Macri to rule by decree in Argentina, bypassing Congress, until March 1.

Argentine President Mauricio Macri announced just two days after taking office that he will not convene any 'extraordinary' (recess) sessions of Congress during the roughly 80 days remaining until the Argentine Congress inaugurates its next regular session on March 1, 2016. This announcement, made in a meeting with the nation's 23 governors, would allow Macri to use the seldom-exercised constitutional loophole to rule by decree until then.

Macri's principal motivation in choosing to rule by decree instead of calling recess sessions as his predecessors have done in most years, is that his right-wing PRO caucus simply has no majority in either of the two chambers of Congress (it has 41 out of 257 congressmen, and 4 out of 72 senators). His PRO caucus has a loose alliance currently with the centrist UCR - which can add another 50 congressmen and 11 senators - but would find it very difficult to pass any legislation opposed by the center-left FpV and its left-wing allies.

Accordingly, Macri is maneuvering to avoid what could be an embarrassing political defeat if the first bill he submits to Congress is rejected. Instead, he hopes that the nearly three months of rule by decree would give him enough time to negotiate his agenda with the different congressional caucuses and in effect test the waters before introducing future legislation.

This decision has provoked differing reactions within the opposition. Congressman Sergio Massa, leader of centrist Renewal Front (non-Kirchnerist Peronists), defended Macri's decision to govern through 'Decrees of Necessity and Urgency' (DNU) for the next three months.

Congressman Jorge Altamira of the Leftist Workers' Front condemned the decision, however, and warned that "we will have 100 days of rule by decree which will be used to take on more debt and eliminate grain export taxes" (the grain export lobby, which pays around $10 billion in export taxes annually, were leading contributors to the Macri campaign). Altamira urged President Macri to instead "convene Congress, and waive the use of decrees."

"Taking on debt without going through Congress," Altamira reminded the president, "is unconstitutional."

At:https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.politicargentina.com/notas/201512/10415-como-seran-y-por-que-macri-decidio-llevar-a-cabo-los-100-dias-de-gobierno-por-decreto.html&prev=search

Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo announce resumption of iconic Thursday marches after 10-year hiatus.

The Association of Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the organization created in 1977 to seek justice for the state-sponsored murders of their loved ones during Argentina's Dirty War, has announced that their Thursday marches around Buenos Aires' May Obelisk will now resume.

The announcement, made by the association's longtime president, 87 year-old Hebe de Bonafini, marks the end of a 10-year hiatus from the Thursday marches because, as Bonafini stated, "one does not negotiate with the enemy."

The association's first march was actually held on a Saturday, April 30, 1977, by the 14 original members of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo as a means of "having General Videla (the dictator) receive us." Their founder, Azucena Villaflor de Vicenti, and two others were instead killed later that year in retaliation. Hebe de Bonafini, who lost two sons and a daughter-in-law to the Dirty War in 1978, came to lead the Mothers the following year and established the Thursday Marches of Resistance in 1981.

Joined on different occasions by renowned human rights leaders such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón, and Swedish actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Liv Ullmann, the iconic marches continued until, on January 14, 2006, Bonafini announced their discontinuation because "the enemy is no longer in the Casa Rosada."

Bonafini referred at the time to President Néstor Kirchner's policies supporting justice, notably his 2003 rescission of numerous amnesty laws passed between 1986 and 2001 to shield the over 1,000 officers implicated in the Dirty War from prosecution (to date nearly 600 have been convicted). The recent election of President Mauricio Macri, who as Mayor of Buenos Aires had vetoed a law granting witness protection to those testifying in Dirty War abuse trials and had recently referred to human rights as a "scam" during the campaign, led Bonafini to conclude that "the enemy has returned," however.

"From day one," Bonafini said before a gathering at the Plaza de Mayo, "we've described Macri as what we thought he was. We were heavily criticized when we said he was 'our enemy because he was an enemy of the people'. The Grandmothers and Founding Mothers associations criticized us as well because they seem to think that Macri is a smart guy who will receive them. We would not think to ask for an interview, because one does not negotiate with the enemy."

