Argentina News Roundup: 4th February 2014

Shortage of Space in Public Nursery Schools: Around 7,000 to 9,000 children aged between 45 days and 3 years will not have a place at a public nursery in Buenos Aires in the coming school year, city Minister of Education Esteban Bullrich confirmed yesterday. “We’ve created expectations that we are not able to fulfill,” said Bullrich, claiming that the new online subscription process introduced this year only exposed an existing structural problem of a shortage of state nurseries. Last year, around 6,700 children were not able to access public education facilities. Parents of young children not assigned a spot will have to either pay for a private nursery or make other childcare arrangements. While Bullrich assured that there will be places for all other schoolchildren, another 4,000 families that were erroneously assigned a place at a nearby school are now waiting to be relocated to other schools across the city.

Investigation into trade irregularities: Cabient Chief Jorge Capitanich today confirmed that the government was conducting an “exhaustive investigation” into irregularities in the export and import accounts of major companies, according to information compiled by the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA). The investigation regards companies that are alleged to have exported goods but not correctly record the corresponding inflow of currency, as well as importers that sent money abroad but did not register the influx of goods. Capitanich added that these irregularities amounted to a cumulative total of US$6.8bn.

Protests over bus fare hike in Córdoba: Protests erupted in Córdoba today after the city council took just a few minutes to approve a near 30% hike in the bus fare, from $4.10 to $5.30. Social organisations and leftist opposition parties gathered outside the building to criticise the measure, with violent incidents between a small group of protesters and police. Local press report that seven people were arrested and five policemen suffered minor injuries. Provincial legislator for Unión por Córdoba, Nadia Fernández, confirmed today that she would present a bill to reject the increase, which she called a “shameful scam”.

The post Argentina News Roundup: 4th February 2014 appeared first on The Argentina Independent.