billionaire owner of Tottenham Hotspur, is charged with insider trading
Federal prosecutors charged Joseph C. Lewis, the British billionaire who owns the Tottenham Hotspur English soccer club, with insider trading, accusing him of illegally funneling nonpublic information to associates to trade on.
In a 29-page indictment, prosecutors in Manhattan on Tuesday accused the 86-year-old financier of doling out tips to friends and associates, including his pilots, personal assistants and romantic partners, from 2019 to 2021.
“He used inside information as a way to compensate employees and shower gifts on friends and lovers,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. “It’s cheating and against the law.”
Among the beneficiaries, according to the indictment, are a number of people he hosted at his estate in Lake Escondido, a secluded property in SW Argentina's lake country.
The meetings, held in October 2019, resulted in their purchase of Mirati Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MRTX) stock ahead of positive news regarding Marti's successful Kras gene inhibitor trials for possible oncological use.
Lewis has defied repeated Argentine court rulings since 2009 ordering him to cease blocking a stretch of provincial road leading to the scenic lake, which has effectively cut off public access.
At: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/business/dealbook/joe-lewis-tottenham-insider-trading.html
British billionaire Joe Lewis, charged in Manhattan with insider trading.
Among the beneficiaries, according to the indictment, are a number of people he hosted at his Lake Escondido, Argentina, estate.
Lewis' most prominent Argentine friend is right-wing former President Mauricio Macri, who in October 2019 became the first Argentine president to lose a re-election bid - and who periodically visits Lewis at his lakefront mansion.
Argentina signs NASA's Artemis Accords
Argentina signed the Artemis Accords on Thursday evening following a meeting between President Alberto Fernández and U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Bill Nelson at the Casa Rosada.
“It is very important we take this step as it is key that we move forward in the field of space development,” Fernández said as Argentina became the 28th signatory.
“We are convinced that it must be a state policy. We have always been interested in science and technology, we believe that this is the way to go.”
The Artemis Accords — non-binding guidelines for members of the Artemis Program to return humans to the moon in 2025 — were initially signed in 2020 by eight countries, and have since expanded to include countries on all continents. In Latin America, participants include Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico.
NASA has collaborated with Argentina on previous projects - including a satellite project to study how ocean water with more salt, sinks and creates currents.
“Argentina certainly has the technological base and scientific know-how for this to be a cooperative adventure in the future,” Nelson noted.
At: https://buenosairesherald.com/society/science-innovation/nasa-administrator-we-want-argentina-as-a-partner-in-our-space-projects
Argentine President Alberto Fernández shakes hands with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in Buenos Aires after signing the Artemis Accords — non-binding guidelines for members of the Artemis Program to return humans to the moon in 2025.
Nelson had earlier visited the country's National Space Activities Commission (CONAE), which has been instrumental in making Argentina a regional leader in Earth observation satellites.
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