"During these 10 years we did not hold the Resistance Marches because the enemy was not in the Government House. But the enemy has returned. We have therefore returned to our marches on the square just as we did against the dictatorship. We can't walk the way we did then; but here we are, with all of you as always," Bonafini told the crowd.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Facontramano2007.blogspot.com%2F2015%2F12%2Fvuelven-las-marchas-de-la-resistencia.html

Pro-Macri cartoonist Nik tweets about "this historic day" but posts dictatorship-era photo from 1982

Argentine political cartoonist Nik (Cristian Dzwonik), best known for the satirical Gaturro series published in the right-wing newspaper La Nación since 1997, tweeted a panoramic photo of a jubilant crowd on Buenos Aires' Plaza de Mayo square that he referred to as a "postcard from this historic day" (Macri's inaugural yesterday).

Except the photo was taken in 1982.

The photo, originally published in Gente ("People&quot magazine in its April 10, 1982, issue, was taken during a rally held on April 2 on news of the invasion of the Falklands/Malvinas Islands. The ill-fated invasion was ordered by the dictator at the time, General Leopoldo Galtieri, who also had a leading role in the infamous Dirty War. Nik, who refers to Macri as "Argentina's Kennedy," has made statements opposing Dirty War-related human rights trials as recently as last year.

The tweet likewise implied that he took the "photo" from a vantage position on one of the Casa Rosada's second-floor balconies, when in reality he was not among those invited to the Casa Rosada (Argentina's presidential office building) for the inaugural.

The mischaracterization was first mentioned on Nik's Twitter timeline by a reader, Franco Ghiglione, and triggered a series of sarcastic replies and spoofs that led Nik to later take the Tweet down.

This was not the first time that the star La Nación satirist has come under scrutiny for the unethical use of work by others. Nik has also been accused of plagiarizing work from numerous well-known Argentine cartoonists over the last decade, including Caloi, Quino, Roberto Fontanarrosa, Daniel Paz-Rudy, and Fernando Sendra, as well as a number of foreign cartoonists.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.infonews.com/nota/269640/el-nuevo-papelon-de-nik-por-un-chiste&prev=search

And: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmalditoentusiasta.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F07%2F26%2Fplagio-de-nik-a-quino%2F
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Perhaps Niky isn't as nostalgic for this:



As much as he is for this:

Macri operatives accost Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo during International Human Rights Day march.

Victoria Montenegro, head of the National Coordination Unit for the Prevention and Eradication of Violence Against Women, captured an incident on video this afternoon in which Macri militants wearing his trademark yellow "Let's Change" and "Macri for President" T-shirts accosted the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

The verbal epithets launched against the women, many of them in the 80s and 90s, included references to "guerrillas" and calls to "kick them out" of the historic Plaza de Mayo square.

The human rights organization headed by Montenegro repudiated the attack, declaring on Twitter that "perhaps the "revolution of joy" militants (in reference to Macri's campaign slogan) do not know that today is International Human Rights Day. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo have been marching for justice for almost 40 years, and are a symbol around the world for that struggle. If you live in a democracy, it is thanks to these women."

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicargentina.com%2Fnotas%2F201512%2F10362-denuncian-que-militantes-de-cambiemos-agredieron-a-madres-de-plaza-de-mayo.html
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They didn't let nightsticks stop them during the dictatorship:


They're certainly not going to let anyone to stop them with insults.

Conservationist, philantropist Douglas Tompkins dies at 72.

U.S. conservationist and philanthropist Douglas Tompkins, who dedicated his later years to environmental efforts in South America’s southern cone, died yesterday as a result of a kayaking accident in Southern Chile. Tompkins and his wife were admitted to a local clinic with severe hypothermia after a kayak they were in turned over in the General Carrera Lake, approximately 1,300 miles south of Santiago. He was later pronounced dead.

