Argentine pharmacies suspend purchases through PAMI (Argentina's Medicare) over $180 million debt.

The Argentine Pharmacists' Confederation (COFA) announced that, effective June 16, all purchases made through PAMI (Argentina's Medicare) will be suspended over a 2.6 billion peso ($180 million) debt the agency has accrued with COFA's 10,000 member pharmacies since February.

The president of the COFA, Raúl Mascaró, explained that while PAMI habitually reimburses pharmacies three months after the fact, this unprecedented level of arrears has forced member pharmacies to refuse purchases through PAMI in order to conserve inventory they can no longer afford to replenish; but while pharmacists' dissatisfaction over delays in PAMI reimbursements is a longstanding problem at the agency, this is the first such announcement since the 2002 crisis.

Following this announcement, PAMI officials disbursed a 500 million peso ($35 million) payment to COFA pharmacies - part of a 930 million peso ($65 million) payment to all pharmacies affiliated with PAMI. Mascaró, however, pointed out that this payment only covers one month of receipts, and that the suspension cannot be lifted until the remainder is also reimbursed.

A 60% increase in pharmaceutical prices since the right-wing Mauricio Macri administration took office has only added to Argentine pharmacists' woes, as have cutbacks enacted by the Macri administration citing alleged fraud at the agency. "Care is suffering," Macaró lamented, "not only for retirees, but for all who depend on social security."

PAMI, established in 1971, covers 5.5 million senior citizens and disabled individuals and pays for some 13 million prescriptions a month - some 70% of them free of charge since former President Néstor Kirchner expanded coverage for these in 2005.

At: http://www.diarioregistrado.com/sociedad/duro-golpe-a-los-jubilados--farmacias-de-todo-el-pais-suspenden-la-atencion-a-pami_a5762af58bccca16d525e2543

And: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.telam.com.ar/notas/201606/151639-farmacias-suspenden-pami.html&prev=search

Macri opens Argentine air routes to Colombia's Avianca after it buys his insolvent family airline.

Progressive Congresswoman Margarita Stolbizer, a former ally of right-wing Argentine President Mauricio Macri, criticized the administration's recent decision to grant Colombia's Avianca access to domestic routes within Argentina. The decision, she said, would threaten Aerolíneas Argentinas, presents a conflict of interest, and is likely to lead to layoffs at the flagship airline.

The permits were awarded just two months after Avianca purchased the Macri family's insolvent airline, MacAir.

The purchase, announced in late March by Avianca CEO Germán Efromovich, surprised market analysts at the time given MacAir's four minor routes and minimal fleet of six air taxis.

Avianca is in the middle of a regional expansion plan after the merger of its Colombian and Brazilian units into the Sinergy Speed group, which controls both. According to Efromovich, “Argentina is an important market, and the idea is to begin with MacAir, which is regional, to serve some interesting domestic routes as well as improving other Avianca operations in Argentina.”

Stolbizer, however, denounced allowing Avianca to fly domestically within Argentina - a relatively modest market of around 18 million passengers annually which Aerolíneas Argentinas and its affiliated regional carrier, Austral, already compete for with LAN Argentina (jointly owned by the Chilean-based LATAM Airlines Group and Argentine investors - including Gustavo Lopetegui, Macri's chief economic adviser).

The introduction of a potentially large new competitor for Argentine domestic air traffic at a time when Macri austerity policies have led to sharply higher fuel and utility costs for the airline as well as decreasing air travel is likely to undermine competitiveness at Aerolíneas Argentinas.

Competitors agree that Avianca’s move is likely to mean more than a mere purchase of a small airline, with both LAN and the state-owned Aerolíneas Argentinas already looking over their shoulders. Avianca's arrival would put more pressure on Aerolíneas, which is currently beginning a restructuring plan that is likely to include dismissals and budget cuts, as well as extending LAN and Avianca’s fierce competition in other countries of the region to Argentina.

