The scandal brought on legal proceedings in Argentina and the United States. Born Jorge Bergoglio in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Flores, the first pontiff from the Americas passed away at 88 in his private residence. The fentanyl, produced by HLB Pharma Group in its laboratory, Laboratorios Ramallo, was distributed in health centers in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Formosa, and Buenos Aires city. Raids were carried out at Suizo Argentina, a major drug distributor accused of acting as a key intermediary in the scheme. The crates, which had been languishing in the basement for 84 years, will be analyzed by experts at the Buenos Aires Holocaust Museum.

The Argentine government opened state-owned company Argentine Railways to privatization this week, taking the number of public ventures opened to private capital in 2025 to 11. Since the beginning of the Milei administration, a total of 19 companies have been either privatized or opened to a corporate bid for ownership. The Argentine Railways is a public holding company that has managed the bulk of the national railway network since 2015. The elimination of the “state-owned company” legal designation, a process that opened them up to private ownership, was one of the key stipulations of the Bases Law passed in 2024. The government has already started the privatization processWater and sanitation company AySA.

The government has decided to shut down the National Disability Agency (ANDIS, by its Spanish acronym) and transfer its duties to the health ministry, on the grounds that it will solve bureaucracy and mismanagement issues. The move comes amid an ongoing scandal involving million-dollar bribe accusations within the agency, which the government did not mention while announcing the decision. The audios — which according to Spagnuolo are fake — also mention other high-hierarchy government officials, who still remain in their positions, along with Karina Milei. The judiciary believes that Miguel Ángel Calvete was Spagnuolo’s right-hand man within the ANDIS, acting as a sort of informal director of the agency. She also said comments she left on her father’s phone about paying a 3% bribe to Karina Milei were only “a joke” that was part of a private conversation.

Since Monday, Buenos Aires City has been under an orange alert for extreme heat, the second highest alert possible. Buenos Aires won’t be the only part of Argentina feeling the heat. If you’re spending New Year’s Eve in Buenos Aires, here are some tips to avoid heat-related health problems. When will the temperatures drop in Buenos Aires? Temperatures are forecast to fall as 2026 rolls around, with temperatures dropping to lows of 21°C and highs of 30°C.

Since Monday, Buenos Aires City has been under an orange alert for extreme heat, the second highest alert possible. Buenos Aires won’t be the only part of Argentina feeling the heat. If you’re spending New Year’s Eve in Buenos Aires, here are some tips to avoid heat-related health problems. When will the temperatures drop in Buenos Aires? Temperatures are forecast to fall as 2026 rolls around, with temperatures dropping to lows of 21°C and highs of 30°C.

This won’t be a cakewalk, though, as the entire Buenos Aires region will suffer a heatwave throughout the week. There is also a kids menu with a main course, dessert and beverages for AR$80,000 (US$50). Two choices for an Asian-style holiday: Osaka & LimaOsakaAn undisputed referent of Nikkei food in Buenos Aires, Osaka delivers a sophisticated blend of Japanese technique and Latin American flavors. For dessert, options include the egg white flan with orange marmalade. Alvear 1891Reservations: +54 911 48082100 / [email protected]SofitelSofitel Recoleta is rolling out two generous holiday spreads for those craving a French-accented feast in Buenos Aires.

A federal judge has annulled the anti-protest protocol introduced by former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, which banned protesters from blocking roads. Therefore, the ministry violated the law by “taking on legislative powers it does not have,” he wrote. Cormick’s decision “puts limits on what the Security Ministry can do,” the CELS said in a statement. The security ministry said that the protocol is legitimate and voted to appeal the decision. You may also be interested in: Human rights watchdogs condemn Bullrich’s anti-protest protocolCover photo: Pensioners protest on March 12, 2025.

Despite a moderate effect on asset prices, Argentine markets welcomed the legislative approval of the 2026 budget on Friday. According to analysts, markets were expecting the bill to be passed and are now looking to see how the administration will carry out structural reforms. “The approval of the budget is very important, but it was already expected, hence today’s moderate reaction from financial assets,” independent financial analyst Gustavo Ber told the Herald. Argentine companies on Wall Street, traded through American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), were stable, suffering a few slight losses. “They will always need a bailout — for a year and a half, we have been going from bailout to bailout, and well, you can’t live on bailouts,” Repetto concluded.

