Children in Buenos Aires started school today, after an agreement with the government ended a 17-day teachers’ strike (photo: Daniel Dabove/Télam/lz)

Students Start School Year After Teachers Reach Wage Agreement: Students in the province of Buenos Aires attended classes today for the first time this year after a salary agreement with teachers over the weekend. The deal, which includes salary hikes of 30-38% depending on seniority and experience, ended a 17-day strike that affected around 3.5m students. “It is a proposal that was achieved through resolve,” said Suteba union leader Roberto Baradel on formally accepting the deal. “The dignity and conviction of the teachers was unbreakable.” Baradel later said in a radio interview that recovering all of the days lost would be “impossible”, though added that “there are different ways to make up ground in terms of content.”

National Education Minister Alberto Sileoni met with national teachers’ unions this afternoon to establish the minimum wage increase that each province must offer. Teachers’ unions in eight provinces - Neuquén, Chaco, La Rioja, Mendoza, Jujuy, Corrientes, Catamarca and Entre Ríos. - remain in conflict over wages.

Fuel Prices to Rise: The government announced an increase of 5.4% in fuel prices as of tomorrow. Talking about the price hike during his daily press conference, Chief of Cabinet Jorge Capitanich said that the measure was justified by the recent devaluation of the peso. “What we have is an agreement that incorporates the impact that the variation in the exchange rate has had on fuel production and distribution costs,” said Capitanich. With tomorrow’s increase, the price of fuel will have risen by 25% in the last four months, taking YPF’s petrol prices up to between $10.57 and $12 per litre, and Shell’s petrol prices to between $11.68 and $13.26 per litre. Petrol companies are expected to implement a further price increase of 4% in May.

NGOs Warn About Effects of Climate Change: Environmental NGOs have warned about the effects of climate change in Argentina, after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a new global report called ‘Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability‘. The report, which was compiled by scientists from around the world, including Argentina, highlights the potential impacts of climate change, such as an increase in floods in the centre of the country, droughts, and several diseases that could affect crops such as soy and corn. Organisations such as Greenpeace, Vida Silvestre, FARN, Los Verdes, Avina, CAN-LA, and FOROBA have called for “the development of more active policies in terms of adapting to climate change, since we’ve reached a situation in which we have no time to lose.” They are also demanding the effective of implementation of existing laws, such as the Forests and the Glaciers Laws. According to the IPCC report, deforestation due to the extension of the agricultural frontier has become the largest source of carbon emissions in the north of the country, whilst the shrinking of the Andean glaciers will affect the availability of fresh water.

Petroperú (Wikimedia Commons)

Peruvian Congress approved a law yesterday allowing for the sale of up to 49% of the country’s state oil company, Petroperú.

As part of a governmental push to increase the production capabilities at Peruvian oil refineries, the law passed offers investors the opportunity to take a minority stake in the firm for the first time in its 40-year history.

President Ollanta Humala proposed the new law as one of the key measures in increasing and stimulating the nation’s energy production.

Petroperú currently works in refining, transporting, storage and marketing of petroleum based products. Shares will eventually be floated on the Peruvian stock exchange however the exact time these will be available remains unknown. Of the 49% to be sold, at least 5% will be offered “exclusively” to the general public, in accordance with the new legislation.

Humala hopes to convert Peru into a large exporter of energy through this transformation. Congress also approved a US$3.5bn plan to expand and modernise the Talara refinery, which will increase production to 95,000 barrels a day as opposed to the current 65,000. The works are set to be completed in 2017.

The measure has faced opposition from certain parties, with some warning it could worsen energy security and potentially even decrease petrol production. General Secretary of the Administrative Workers’ Union, Lino Cerna Manrique, slated the plan was “a clear attack on national interests”, continuing, “the only ones responsible for the reduction in production of crude oil in our country are the private firms, whose action affects the energy security of our country.”

Peruvian Minister of Energy and Mines, Jorge Merino, attempted to allay fears, saying: “The state is not loosing control of the firm, it will maintain 51%… we want to be a firm that competes on an international level.”

Planning Minister Julio De Vido has denied claims issued by Clarin that a meeting was held between himself and the governor of the Chubut province to acquire shares of Reposol-YPF.

The national newspaper published a story in today’s paper, noting that the minister met with governor Martín Buzzi to discuss the possibility of using social security funds to buy as many shares as necessary to renationalise the company.

Clarín later reported the governor’s response, which included the claim that the report should be considered as “misinformation.”

According to Clarín, Buzzi stated that the project to purchase YPF would make use of social security funds from the National Administration of Social Security (ANSeS) and private equity. The project allegedly has the backing of ANSeS director Diego Bossio.

The Clarín article claims that the governor of Chubut consulted the Ministry of Planning at every stage. However, the ministry has denied that the minister was aware of the issue.

“De Vido has not received any such offer and has not met for that reason with the governor Martin Buzzi or ANSeS executive director, Diego Bossio, neither jointly nor separately,” said the Ministry of Planning.

Talk of nationalising the Spanish-owned oil company is not new. On 21st March, the head of Repsol YPF met with national government representatives to discuss the country’s role as a shareholder. At that time, the head of the Cabinet, Abal Medina, told journalists that “if YPF’s path is nationalisation, then nationalised it will be.”

Rumours were rife in February, affecting the price of shares in the company.

The petrol company YPF have stated that during the upcoming long weekend they will increase the provision of petrol in the country. The company are particularly ensuring there are more petrol supplies along the Atlantic coast regions as it is expected there will be lots of tourism.

YPF, Argentina’s largest oil supplier will be increasing oil provisions by 32.3% which is 784,000 litres more than the amount for the same time period in 2010.

Yesterday, there were company protests demanding for better working conditions, resulting in the employees striking outside YPF offices in Puerto Madero.

The long weekend begins tomorrow and ends on Sunday.

This morning the planning minister announced that there is no shortage of petrol or diesel in Argentina. He was responding to what he calls a “media campaign” which had widely reported of shortages in key energy production industries.

“The situation is absolutely normal, there are some logistical problems because of the high demand, but they have been exacerbated by the campaign” said de Vido this morning. The holiday season and peak harvest for major commodities were blamed for the increase in demand. He highlighted the papers La Nacion, Clarín and Perfil as being particularly guilty.

De Vido recognised that there have been delays at the pumps. For example along the Panamerican highway there have been up to 30-car long queues. The government maintains however that this is not due to a lack of petrol or diesel. There is just a longer wait to fill up.

He also included that supplies to energy industries have had “no type of supply cut” and emphasised that all remains normal.

It seems likely that December, another peak in the tourist season, will bring a similar situation. De Vido warned that “exactly the same thing will happen as there will be a high demand for fuel.”