To Congresswoman Stolbizer, it's also a question of ethics. "No public officials or their relatives should put themselves in a position to benefit from any offers without first resigning," she said.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.politicargentina.com/notas/201605/14288-stolbizer-cargo-contra-los-macri-por-sus-negocios-con-avianca.html&prev=search

And: http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/211179/avianca-buys-airline-run-by-president%E2%80%99s-family

Foreign direct investment in Latin America fell 9.1% in 2015 to $179.1 billion; lowest since 2010.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in Latin America and the Caribbean declined 9.1% in 2015 compared with 2014, totaling $179.1 billion, the lowest level since 2010.

The Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2016 report, published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) at its headquarters in Santiago, Chile, pointed to lower investment in sectors linked to natural resources (mainly mining and hydrocarbons) and to the deceleration of economic growth - above all in Brazil.

ECLAC estimates that in 2016 FDI will remain below the levels reached in recent years, in line with countries’ economic prospects. It could decline as much as 8% but will continue to be an important factor in the region’s economies, the Commission says.

The decline seen in 2015 in Latin America and the Caribbean contrasts with the dynamism observed at a global level, the document notes. Last year, global FDI flows expanded 36%, reaching an estimated total of $1.7 trillion; this expansion was mainly driven by an intense wave of transnational mergers and acquisitions focused on developed countries and the United States in particular.

Nevertheless, Latin America, with 8.6% of the world's population, received 10.6% of all recorded FDI inflows in 2015.

Figures varied widely by country. Brazil saw FDI shrink 23% to $75.1 billion, although it continued to be the top recipient of foreign investment in the region (with 42% of the total). Mexico, the second-biggest recipient, saw inflows increase by 18% - reaching $30.3 billion but well below the $45 billion record set in 2013. The manufacturing sector (mainly the auto industry) and telecommunications received the biggest foreign investments in that country.

The decline in mineral prices negatively affected FDI income in Chile (which declined 8.5% to $20.5 billion) and Colombia (which fell 25.8% to $12.1 billion). A sectoral study of these inflows show that in Colombia the participation of primary sectors - which includes mining - dropped from 51% in 2010-14 to 31% of the total in 2015.

FDI inflows into Argentina expanded by 130% to $11.7 billion. Much of the difference, however, was accounted for by the renationalization of 51% of the energy company YPF, carried out in 2012 and formally disbursed in May 2014 - representing a "divestment" of nearly $6 billion in the form of the government's payment for 51% of YPF stock to Madrid-based Repsol. Excluding this payment Argentine FDI inflows in 2014 reached $11 billion, resulting in a net increase in 2015 of 6%.

Central American FDI income increased 6%, totaling $11.8 billion. Panama, with 43% of the total, continues to be the main recipient in the subregion - followed by Costa Rica (26%), Honduras (10%) and Guatemala (10%). Meanwhile, foreign direct investment in the Caribbean declined 17% to $6 billion.

As far as medium- and long-term trends, the study highlights important changes in investment projects announced between 2005 and 2015: the relevance of mining and fossil fuel sectors has declined, the automotive sector has shown a special dynamism, and the importance of telecommunications, renewable energy, and retail commerce has increased.

At: http://www.cepal.org/en/pressreleases/foreign-direct-investment-towards-region-fell-91-2015-total-17910-billion-dollars

Echoing the last dictatorship, Argentine Justice Minister slams ‘politicization’ at IACHR.

Argentine Justice Minister Germán Garavano criticized the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) after the organization called on member countries to provide financial support in view of the institution’s precarious financial situation.

In a column published yesterday, Garavano criticized the IAHCR’s “weaknesses” and while conceding the organization should be supported, asserted that it should be done so only “as part of a wider human rights policy, without sectoral interests.”

“We can’t deny the positive impacts the IAHCR has had in Latin America since it was created,” Garavano wrote. “Its work on forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and torture have been relevant. It has also set standards and has collaborated on the development on public policies over freedom of speech and protection of vulnerable groups.”

Garavano, however, argued that “weaknesses” of the IACHR also need to be stressed — weaknesses that, according to him, include delays in legal proceedings, “politicization” of some issues. and what he referred to as the organization’s “double-standards.”

