Word: argentina
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Plagued by hyperinflation, Argentina and Brazil, South America's two largest economies, last week entered different forms of shock treatment to slow runaway wage and price increases. Brazil announced a hold on wage increases until July and an indefinite freeze on prices. Economy Minister Zelia Cardoso de Mello also disclosed plans to dismantle much of the country's elaborate system of indexation, which has been used since the 1960s to offset the effects of inflation. Among the system's inflation-fueling features scheduled to be phased out: so-called overnight bank accounts that pay interest to depositors...
...adherence to the Bible). The spectacular Protestant growth since the 1960s has occurred largely in Pentecostal groups that combine biblical orthodoxy with an innovative stress on emotionalism and miracles. Another worrisome challenge to Catholicism comes from African-rooted spirit cults, which are strong in Brazil and are spreading into Argentina. Since the 1960s, Catholicism has tolerated observance of these popular non-Christian rites by masses of nominal Catholics, while Evangelical converts (many of them baptized Catholics) militantly oppose spirit cults and the intermingling of faiths...
President Carlos Saul Menem wanted to "close a black chapter" in Argentina's history. But his decision last week to pardon ex-President Jorge Videla and half a dozen other leaders who had been jailed in 1986 for their role in Argentina's "dirty war" in the late 1970s only rekindled popular outrage. Nearly 50,000 citizens took to the streets of Buenos Aires to protest, and Bishop Jorge Novak called the measure a "humiliating defeat for the democratic system...
...uprising, Argentina's fourth in as many years, came at a critical moment in Menem's 17-month-old presidency. His sure-handed response to the rebellion was expected to strengthen his political position and give him a fresh chance to deal forcefully with his faltering economy. Despite ambitious plans for slimming the public sector and selling off money-losing state companies, Menem can claim credit for few accomplishments. His privatization program is bogged down, and inflation could reach...
Referring to Argentina's succession of military uprisings, Menem called for an end to "these ridiculous antics that have hurt the country so much." He vowed that the 300 or so rebels would be tried for insurrection and implied that he would seek the death penalty for their leaders. As the insurgents were led away from army headquarters, a crowd chanted, "To the wall!" -- meaning that the rebels should be lined up against a wall and shot. While there was no guarantee that a military minority would not try again to overthrow Argentina's fragile democracy, Menem had reason...