Tompkins, the Ohio-born founder of The North Face outdoor apparel company in 1964, had been living in Chile since 1990 and was at the head of environmental conservation efforts on both side of the Andes. In recent years he had spent more time on the Argentine side of the border, where he owned vast tracts of land in Santa Cruz and Corrientes Provinces.

His Tompkins Conservation foundation is involved in environmental projects in the Argentine Patagonia as well as in the Esteros de Iberá wetlands in Corrientes Province. Tompkins, by way of trusts and foundations, purchased private land with the overarching goal of creation national parks and promoting wildlife and environmental restoration and recovery. One of Tompkins’ trusts acquired 150,000 hectares (375,000 acres) of land adjacent or in the vicinity of the existing Iberá National Park as part of a project to establish a 700,000-hectare (1.1 million-acre) protected area.

His efforts have met with local resistance at times, particularly from those who called him an "environmental extremist." He also had run-ins with former Chilean president Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle over the Pumalín Park in southern Chile. He was, however, supported by the outgoing Argentine Tourism Minister, Carlos Meyer, who had known Tompkins well since the latter's 1992 purchase of a ranch along the scenic Santa Cruz River.

A multimillionaire, Tompkins sold his stakes in The North Face and Esprit in the late 1980s to dedicate himself in earnest to his land conservation efforts. In his most recent interview with Chilean magazine Paula to mark his 25 years in Chile, Tompkins said that he had seen “dozens of politicians pass him by: ministers, governors, six presidents” but that his efforts were set to continue.

“Lately I pay more attention to my biological clock. It is telling me to hurry up, that I have to do all this before death grabs me.”

Tompkins is survived by his wife, mother, brother, two daughters, and five grandchildren.

At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/204638/conservationist-philantropist-douglas-tompkins-dies-at-72

Argentina's historic Trial of the Juntas turns 30.

Thirty years ago today, six judges issued sentences against five of the nine military leaders who commanded the bloodiest dictatorship ever suffered by the country. The country will pay tribute today to the trial that is widely seen as the cornerstone of Argentine democracy, as well as making history as the first time in world history that a former dictatorship was tried for its abuses by civilian courts (Nuremberg was a military tribunal).

Many still remember that fateful afternoon on December 9, 1985, when Judge León Arslanián cleared his throat and started reading the verdict that changed the country’s history and that was seen as an example across the world of what some define as “transitional justice.” General Jorge Videla, President between 1976 and 1981 and the iconic face of the state terror era in the country, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Admiral Emilio Massera, the head of the Navy during the first Junta (until 1979), received the same sentence. Massera, probably the most infamous figure from the dictatorship for his brutality and corruption alike, was the man in charge of the country’s most infamous clandestine detention center, the Navy Mechanics School (ESMA); at least 5,000 died at ESMA.

Army General Roberto Viola (president during the 1981 economic collapse), who succeeded Videla, was sentenced to 17 years. Former Navy chief, Admiral Armando Lambruschini, to eight years, and General Orlando Agosti, head of the Air Force until 1979, to four and a half years in prison.

Other Junta leaders were acquitted, however. These controversial acquittals included Air Force General Basilio Lami Dozo, Admiral Jorge Anaya, and General Leopoldo Galtieri - the trio best known for their disastrous invasion of the Falklands/Malvinas Islands in 1982, which killed over 300 British soldiers and over 600 Argentine soldiers. The three were, however, sentenced in 1986 to prison for Criminal Malfeasance for their role in the war.

The conclusion of this historic trial is honored on each anniversary; but it's easy to forget that 30 years ago there were no celebrations. The acquittals, and the fact that hundreds of other repressers were not charged during the trial, left a bitter taste in the mouths of human rights activists. “This is unacceptable,” said Adriana Calvo at the time according to Pablo Llonto’s book El Juicio que no se vio (The Unseen Trial). Calvo was the first survivor to testify at the trial.

President Raúl Alfonsín in 1984 entrusted prosecutors Julio Strassera — who died in February — and Luis Moreno Ocampo with one key task: to prove the existence of clandestine detention centres, of forcibly disappeared people and of systematic repression. The National Commission on the Forced Disappearance of Persons (Conadep) and its report Never Again were fundamental tools for those prosecuting some of the country’s most powerful men.