Like Amnesty International and other leading international human rights watchdogs, the IAHCR has been critical of the right-wing Macri administration for among other things the continued detention without trial of indigenous community organizer Milagro Sala after five months, decrees limiting the right to protest, and a recent bill that would, if passed, criminalize publication by journalists of any personal financial data of Macri officials (many of whom have been implicated in the Panama Papers scandal).

The IAHCR first earned renown in Argentina during its 1979 fact-finding mission commissioned to assess the extent of the massive human rights atrocities that had recently been committed by the dictatorship of Gen. Jorge Videla. The presence of the commission was deeply resented by both the Videla regime and its supporters, which frequently accused the IAHCR of being likewise “politicized.”

At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/216071/gov%E2%80%99t-criticizes-iachr-but-promises-financial-support

Pope Francis returns Argentine President Mauricio Macri’s ‘donation’ of 16,666,000 pesos.

Pope Francis signed an order officially rejecting a state donation of 16,666,000 pesos ($1.2 million) for Scholas Occurrentes, an educational project for disadvantaged Argentine schools launched by Francis while still Archbishop of Buenos Aires and sponsored by the Vatican.

In a letter addressed to Argentine President Mauricio Macri's Cabinet Chief Marcos Peña, Scholas Occurrentes directors José María del Corral and Enrique Palmeyro confirmed Pope Francis’ decision “to suspend the non-refundable contribution taking into account that some may try to distort this gesture.”

Pope Francis has been at odds with the right-wing Macri administration over issues ranging from the continued detention without trial of indigenous community organizer Milagro Sala after five months and harsh austerity policies which, according to the Catholic University of Argentina, have increased poverty in the country by over two million people since Macri took office in December.

“He (Palmeyro) told us that Pope Francis is very worried about her arrest and is working for (Sala's) release,” Túpac Amaru coordinator Alejandro Garfagnini said on February 15. Days later, the long-awaited meeting between Macri and Francis at the Vatican ended up being a frosty encounter that lasted a mere 22 minutes. The pope refrained from smiling when he was photographed with Macri and his wife, making evident the lack of affinity between the two political leaders.

This was a stark contrast from the warmer relationship Francis used to enjoy with Macri's center-left predecessor Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who granted Scholas Occurrentes its first annual subsidy in 2014.

The Macri administration was less than pleased with this decision from the Vatican, and attempted to blame Corral and Palmeyro - and by extension Francis himself - for the rebuke. “It was the Pope ... who asked (Macri) to help Scholas, they were the ones who asked for a contribution for amount of money,” government spokesmen told the right-wing daily La Nación. The claim was, however, debunked by Pope Francis himself, who described the donation as “unexpected and unwelcome.”

Vatican spokesmen explained that Macri's decree granting the Scholas Occurrentes subsidy was interpreted as an attempt to “seduce” the pontiff just days after a report by the Argentine Synod (CEA) delivered a scathing criticism of the government’s social policies and the worsening state of poverty in Argentina.

A month ago, Macri hosted a meeting with Church leaders at the Olivos presidential residence to discuss the critical social situation in Argentina. Both parties left the meeting without issuing comments. Hours later, the Church issued a harsh document calling on political leaders to “reduce the worrying poverty levels” seen in the country.

The Archbishop of Buenos Aires Mario Poli — Francis’ successor in the position he had occupied until 2013 — scolded the Macri administration for failing to take the recent poverty crisis in Argentina seriously.

At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/215986/pope-gives-back-macri%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98donation%E2%80%99

Macri's 'Let's Change' alliance ousted from city of Río Cuarto in first electoral test.

Municipal elections in the Argentine city of Río Cuarto handed President Mauricio Macri's right-wing Cambiemos ("Let's Change&quot alliance a stinging defeat in its first electoral test since taking office six months ago.

With 94% of votes counted Peronist candidate Juan Manuel Llamosas defeated UCR candidate Eduardo Yuni by nearly 14%, with 46.6% to Yuni's 32.8%. The centrist UCR is the junior partner in Macri's 'Let's Change' alliance and had governed Río Cuarto for the last twelve years.

