MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Coronavirus: Argentina closes borders for 15 days and suspends classes until March 31
Argentina will close its borders for 15 days to non-residents in order to combat the spread of coronavirus, President Alberto Fernandez announced on Sunday. Public and private school classes would also be suspended until March 31, Fernandez said. National parks would also be closed. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesDT
Mar 16th, 2020 - 05:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0now you can post yr reply to “Frustrating Bzln economic growth”......
Jack
Mar 16th, 2020 - 08:37 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I was impressed that the Democrat Joe Biden was proposing a plan to pay your country 50+ billion dollars to stop burning your rainforests.
I suggest Bolsonaro demands the money up front, because he has memory problems...
“Fernandez made the announcements at the presidential residence in Olivos”
Mar 17th, 2020 - 12:19 am - Link - Report abuse 0Is he gonna be staying there, then? He's 60 himself...
JB
“Wasn’t that why they left Britain in the first place ?”
Yeah. Social mobility was pretty lousy in Britain so it makes sense to try somewhere else if you're ambitious. I guess some also left for religious reasons (Puritans etc) and then there were the convicts I mentioned before.
I always thought the Catholic church burned heretics at the stake. Sending them to Brazil is kind of a funny thought: “your punishment is to move to land of beaches and Carnival”. ;)
So it was Britain and France's fault that sugar declined in Brazil? And today the EU still subsidises the growing of sugar beet, though not as much as it did.
I wonder if it's really harder to reduce inequality when the population is growing quickly? If so then things might start to improve in Brazil (and elsewhere) now the birthrate has dropped. AFAIK inequality fell after WWII in the UK, even though the birthrate was relatively high.
What's the TCU and how come they get to overturn Congress's decision?
Chicureo
Give money to Brazil in advance and hope they stick to the bargain? That's just a tad optimistic...
DemonTree
Mar 17th, 2020 - 01:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The comment was sarcastic on my part, because Trump will be reelected. I'm not certain about Bolsonaro, but so far he's ahead of his adversaries.
DT
Mar 18th, 2020 - 08:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The Puritans arrived in N.Am 1620 (Mayflower), after a century of religious conflict in England (Henry VIII, Luther etc). Just a curiosity, a good friend of mine traced her ancestors back to passengers on the Mayflower.
The Quakers too, fed up with the abuses of the Anglican Church, also started leaving in mid-17th C.
Burning of heretics at the stake became big in Spain around 1480, ‘n the inquisition tribunal was extinct only in 1821, but other punishments were available : confiscation of property, public shaming, torture, so perhaps Portugal was a little less bloodthirsty.
In those days, unfortunately for the exiles, there was no carnival, ‘n going to the beach was not a popular pastime…but probably far better than remaining in Portugal.
Yeah, indirectly, competition from British/French colonies screwed the NE.
“…harder to reduce inequality when the population grows quickly”…don’t know, but : Brazil started very late (if at all), inequality affects the great majority, so even if Brazil’s population is now growing at a slower rate, there’s still an enormous amount of catching up to do.
The fact is that Congress needs to pass drastic laws, 'n the politicians need to respect them…if they did, you might see a significant difference in say, two, three generations ?
The TCU is the Tribunal de Contas da União (Court that oversees government’s budget & spending, either approving the accounts or not), and in this case, as there was /is no origin for such funds foreseen in the 2020 budget, it is essentially an illegal expense.
Congress was simply trying to sieze part of the budget, in order to spend it “as they wish”, in their political strongholds…funds approved for this purpose have to be the result of prior negotiation (previous yr) not an imposition by Congress. It is totally out of sync with the country’s situation…they all say the politically corrects things on camera, then do just the opposite.
Chicureo
Biden is the US's equivalent of Dilma. Lol.
I suppose lots of people must have ancestors on the Mayflower, but it's cool to be able to trace them. Interesting there are still Quakers today but I've never heard of modern day Puritans. They sounded like a miserable lot tbh, banning any kind of fun, probably for the best that they left.
Mar 19th, 2020 - 08:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Where did the carnival come from, then? I never really thought about it, would have assumed it was brought over from Portugal and evolved since then. The exiles probably were much better off in Brazil, anyway.
The real question is how Brazil got to unequal to start with. There are plenty of much poorer countries that are still more equal. Maybe it's something to do with having valuable natural resources but weak governance. If it wasn't for that then everyone would be poor = more equal.
Looks like events have superseded the TCU anyway, as first Guedes and then Bolsonaro announced stimulus packages and spending directly to combat coronavirus. Seems the latter has done a U-turn after saying the threat was overblown...
What's the resemblance supposed to be between Biden and Dilma? Biden's not a 'post'.
DT
Mar 20th, 2020 - 05:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The roughly 100 pax on the Mayflower’s 1620 voyage, must’ve multiplied like hell over 400 years. Agree, the Puritans, like any fundamentalist group. is kinda nuts.