On April 22, 1985, human rights activists packed the special Federal Court presided by Judges Arslanian, Ricardo Gil Lavedra, Jorge Torlasco, Jorge Valerga Aráoz, Guillermo Ledesma and Andrés D’Alessio. Between April and September, Strassera and Moreno Ocampo listened to more than 800 witnesses. Throughout their testimonies it suddenly became clear the tortures, rapes, kidnapping, murders and forced disappearances did not constitute mere excesses by individual military officers — they were part of a systematic plan.

Strassera’s closing remarks, delivered September 18, would remain the memorable moment in the trial: “Your Honors,” Strassera said, “I would like to use a phrase that does not belong to me, but to all Argentine people — Your Honors, Never Again!”

At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/204645/the-verdict-that-changed-a-country-turns-30
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A historic anniversary, for Argentina and the world alike. It should also be noted though, that it wasn't until President Néstor Kichner signed the bill nullifying the 1986 amnesty laws protecting the hundreds of officers charged with Dirty War human rights abuses that the guilty were systematically brought to trial for their crimes against humanity.

Over the last twelve years, 1,046 have been charged, and 592 have been convicted. The Argentine right has, of course, never forgiven the Kirchners for finally throwing the book at these people - and the new President, Mauricio Macri, should be observed closely for any signs of turning back the clock of these trials. He will certainly try.

Kirchner to step down at midnight; but Macri fails in bid move up his own inaugural 12 hours.

Argentine Federal Judge María Servini de Cubría today ruled in favor of an injunction allowing President-elect Mauricio Macri to have outgoing President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner step down 12 hours early, tonight at midnight.

The decision, published by the Supreme Court spokesperson on Twitter, originated in a case filed by Federal Prosecutor Jorge Di Lello (a close Macri ally) yesterday at the behest of Macri, Vice President-elect Gabriela Michetti, and their "Let’s Change" coalition. Their lawsuit asserted that President Fernández de Kirchner’s term ends Wednesday, December 10, at midnight - 12 hours before the actual end of the constitutionally mandated term of four exact years (Article 90).

Judge Servini de Cubría, however, denied Macri and Michetti their demand to be allowed to take office at midnight. They would instead, the judge ruled, do so the moment they are sworn in before Congress tomorrow at noon.

Accordingly, the Provisional President of the Argentine Senate, Federico Pinedo, will act as Interim President of Argentina for 12 hours between midnight and noon on December 10.

Senator Pinedo, whose right-wing PRO caucus holds only 4 out of 72 seats, was elected to the largely ceremonial post by way of a compromise a week ago with the support of President Kichner's center-left FpV (the majority party, with 43 seats).

At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/204655/servini-de-cubr%C3%ADa-cfks-term-expires-tonight
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It's good to see that the courts gave Macri a 12-hour time-out for pulling this asinine tantrum (I understand his father always had the same problem with him).

Cristina Kirchner, for her part, came out of this fracas with two victories in one: seeing the petulant Macri being put in his place (he'll be sworn in at noon, not at midnight as he demanded); and allowing her to step down at midnight will her plenty of time to make it to her sister-in-law's inaugural as Governor of Santa Cruz Province.

Senator Pinedo was an excellent compromise choice. While belonging to Macri's far-right PRO, Pinedo himself is a moderate conservative with an excellent record of reaching across the aisle - and none of the nouveau riche egomania that afflicts Macri and many other PRO figures.

I wish Pinedo well, and if I had my way I'd let him stay on as President for the next four years.

Argentina's leading progressive daily, Página/12, suffers 5-day online attack.

The online edition of the Buenos Aires-based progressive news daily, Página/12, was subjected to a 5-day online attack that culminated with the site's being rendered inaccessible on Monday and Tuesday. This blockade, a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack meant to flood the website and thereby preclude new (legitimate) connections, is one of the biggest such attacks ever suffered by any Argentine media site.

