¡Buenos días from Greenway Parks! This is the Rorshok Argentina Update from the 26th of February twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Argentina.

We have to pick up where we left off last week regarding the labor reform. The Lower House passed President Milei’s reform in the early hours of Friday the 20th. With 135 votes in favor and 115 against, the Labor Modernization bill is now one step away from becoming law. This reform changes the rules for salaries, shifts, and severance pay. It also creates fiscal benefits for employers who formally register their workers. The government says this will end the “trial industry”, where former employees sue companies over working conditions.

However, the bill has to go back to the Senate for one final vote. Deputies removed a controversial article that would have docked pay for workers on sick leave if they got injured during voluntary activities like sports. Even with that change, the law includes a new investment fund to pay for severance packages. This fund will use a percentage of monthly salaries that currently goes toward pensions. The opposition says this move will drain resources for future retirees.

President Milei wants to sign this into law before his big speech to Congress on the 1st of March.

Outside of Congress, the main unions led a massive general strike. Union leaders say 90% of the country’s activity stopped. In Buenos Aires, subways and most buses didn’t run.

The protest turned violent outside Congress as police used water cannons and tear gas. Authorities arrested sixteen people and reported several injuries. Jorge Sola, a top union leader, said the reform sets workers back 100 years. He argued that no rule change creates jobs on its own; instead, it just reduces rights for employees.

Speaking of lost jobs, an eighty-six-year-old tire giant is closing its doors. Fate announced it is shutting down its plant in San Fernando, a city in the Gran Buenos Aires area, which means more than 900 people are losing their jobs. The company blamed a drop in demand and the government’s move to allow more cheap imports from China. For now, the government has ordered a fifteen-day pause on the layoffs to force the company and the union to talk.

In other news, federal courts are throwing out hundreds of tax evasion cases because of the new Fiscal Innocence law. The law raised the amount of money someone has to hide from the state before it becomes a crime. For example, simple evasion now requires 100 million pesos (about 70,000 US dollars), and serious cases must involve over one billion pesos (about 700,000 US dollars). Because the law is more favorable to the accused, judges must apply it to old cases too. President Milei has called people who avoid “stupid taxes” heroes, but critics say this move lets major tax dodgers off the hook.

Since we mentioned the president, his administration is expanding a massive investment program known as RIGI. The government extended the plan until July twenty twenty-seven to attract more big-money projects. They are now offering even more tax and customs benefits for oil and gas companies. To get these perks, companies must invest at least 600 million dollars in new onshore projects. So far, the government has approved ten projects worth over 25 billion dollars in Southern provinces like Neuquén and Río Negro.

On that note about international deals, a recent US Supreme Court ruling is causing trouble for Argentine trade. Earlier this month, Washington and Buenos Aires signed a deal to eliminate a 10% tariff on Argentine products. However, the US court just ruled that President Donald Trump didn’t have the power to impose those specific tariffs in the first place. Trump responded by creating new, even higher global tariffs of 15%. Local exporters worry that this will wipe out the competitive edge they just gained. One bright spot is that Argentine beef should remain exempt from the new taxes.

While the government looks for investors, it is facing pushback from the Catholic Church. Church leaders published a letter urging Congress to block changes to the National Glacier Law. The government wants to allow mining and oil drilling in periglacial areas, arguing that the current law is too broad. The Church called glaciers water cathedrals and warned that weakening protections threatens the water supply for future generations. They argued that the right to clean water is more important than short-term profits.

On a more positive note, Buenos Aires City is celebrating a new safety record. Official data shows that twenty twenty-five had the lowest homicide rate in thirty-one years. Crime across the city fell by nearly 30%. With a rate of 2.5 homicides per 100,000 people, Buenos Aires is now the second safest capital in the Americas, trailing only Ottawa, Canada. Nationwide, the numbers are also down. Alejandra Monteoliva, the Security Minister, reported that Argentina has the lowest homicide rate in Latin America.

However, a scary event shook Capital Federal on Friday the 20th. A package bomb exploded on the 11th floor of the Gendarmerie Superior School on Paseo Colón. The blast injured four people, though luckily none of the injuries were life-threatening. The parcel had actually been sitting in storage for four months before someone opened it. Authorities evacuated 320 people from the area while explosives experts checked for more devices. A federal judge is now investigating where the package came from and how it got into the building.

While the Gendarmerie deals with security at their headquarters, the country’s airports are facing their own kind of lockdown—this time, due to labor disputes. If you are planning to travel soon, you should expect some headaches. Aviation workers and air traffic controllers have announced a series of strikes starting Thursday the 26th and running through Monday the 2nd of March. The workers are protesting against the labor reform and recent layoffs. Most domestic and international flights will face delays or cancellations during specific three-hour windows each day.

Speaking of strikes, there might not be any football to watch next weekend. The Argentine Football Association, or AFA, called for a total strike of all matches from the 5th to the 8th of March in protest against the government’s tax agency, which says the AFA owes over 13 billion dollars in unpaid taxes. The legal battle is part of a bigger fight between the government and AFA president Claudio Tapia over whether football clubs should be allowed to become private corporations.

In other sports news, River Plate fans are saying goodbye to a legend. Marcelo Gallardo, the most successful coach in the club’s history, announced he is stepping down. El Muñeco had a rough second stint at the club, losing eleven of his first fifteen games this season. His final game was against Banfield. Even though the recent results were disappointing, Gallardo will be remembered for winning fourteen titles during his first eight years with the team.

In cultural notes, Buenos Aires is welcoming a Hollywood star. John Malkovich is coming to the Teatro Ópera on the 27th of March for a one-night show. He will perform a piece based on the work of Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño, which mixes literature with live music.

And speaking of the stage, singer Nicki Nicole just made history. She became the first artist of her generation to perform a symphonic concert at the famous Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires City. She performed with over seventy musicians and had special guests like Jorge Drexler and Cazzu.

To close this episode, a recommended read that captures the local spirit through the eyes of an expat. NYU student Niko Spiridellis published a personal essay titled A Day in La Bombonera: Experiencing Argentina Through Its Football, Food, and Culture. The piece is a vivid reflection on how the pure craziness of a Boca Juniors match somehow perfectly coexists with the city’s deep-rooted love for literature and the arts.

Spiridellis describes his journey from the streets of La Boca and the energy of the stadium to the quiet elegance of the city’s many bookstores and late-night museum tours.

Check out the full piece with the link in the show notes!

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Do you have any feedback? Send us an email at info@rorshok.com.

¡Nos vemos la próxima semana!