Labor Minister Raquel “Kelly” Olmos confirmed this after a series of conversations between government officials and top leaders of the CGT (General Workers’ Union). The first allies for this plan are the “heavyweights” of the CGT’s biggest service industry unions and their “independent” colleagues who maintain constructive dialogue with all governments. Both sectors, which include Héctor Daer (Healthcare) and Andrés Rodriguez (state workers in the UPCN union) among others, are the main union support for Massa and his potential presidential goal. Along the same line as Moyano, last night Gerardo Matínez, head of the Construction Workers’ Union (UOCRA), also raised concerns. CGT leaders, in any case, recognize that there is a consensus around, at a minimum, showing support for Massa’s plan.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US consumer prices fell for the first time in more than two and a half years in December amid declining prices for gasoline and motor vehicles, offering hope that inflation was now on a sustained downward trend, though the labor market remains tight. Cooling inflation could allow the Federal Reserve to further scale back the pace of its interest rate increases next month. Food prices climbed 0.3%, the smallest gain in nearly two years, after rising 0.5% in the prior month. Fruit and vegetable prices fell as did those for dairy products, but meat, poultry and fish cost more. Core goods prices slipped 0.3%, declining for a third straight month.

The latest projections from the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange anticipate that exports from the main grain complexes could fall by between US$9.2 billion and US$14.1 billion. In terms of tax collection, the State would lose out on between US$3.1 billion and US$4.7 billion. That is why the moderate scenario suggests that income from exports would fall by US$9.2 billion at a minimum and US$14.1 billion at most. The second one is a pessimistic scenario (a more pronounced drought), with 35.5 million, 37.8 million and 3.5 million tons. Regarding the baseline scenario, their contribution would drop between US$3.3 billion and US$6.3 billion, depending on the final scenario.

Businesses are still monitoring day-to-day politics in Brazil with “strong concern” after the attempted coup in the neighboring country –Argentina’s main trading partner. The main business unions in the country quickly spoke out condemning the attack on the institutions. In the last few hours, the main business chambers have spoken out. Companies have been closely following the events in Brazil since Sunday. Other StatementsThe Business Convergence Forum also issued a statement rejecting the attempt to alter the institutional order in Brazil.

The Economy Ministry is drafting a bill to guarantee the functional and economic independence of the official statistics institute, the INDEC. According to official sources, the project aims to transform the agency into a “decentralized and autarchic entity with functional autonomy”. Currently, the Executive Director of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) is appointed by the president. The institute’s Technical Director would be appointed by the Executive Director, after background screening and competitive examination. To give one example, according to the INDEC, inflation in 2014 was 23.9%.

The heads of the Argentine and Chinese central banks confirmed the activation of the currency swap the two countries signed last November. The president of Argentina’s central bank, Miguel Pesce, met with the governor of the People’s Bank of China, Yi Gang, in the Swiss city of Basel. As a result of the meeting, the official communiqué adds, both countries committed to deepening the usage of the yuan in the Argentine market for bilateral commerce. “The swap comprises the exchange of currency for reinforcement of international reserves of 130 billion yuan and a special activation of 35 billion yuan to compensate operations on the foreign exchange market,” added the statement. The agreement aims to increase the nation’s depleted foreign currency reserves.

Brazilian police deployed at a camp of supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro in the capital on Monday. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the governor of Brasilia removed from office late on Sunday for 90 days over alleged security failings. Far from the capital, Brazilian industries were on alert for a fresh round of unrest from Bolsonaro supporters, whose post-election highway blockades have disrupted grains shipments and meatpacking operations in recent months. Torres told website UOL he was with his family on holiday in the US and had not met with Bolsonaro. On Saturday, with rumors of a confrontation brewing in Brasilia, Justice Minister Flávio Dino authorized the deployment of the National Public Security Force.

On January 2, after a three-year wait, eight members of a rugby team went on trial for a case that has gripped the nation: the murder Fernando Báez Sosa. Several testimonies from that night confirm that the accused called Báez Sosa racist names while they kicked him on the floor. “They wouldn’t stop hitting him,” said 21-year-old Virginia Pérez Antonelli, who aided Báez Sosa by practicing CPR after the attack. As the conflict escalated, Fernando’s friends tried to explain that there were too many people inside the club. But what is known for sure is that at 4:44a.m, Báez Sosa had been kicked and beaten to death in the street.