The dimensions of the attack and its technical sophistication hampered a rapid response. The newspaper and its software suppliers, however, are developing mitigation mechanisms against future attacks. They will likewise pursue all available legal remedies that apply to such aggression lest it remain unsolved, as has happened with previous attacks on the media.

This attack on freedom of expression did not affect not this publisher as much as it did the right to information for the millions of readers of the country and abroad who choose Página/12 as an essential source to understand and interpret what is happening in the Argentina and the world.

Página/12 readers and employees alike deserve that answer. Finding it is furthermore a prerequisite to prevent risks to the health and continuity of the democratic culture shared by 42 million Argentines.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/ultimas/20-287799-2015-12-08.html&prev=search

Macri uses prosecutor to take office 12 hrs. early and bar predecessor from inaugural.

The director of the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI), Oscar Parrilli, told reporters this afternoon that “conditions are not given” for outgoing President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to attend the swearing-in ceremony in Congress next Thursday for President-elect Mauricio Macri.

The decision came after Federal Prosecutor Jorge Di Lello upheld an injunction filed by Macri asserting that President Fernández de Kirchner’s term ends Wednesday, December 10, at midnight - 12 hours before the actual end of the constitutionally mandated term of four exact years (Article 90).

After a crisis meeting held earlier today at the Senate Office Building between Parrilli, Presidential Chief of Staff Eduardo de Pedro, and representatives from Macri's right-wing PRO party, the director of the AFI explained that as a result the president cannot attend the swearing-in because if “they are saying she will no longer be the president, she could easily be charged with usurping public offices" if she does appear at Macri's swearing-in without his invitation.

Di Lello’s decision, which must be reviewed no later than tomorrow by Appellate Judge María Servini de Cubría, contradicted statements made by the National Notary Public Natalio Etchegaray, who on Monday assured that the Head of State would end her term when the president-elect is sworn in Thursday at noon as President Kirchner herself was.

"We consider this matter closed. She won’t attend Congress under these circumstances, and will instead let the incoming president take office when he considers he must do so,” Parrilli said, warning as well that due to its failure to act the judiciary will leave the country without a president for 12 hours.

The situation, he concluded, is “institutionally serious. I don’t see any difference between this and a coup.”

At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/204596/parrilli-cfk-wont-attend-congress-under-these-circumstances
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Di Lello is one of a number of prosticutors controlled by Macri, to the point that they will actually move up the presidential inaugural 12 full hours to suit their boss.

You can imagine what stooges like him might do once da boss actually takes office (the GOP is no doubt taking notes).

Incoming Argentine Foreign Minister contradicts Macri: "no reason to expel Venezuela from Mercosur."

Argentine President-elect Mauricio Macri's own Foreign Minister designate, Susana Malcorra, said today in a Radio Mitre interview that she will not request that the "democratic clause" be used to suspend or expel Venezuela from Mercosur, the five-nation Southern Common Market covering approximately 290 million people.

Both before and after his own presidential election victory two weeks ago, Macri had indicated that upon taking office he would file a motion to implement the democratic clause in order to expel Venezuela from Mercosur if President Nicolás Maduro did not release the opposition leader Leopoldo López. López had been responsible for leading a series of unauthorized protests that resulted in the deaths of 43 people.

Malcorra, currently Chief of Staff to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, affirmed that after the opposition victory in the parliamentary elections held in that country on Sunday, "the margin of victory (for the opposition MUD coalition) is really significant and has been recognized by President Maduro, which indicates that there is no reason for the application of the democratic cause."

"The democratic clause applies to concrete evidence of violations," Malcorra pointed out. "Elections in Venezuela have unfolded within the duly established democratic framework."

Yesterday, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) achieved a resounding victory in Venezuela's parliamentary elections, garnering 99 deputies against 46 for the ruling PSUV; the remaining 22 seats, out of 167, remain at stake.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.politicargentina.com/notas/201512/10277-la-futura-canciller-de-macri-afirma-que-no-hay-razon-para-pedir-expulsion-de-venezuela-del-mercosur.html&prev=search