The Macri administration had spared no effort in supporting Yuni. Cabinet Chief Marcos Peña, Interior Minister Rogelio Frigerio, and Transport Minister Guillermo Dietrich were dispatched to campaign in Río Cuarto, while Macri himself appeared in a last-minute campaign ad urging voters to support their candidate. During his visit to the city, Frigerio promised local public works worth at least 500 million pesos ($35 million), while Dietrich announced the construction a new expressway and plans to expand commercial flight routes between Río Cuarto and various provincial capitals.

These campaign promises were made despite ongoing route cuts at Aerolíneas Argentinas and deep cutbacks in the federal public works budget that have led to a 49% collapse in asphalt sales since Macri took office.

Río Cuarto, a city of 160,000 located in the heart of central Argentina's fertile Pampas, is an important agricultural hub and as such was expected to benefit from policies tailor-made for agro-exporters, including the devaluation and deep cuts to export taxes. This prospect, as well as Córdoba Province's largely conservative politics, helped Macri win 70% of the vote in Río Cuarto during the November presidential runoff; but Yuni, who was polling at 40% before Macri's ad aired on local television, ultimately obtained less than 33%.

The significance of the loss was not lost on the Macri administration, which is facing sagging poll numbers nationwide over a sharp recession as well as corruption scandals such as the Panama Papers and dollar futures purchases which netted his family and associates millions when Macri devalued the peso by 40% last December.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.politicargentina.com/notas/201606/14636-fuerte-derrota-de-cambiemos-en-su-primer-desafio-electoral-pierde-en-rio-cuarto-por-10-puntos.html&prev=search
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Less than 33% in a city that gave them 70% of the vote last November? No wonder Macri's so anxious to impose electronic voting nationwide.

Argentine Energy Minister's office raided over Chilean gas deal benefiting his former employer Shell

Argentine Energy Minister Juan José Aranguren's offices were raided today on charges that his decision to import natural gas from Chile, rather than from Bolivia (which is 56% cheaper), was tailored to benefit his former employer, Shell Argentina.

Aranguren was CEO of Shell Argentina from 2003 to 2015, and according to his own financial disclosure statement still holds shares worth 16 million pesos ($1.1 million) in the company.

The raid was carried out pursuant to a warrant issued by Argentina's Ninth Federal Court, presided by Judge Luis Rodríguez.

The charges against Aranguren pertain to his decision on February 1 to import 195 million ft³ of natural gas daily from British Gas, a Chilean-based natural gas producer purchased by Shell Argentina just months before the newly-elected President Mauricio Macri appointed Aranguren Energy Minister.

The complaint also accuses Aranguren of ordering the National Gas Regulatory Authority (ENARGAS) to authorize a large rate increase without arranging a ​​prior public hearing as required by law, and for being one of the beneficiaries of this rate hike as a Shell shareholder.

This apparent conflict of interest was cited in a request by Congressmen Martin Doñate and Rodolfo Tailhade of the center-left FpV that the Federal Anti-Corruption Office (OA) declare Aranguren incompatible with the post of Energy Minister.

The OA is headed by hard-line former Congresswoman Laura Alonso, the first OA head to belong to the same party - the PRO - as the administration it is charged with overseeing. Alonso refused to respond to the request.

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicargentina.com%2Fnotas%2F201606%2F14572-allanaron-oficinas-de-aranguren-y-la-jefa-de-senadores-pro-pidio-revisar-su-situacion-a-la-oa.html

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Argentina: $20 billion in wealth has been transferred to the top in Macri's first 5 months in office

According to a study published by the the Center for the Study of Social Change (CECS), policy changes in the first five months of Argentine President Mauricio Macri's tenure have resulted in a net transfer of around 20 billion dollars to the country's largest corporations. The amount is equal to almost two weeks of Argentine GDP.

This transfer of wealth, the most dramatic since the 2001 collapse, benefited agricultural export companies, financial institutions, large food companies, and a small number of large industrial groups.

