Argentina | VivirLatino

Archive for the ‘Argentina’ Category

U.S. Defeats Spain for Basketball Gold, Argentina Takes Bronze

6:07 am By Maegan La Mala · Argentina| Beijing Summer Olympics| Spain| Sports| World · Comments Off

24 Aug 2008

Not too many of us will have had the energy to stay up all night to watch the game, but I’m here to tell you that the U.S. men’s Olympic team was unstoppable in the final match-up with current world champion, Spain. I was only able to catch the last quarter, and it was a super tight game. Spain and the U.S. were both at the top of their game (Spain was down an average of only 6 points) and it was disputable whether or not The Dream Team would actually win this one up until about 2 minutes before the final buzzer. In the end, the stars of the NBA triumphed over the Spaniards 118-107.

Spanish media is calling Spain’s loss a win, referring to the game as “the most dignified defeat” and “a golden silver medal”, given the fact that they were so very close to winning against the world’s most storied basketball team.

Argentina is also celebrating its triumph as bronze medal winners in basketball, stepping up to the podium in third place. An excellent representation for Latin America in one of the Olympics’ most watched sports.

Via / El Pais

Image via El Mundo

Argentina to Recognize Inheritance Rights of Same Sex Couples

10:51 am By Maegan La Mala · Argentina| Family| GLBT| Latin America| society · Comments Off

20 Aug 2008

041009_GayParents_hd.hmedium.jpg Argentine lawmakers have signed a resolution which would grant inheritance rights to same sex couple widows and widowers. The surviving partner would inherit the pension of their partner upon their death.

Gay rights activists are praising the move as a huge step in the recognition of their civil rights. The Argentine government says its part of a larger human rights plan under the administration of president Cristina Fernández.

To be eligible for the benefit, couples must prove that they have lived together for at least 5 years.

Via / El País

Argentina’s Olympic Women’s Soccer Team Gets on the Hate Bandwagon

11:32 am By Maegan La Mala · Argentina| Beijing Summer Olympics| China| Sports| race · 3 Comments

19 Aug 2008

When the Spanish sports teams did their offensive eye posing, it was easy to dismiss the racism as coming from Europeans with their own history of conquest. But now the women’s Olympic soccer team from Argentina has been caught doing the same exact “slant-eye” pose, we have to wonder just what the hell is going on that makes people think that this is ok?

Besides the gesture being obviously offensive, there is the dismissal that all three teams have made: that they didn’t mean to offend. Which begs the question, what exactly did they intend? To make us laugh with their antics? To get us excited about China? To reveal a deep desire to be Chinese that they all have? To show us how stupid they are?

In this case payback is a bitch, as they say because Argentina’s women lost 2-0 to China. In fact, they lost all three of their matches.

Via / Who Ate All the Pie

18 to Life for Argentine “Dirty War” Perps

11:14 am By Maegan La Mala · Argentina| Justice| Latin America| society · Comments Off

28 Jul 2008

8 men accused of torture and murder in Argentina’s “dirty war” have been sentenced to 18 years to life in prison for their actions. 18 years might not seem like much, but it’s significant if you are already 80 years old like ex-general Luciano Menendez:

Menendez commanded the army zone that ran La Perla, the biggest clandestine detention center in central Cordoba province, during the 1976-1983 dictatorship in which rights groups say up to 30,000 people died or disappeared.

“He was the main perpetrator behind the reign of terror our province lived under 30 years ago. He sowed death and terror, committing crimes against humanity,” Cordoba Governor Juan Schiaretti told local television after the sentencing.

Upon sentencing, Menendez was defiant. Reuters quotes him as saying: “Terrorists used to be illegal. Now they have taken over the system and pretend to be peaceful, law-abiding citizens who respect the constitution.”

What can you say about creeps like this? Even at the eleventh hour he refuses to take responsibility…incredible.

Via / Canada.com

El Che is Remembered at Home

9:38 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Argentina| Celebrities| Politics| history · Comments Off

16 Jun 2008

Saturday, June 14th is Flag Day in the U.S., but in Argentina, Cuba, and many other places in Latin America, June 14th was celebrated as the 80th birthday of Ernesto “el Che” Guevara. In Rosario, Argentina, a bronze statue of the legendary revolutionary was unveiled.