Carnival’s origin supposedly goes back to the orgies held in the ancient Greek ‘n Roman civilizations, around 500 BC, which lasted about a week. It was brought to Brazil by the Portuguese in the 16th century, in the form of popular games ‘n dancing, eventually spreading to the poorer classes.
Brazil didn’t ‘become’ unequal over time, it started unequal : the political structure in colonial Brazil ‘n Portuguese influence took care of that….considering Brazil was divided into ‘capitanias,’ and distributed amongst the king’s friends, these new land owners were in effect feudal lords, so the stage was set. After that, who was going to give up ‘rights’ ‘n privileges for the greater good ?
“There are plenty of much poorer countries that are still more equal”…sure, ‘n probably because the majority is equal in poverty.
”…having valuable natural resources but weak governance”…with, or without ‘abundant’ or valuable natural resources, the weak governance was in effect the powerful guaranteeing the resources for themselves ‘n their friends.
In countries where the majority are poor (and/or very poor), you get the other extreme, a very small, very rich and powerful elite. To break that, nothing short of a revolution.
Seeing it all the time, it’s really quite funny to see how the press, besides spending 90% of the time talking abt the virus (which is good), concentrates on what Bolsonaro said a week ago, what he said yesterday, what he might say in the future, even though it has really no significant impact on the economy or on a likely new recession, as if it were of the utmost importance to us. A serious press would stick to “important” news instead of nit-picking, but seems it’s all they know how to do.
The comparison is probably unfair to Biden, but Dilma’s crazy rants ‘n gaffes are impressive.
Jack
Mar 20th, 2020 - 06:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0To steal from your post: Chile (From the period when it was a part under the Viceroy of Peru) didn’t ‘become’ unequal over time, it started unequal : the political structure in colonial times took care of that….considering Chile was divided into ‘estancias,’ and distributed amongst the king’s friends, these new land owners were in effect feudal lords, so the stage was set.
But then I could say that for my ancestors from Spain and Great Britain.
If anything can really be said, the equality in Latin America has become more egalitarian over the past century.
How are you set up for wine supplies?
Chicureo
Mar 20th, 2020 - 10:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You're right, “Latin America has become more egalitarian over the past century”....everyone (except the politicians) is in the shite.
Colonizers were all the same....
Regarding my 'wine cellar', thanks for the concern.....have about 200 bottles of wine...should last me at about 18 months....even if it doesn't, no sweat, can buy it online.
Also well-stocked up with other essential spirits...
Due to the virus, all physical shops of non-essential items have closed.....but I'm not sure if I'd classify wine stores as non-essential....
Jack
Mar 21st, 2020 - 02:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Glad to see you're stocked with the primary element of survival. I thank once this pandemic fades away, we'll see a financial reset of the world's economy in about 90 days.
Countries, businesses and common people are all greatly going to suffer, but most will survive. My particular plan is to keep my team employed and my farms solvent for the coming 2021. (My fortune is focused on export earnings from the UK and USA.)
Currency exchanges have gone predictably crazy, but I'm placing my bet on the US dollar. The Chilean peso has declined, but the Argentine peso as well your real are going to probably suffer a serious devaluation.
Our serious challenge is to recover our markets.
¡SALUD!
Chicureo
Mar 21st, 2020 - 04:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0There are many people who believe governments are overreacting to the virus (I'm not one of them)....even IF they are, and considering that those 'many people' are probably not-too-smart, exaggerating the threat is probably advisable.
Unfortunately for Brazil, we were starting to beat the 2014 recession, and now looks like we are headed into another, for totally different reasons. Seems it never rains but pours...
International factors contributing to this, are : 1st, the China /USA tariff war ; 2nd, the Saudi-Russian disagreement over oil production/prices ; and 3rd, the virus.
Internally, we have the drastic reduction of our prime rate (SELIC), to 3,75% per annum (which basically benefits the government in that it reduces the interest on public debt, and does not filter down in an effective manner to the common man, in terms of lowering interest rates on loans), which has all but eliminated all speculative capital coming in, pushing the USD upwards ; Congress dragging its feet with the essential reforms, needed to save money inorder to be able to invest in infrastructure ; the “Brumadinho” tragedy (15 months ago), which has drastically reduced extraction/ exports of iron ore, depriving Brazil of much needed USD and reducing our GDP;
And to top it all, the polarized politics...Congress acting irresponsibly, as usual, prioritizing whatever benefits them personally.
Cheers!!!
Jack
Mar 21st, 2020 - 08:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Typical politicians squabbling while our country's financial markets collapse.
Personally I have confidence in the leadership of both Bolsonaro and Piñera despite so much against them. International commerce has collapsed and will take some time, but I'm convinced we just need to hang on and be patient.
Pandemics never last, but people and the land endure.
Stay well my friend. ¡SALUD!
Chicureo
Mar 22nd, 2020 - 04:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It's also typical of the people, whether they voted for Bolsonaro / Piñera or not, to expect problems that have been accumulating for decades, to be solved in one term.
They need to get real.
You too ! cheers !
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