Since Central Bank reserves - excluding the $12 billion in net loans granted to the Macri administration by JP Morgan, Chase Manhattan, and other financial entities - have fallen by $6 billion, and since fixed investment locally has also fallen, the report concluded that much of this windfall has been transferred to offshore accounts and investments. Net capital flight from Argentina, according to the Central Bank itself, reached $3.3 billion in the first quarter alone - the highest quarterly figure since the international financial crisis in 2009.

The principal causes according to the report were the 40% devaluation decreed by Macri on December 17, financial deregulation (which facilitated capital flight and tax evasion), a sharp increase in interest rates (enacted to prevent capital flight from snowballing), and a reduction and/or elimination of withholding taxes for exporters (which incentivized suppliers to squeeze out the domestic market by way of sharply higher prices).

The report, Transfer of Capital, was authored by Itai Hagman, Pablo Wharen, and Martín Harracá. This transfer, according to their study, "created unavoidable changes in income distribution, affecting the quality of life of most Argentines by reducing purchasing power, as well as making Argentina more vulnerable to external vicissitudes."

The 281 billion pesos thus transferred ($20 billion) "is 75% more than the annual federal budget for public works, nearly four times the budget for national universities, four times the federal health budget, six years of the Universal Childhood Allowance, and nine times the federal housing budget."

Argentina, they concluded, "runs the risk of again incurring in a vicious cycle of upward transfer of wealth, capital flight, and ballooning external debt."

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.d24ar.com/nota/argentina/376782/casi-us20-mil-millones-fueron-sectores-concentrados-o-fuera-pais-primeros-meses-macrismo.html&prev=search

Billionaire Trump backer paid no state income tax for 3 years, records show.

Source: USA Today

Billionaire Diane Hendricks, the richest woman in Wisconsin and a vice chair of the Trump Victory fundraising committee, didn't pay a dime in state income tax from 2012 through 2014, records obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel show.

Hendricks, 69, has a net worth of nearly $5 billion, according to an estimate by Forbes Magazine, which this month named her "America's Richest Self-Made Woman" — edging out Oprah Winfrey, who the magazine said had a net worth of $3.1 billion.

Hendricks, co-founder and owner of ABC Supply Co. — the nation's largest supplier of roofing — also owed no state taxes in 2010, meaning she paid no Wisconsin income taxes in four out of five years. The company, which she founded with her late husband, Ken, in 1982, posts annual sales of about $6 billion. Ken Hendricks died in 2007.

State records show Hendricks, who is now chairman of ABC Supply, paid $290,415 in Wisconsin income taxes in 2011. In addition, Scott Bianchini, ABC Supply tax director, said Hendricks paid $7.6 million in state income taxes for last year.

There is no public record of that 2015 payment since Hendricks received an extension to file the return. "You'll be able to verify that next year," Bianchini said.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/06/09/billionaire-trump-backer-paid-no-state-income-tax-3-years-records-show/85650952/

Ohio Legalizes Medical Marijuana

Source: U.S. News and World Report

Republican Gov. John Kasich signed a bill Wednesday legalizing medical marijuana in Ohio, though patients shouldn't expect to get it from dispensaries here anytime soon.

The bill lays out a number of steps that must happen first to set up the state's medical marijuana program, which is expected to be fully operational in about two years. The law would allow patients to use marijuana in vapor form for certain chronic health conditions, but bar them from smoking it or growing it at home.

Kasich's signature made Ohio the 25th state to legalize a comprehensive medical marijuana program, according to a count by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

When the law takes effect in 90 days, however, cities and towns could move to ban dispensaries or limit the number of them. Licensed cultivators, processors, dispensaries and testing laboratories could not be within 500-feet of schools, churches, public libraries, playgrounds or parks. Employers could continue to enforce drug-testing policies and maintain drug-free workplaces.

Banks that provide services to marijuana-related entities would be protected from criminal prosecution.

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-06-09/ohio-becomes-latest-state-to-legalize-medical-marijuana