Argentine president Alberto Fernandez blasted his former health minister, and close friend, Gines Gonzalez García over an “unforgivable” coronavirus vaccine scandal, in quotes published on Sunday.
Argentina has a new Health Minister Carla Vizzotti, who was sworn in on Saturday after the country was rattled by a scandal over VIP coronavirus vaccine access. The incoming official pledged to strengthen oversight and transparency of the inoculation program.
With inflation far from target and increasing consumer prices, Argentina is investigating firms including Danone, Procter & Gamble, Fargo, miller Cañuelas, abattoir Paledini and Unilever, along with food producers like Bunge, accusing them of deliberately holding back production.
Uruguay and Paraguay presidents, Luis Lacalle Pou and Mario Abdo Benítez will be holding an open agenda meeting on Wednesday in the Uruguayan international seaside resort of Punta del Este, where the Paraguayan leader arrived late Tuesday.
Former Argentine president Carlos Menem died at the age of 90 on Sunday in a clinic in Buenos Aires, where he was admitted in December with a urinary tract infection. The president ruled Argentina during a time of short-lived economic stability and he enjoyed an often flamboyant lifestyle.
President Alberto Fernández believes the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should grant Argentina more “flexible” terms on the repayment terms of the debt and warned that increasing inflation could lead his government to again hike export taxes, the president said in an interview on Sunday with newspaper Página/12.
Despite confusing news from Argentina following president Alberto Fernandez's announcement that he is prepared to reimpose levies on grains and oilseeds exports if food prices keep increasing, oilseed crushers said they had reached a deal with the government to hold down domestic edible oil prices.
The chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday that the fund is working towards reaching an agreement on a new loan deal with Argentina and the next round of meetings will focus on the details. However, “'it takes two to tango' so both sides need to do our part and find the pathway to an agreement, and we are not yet at that point.”
Argentine ambassador in Brazil, Daniel Scioli, has confirmed what was advanced by Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou during this week's meeting with his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro, a meeting of Mercosur heads of state, sometime at the end of March. The summit will coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the trade block, which also includes Argentina and Paraguay.
Supply of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine and the possible elaboration of the shots in Argentina were among the issues addressed by Argentine president Alberto Fernandez and Russia's Vladimir Putin during a Tuesday phone conference.