Just under two weeks ago President Fernández de Kirchner signed a controversial decree banning sexual advertisements in newspapers and magazines. The law hopes to curb the diffusion of images that would, she said, “encourage or promote sexual exploitation”.

After weeks of rumours and speculation about his health, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez finally revealed in a television address on 30th June that he had received surgery to remove cancerous cells. News of the illness to Venezuela’s charismatic and controversial leader for twelve years came as a shock to many, and it is unclear whether […]

Last week, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner confirmed her candidacy as president in the upcoming 23rd October elections. Recent polls rate her as likely victor in the elections. According to Poliarquía she has a 58% popularity rating with 49% of respondents voting for her, and CEOP Opinion Publica gives her 48% support- way more than all the […]

The decriminalisation of marijuana has been a hot international topic for a while – some Argentine are on the bandwagon. They are calling to decriminalise the consumption, possession and growing of the drug in hopes of taking the focus off consumers and turning on the drug cartels themselves. With the death toll of the Mexican […]

In 2006 the Ley de Basura Cero (Zero Rubbish Law) passed Congress in Argentina, stating that the amount of garbage for the entire country should decrease by 30% before 2010. The reality is that nowadays more than 5,000 tonnes of waste are removed each day from the capital and put straight into landfills, leaving the […]

Obesity is second only to smoking as the largest preventable cause of death, both globally and in Argentina, where 18% of the population are obese. The disease – along with other chronic illnesses such as diabetes and cardiopathies – causes 63% of deaths worldwide and 70% in the Americas. Last month, representatives from 140 countries, […]

Néstor Kirchner rose to his 2003-7 presidency championing human rights, specifically those of the victims from the military dictatorship during the 70s and 80s. Ever since, rights have been discussed on a much wider basis and people now talk openly without fear of any reprisals. Amnesty International released the annual report on the current situation […]

On 15th April, New Zeland’s former public servant Sharon Armstrong was arrested in Argentina’s international airport after 5kg of cocaine were discovered in the suitcase she was carrying. She says she was duped by a man she met on an online dating site. Currently, Armstrong faces up to 16 years’ imprisonment and is another victim […]

The media has reported extensively on a worrying recent trend of women being set on fire by their male partners. But this is just a small part of a growing problem of domestic violence in Argentina, which claimed the lives of 260 women last year. The Argentina Independent took to the streets to ask your […]

This month the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came to Argentina to help develop a new nationwide consumer price index (CPI). INDEC, the government-run statistics agency, has been under fire because of the obvious difference between their data and that of private-sector organizations. Critics argue Indec is under reporting inflation numbers although President Cristina Fernández de […]