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) is in hot water over its finances again, after investigative journalists at La Nación newspaper reported that US$42 million of its income had been moved to shell companies in Florida. AFA linked to money laundering investigationsAFA has been in hot water over its alleged involvement with a company being investigated for money laundering since the start of December. On December 16, Senator Patricia Bullrich reported Tapia and AFA treasurer Pablo Toviggino to the ethics committee of CONMEBOL, South American football’s governing body. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) said it wouldn’t “give [the government] the right” to intervene in football, in a 2,500-word statement. Tapia is also under fire in a case filed against Luciano Pantano and Ana Lucía Conte, who stand accused of money laundering.

Two years ago, President Javier Milei had such a tiny congressional minority that people were asking how he would govern. But, while Milei is hoping that legislating will be a clear run, even with allies he’s short of an overall majority. On Friday night, Milei and his party celebrated as the Senate passed his 2026 budget by a comfortable 46-25 margin. It is the first time the president has passed a budget, after working with extensions of the 2023 budget in 2024 and 2025. Nonetheless, in 2026, Trump’s contingent support of the Milei administration will continue to influence Argentina’s international agenda.

In October, the U.S. Treasury, under Trump’s Secretary Scott Bessent, funneled billions of dollars to Argentina’s central bank. It was designed to stabilize the peso just days before Argentina’s midterms, buying Milei time, credibility, and a crucial electoral win. Trump said it outright: if Milei lost, the money would disappear. This wasn’t foreign policy. But by labeling it a swap and hiding it in the balance sheet of the central bank, the Milei administration bypassed Parliament entirely.

(Image: Celina Mutti Lovera / Dialogue Earth)In the province of San Juan, one of the most arid in Argentina, water is more than a resource: it is a symbol. But the essential resource needed to sustain this pistachio revolution is precisely what is most lacking in San Juan: water. “In San Juan, it rains between 80 and 100 millimetres per year, and droughts are more frequent and longer. Pistachio trees take 8 to 10 years to mature (Image: Celina Mutti Lovera / Dialogue Earth)A field of 20-year-old pistachio trees, some of the oldest on the Pistachos de los Andes farm. As Salvioli says, “it is a resource that cannot be renewed.”Pistachio samples at the National Institute of Agricultural Technology in San Juan.

This piece is part of the Argentine-Chinese Chamber of Commerce’s monthly column in the Buenos Aires Herald. China’s five-year plans are instruments of governance at the highest strategic level, as they set the roadmap that defines — politically, economically, and socially — the consensus on the country’s direction. Its industry, which is characterized by high levels of automation and technological sophistication, will be a pillar of growth, seeking to position China as a competitive country in the production of manufactured goods with a high degree of value addition. This means Argentina must secure its position in this stage of China’s development by emphasizing two axes. To achieve these objectives, direct interaction at the highest level between Buenos Aires and Beijing will be crucial in the coming years.

2025 was a prosperous year for Argentina’s energy sector, all thanks to its biggest star: the huge shale oil and gas field Vaca Muerta, in northern Patagonia. Energy surplusThis huge production has led to the second record broken this year: the largest nominal positive energy trade balance in history. In the first eleven months of 2025, the energy trade balance had a surplus of US$6.9 billion dollars, according to the Energy Department. That’s nominally higher than the previous record from 2006, when the energy surplus reached US$ 6.1 billion. Pillar of Milei’s governmentArgentina’s energy surplus is one of the main pillars of President Javier Milei’s economic program, which aims to maintain a “zero deficit” — ie.

Argentine senators have begun debating the 2026 budget bill. President Javier Miei’s government hopes to have the budget passed by the end of the year, and intends to maintain a fiscal surplus in 2026. If the bill is passed, it would be the first time the Milei administration has gotten a budget bill through Congress. It is the first time in history that the same budget has been used for three years in a row. It was rejected by the lower house last week.