“I believe in the revolution, that’s why I love Che,” said Monica Nielson, 49, wearing a soldier’s beret with a single star like that worn by Guevara in a photo that turned him into a 20th Century icon.

Spanish language news shows in the United States, like Al Punto with Jorge Ramos, focused on conspiracy theories on who killed el Che. While a CIA backed operative in the Bolivian jungle is credited for the Guevara’s murder, some, including those that fought beside him, point the finger at the Fidel Catro led Cuban government.

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs are Back

11:52 am By Maegan La Mala · Argentina| Entertainment| Latin America| Music · 1 Comment

13 Jun 2008

One of my favorite bands of all time, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs — defunct since 2002 — are reuniting for a Latin American tour. Now I just need to get to a Latin American city…sheesh…

The band announced its return via a viral marketing campaign throughout Buenos Aires, Mexico City and other large Latin American cities with enigmatic posters featuring only the name of a Cadillacs song and the date of the beginning of the tour: July 1, 2008.

I just read somewhere else that they will also be hitting the U.S., but I can’t find a tour schedule anywhere. Will update you all when I do.

Via / La Razón

Argentina Says No to Fur

12:18 pm By Maegan La Mala · Activism| Argentina| Celebrities · Comments Off

10 Jun 2008

In a country known for its fine leather, an awareness campaign around saying no to the purchase and use of animal skins may or may not go over well in Argentina. But some Argentine celebs are uniting their voices in a campaign to show exactly what becomes of the animal that is killed for your latest fashion statement. The poster above, featuring actress, Marcela Kloosterboer is just one of the shocking images that the non-profit organization AnimaNaturalis has posted all around Buenos Aires.

Via / 20 Minutos

Argentine Children Murder Baby

2:29 pm By Maegan La Mala · Argentina| Latin America| children| crime · Comments Off

22 May 2008

0%2C%2C6052096%2C00.jpg Some shocking news out of Buenos Aires, Argentina: two children, aged 7 and 9 have allegedly murdered a baby and declared to police that they did so “with pleasure”:

Argentine society is witness to the horror and confusion caused by the revelation of the details around the death of a 2 year old girl. It happened on Sunday…Milagros Belizán [pictured] was first beaten over the head, later hung on the wall and finally beaten relentlessly with wooden boards and suffocated little by little until she died. Medical examiners say she endured “long agony…

The crime was originally blamed on an adult, and authorities had to intervene to avoid the man being lynched by neighbors. Later the bizarre truth came out. Witnesses had seen two boys abusing the baby in the street, the police questioned them, and when they told the story of what they had done, they did so with pride and excitement.

The children accused of the crime reportedly come from a violent family environment. Police are looking to take the boys out of their homes because of death threats from neighbors.

Via / El País

Grandmothers Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

5:57 am By Maegan La Mala · Activism| Argentina| Justice| Latin America| society · Comments Off

13 May 2008

Las Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo, an Argentine activist group fighting for justice in the disappearance cases of hundreds of Argentine citizens — many children and pregnant women — during the country’s “Dirty War” have been nominated for a 2008 Nobel Peace Prize

…for their fight to give restore the identity of some 500 children stolen during the last dictatorship, in an act before congress.

Estella Carlotto, president of the organization, in a speech about the candidacy, said: “We are regular women among the thousands of Argentine women who do not back down in desperate situations…Each grandchild we get back is like a Nobel Prize.”

The last Nobel Peace Prize for Argentina was in 1980, for activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.

Via / El Universal

Spain Isn’t Crying for Isabel

3:32 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Argentina| Justice| Spain| Women · Comments Off

28 Apr 2008

A Spanish court decided not to extradite Isabel Peron, wanted in Argentina to face charges of violating human rights.

The National Court on Monday ruled that the accusations against Peron, 77, could not be termed crimes against humanity and that there was insufficient evidence of her involvement.
The court ruled, therefore, that she could not be extradited.
Peron is wanted by a judge for questioning over the disappearance of 24-year-old Hector Aldo Fagetti Gallego and the arrest of a minor, Jorge Valentin Beron, in 1976.
Another judge wants to question her as part of a probe into the Anti-communist Alliance, a death squad blamed for killing at least 1,500 government opponents from 1973-1976.

VivirLatino