Designed by minister Sergio Massa, the government aims to sound out the plan with union and business leaders as part of a larger price reduction program. Sources in the more traditional sectors of the CGT said they trust the Economy Minister’s chances of easing the rise in prices and are willing to sign their wage rounds accordingly. So far, the 2023 legal precedents regarding wage rounds are almost null. Meanwhile, La Bancaria (bank workers union) led by Sergio Palazzo will attempt a short negotiation limited to the first quarter of the year, as a bridge to then resume negotiations with the financial sector for the rest of 2023. Thus, the union led by Hugo and Pablo Moyano will not have a leading role in the first part of the year’s wage rounds unless there is a pronounced increase in the rate of inflation.

President Alberto Fernández must formalize the call with the list of limited projects for the special sessions. Although the official project calling for 17 council members –three down from the current number– was approved by the Senate, it got bogged down in the lower House and never resurfaced. That is why, within the Casa Rosada, people are beginning to evaluate what could happen if the deadline for the special sessions passes and the bill has not been discussed. It would feature the same number of slots per area as the current format for both judges and attorneys (four and four); two academics; and one representative of the Executive. This time last year, the projects scheduled for special sessions never reached the floor for discussion in Congress.

The Economy Ministry refinanced its maturities for the first three months of 2023 from AR$4.3 trillion to AR$1.41 trillion in what it considered a “successful” debt swap. The swap, which was offered on December 29 and due Tuesday, had an adherence of 67.2%. The Treasury had to face maturities for AR$1.1 trillion in January, AR$1.2 trillion in February and AR$2 billion in March. After the swap, the maturity prospect is AR$390 billion, AR$420 billion and AR$60 billion, respectively. One day before the due date, the Economy Ministry added another option: the LECER bond X16J3, an inflation-adjusted bond that matures in June 2023.

Once official statistics are released, they will confirm that 2022 ended with record exports, which exceeded US$100 billion. Agriculture, industry, energy, the knowledge economy and mining were key drivers that could continue to improve their performance in 2023. The agro-industrial sector saw record prices for all the exports of the soybean, corn and wheat complex. Facing 2023, Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero launched the National Export Promotion Plan. Government estimates anticipate a new export record that would be around US$105 billion despite the effects of the drought.

This week, Minister of Social Development Victoria Tolosa Paz met with leftist social movement coalition Unidad Piquetera (UP) and the Social Economy Workers’ Union (UTEP), which brings together pro-government social organizations, to negotiate welfare payments. Their measures included camping outside the Social Development Ministry on 9 de Julio Avenue, in the center of Buenos Aires. Unidad Piquetera, which sits further to the left politically than UTEP and has a more conflictive relationship with the government, met with Victoria Tolosa Paz on Wednesday but reached an impasse. The organization says it will wait for the Ministry to meet its commitments, including delivering food, making payments on time, and restoring Potenciar Trabajo social plans. UP leaders said that, as they did a month ago, their organizations would continue to protest if Tolosa Paz did not keep her promises.

Argentina’s national team coach Lionel Scaloni is fresh from a resounding success in the World Cup that brought joy to a country buffeted by skyrocketing inflation and institutional fragility. Tapia has acknowledged that much of the Argentine football world was deeply uncertain of his decision to name Scaloni as the head coach of the national side. Now, it appears that the World Cup triumph, coming as it did after Argentina’s 2021 Copa América victory and a 36-game winning streak, has forced Tapia’s hand. Countering this tepid response, Tapia, said in a news conference last Monday: “I have no doubt that [Scaloni] will continue to be the manager of the national team. As the end of his contract approaches, Argentine football is waiting for the most important statement of all: that of Scaloni himself.

In 2008, the National Genetic Data Bank confirmed he was the son of Mercedes del Valle Morales, a 21-year-old farm worker in Tucumán. Mercedes was a militant in the PRT-ERP guerrilla, and was kidnapped in May 1976, when Juan José was a 9-month-old baby. Juan José was raised by the owners of the farm where she worked, as a child of their own. “The mother, Mercedes, worked for the people who appropriated Juan José,” he said. The Grandmothers work with the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team and the National Bank of Genetic Data (BNDG, its Spanish acronym), which use DNA analysis to identify the children.