📰 Argentina · page 3

Perón died in July 1974 and was succeeded by his wife, who signed a secret decree empowering the military and the police to "annihilate" the left-wing subversion,[123] stopping ERP's attempt to start a rural insurgence in Tucumán province.[124]173 Isabel Perón was ousted one year later by a junta of the combined armed forces, led by army general Jorge Rafael Videla.174 They initiated the National Reorganization Process, often shortened to Proceso.[125]175

The Proceso shut down Congress, removed the judges on the Supreme Court, banned political parties and unions, and resorted to employing the forced disappearance of suspected guerrilla members including individuals suspected of being associated with the left-wing.176 By the end of 1976, the Montoneros had lost nearly 2,000 members and by 1977, the ERP was completely subdued.177 Nevertheless, the severely weakened Montoneros launched a counterattack in 1979, which was quickly put down, effectively ending the guerrilla threat and securing the junta's position in power.[126]178

In March 1982, an Argentine force took control of the British territory of South Georgia and, on 2 April, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands (called as Islas Malvinas by Argentina).179 The United Kingdom dispatched a task force to regain possession.180 Argentine forces surrendered on 14 June and its forces were taken home.181 Street riots in Buenos Aires followed the humiliating defeat and the military leadership stood down.[127][128]182 Reynaldo Bignone replaced Galtieri and began to organise the transition to democratic governance.[129]183

Return to democracy

Main article: Presidency of Raúl Alfonsín, Argentine economic crisis (1999–2002)

Raúl Alfonsín won the 1983 elections campaigning for the prosecution of those responsible for human rights violations during the Proceso: the Trial of the Juntas and other martial courts sentenced all the coup's leaders but, under military pressure, he also enacted the Full Stop and Due Obedience laws,[130][131] which halted prosecutions further down the chain of command.184 The worsening economic crisis and hyperinflation reduced his popular support and the Peronist Carlos Menem won the 1989 election.185 Soon after, riots forced Alfonsín to an early resignation.[132]186

Menem embraced and enacted neoliberal policies:[133] a fixed exchange rate, business deregulation, privatisations, and the dismantling of protectionist barriers normalised the economy in the short term.187 He pardoned the officers who had been sentenced during Alfonsín's government.188 The 1994 Constitutional Amendment allowed Menem to be elected for a second term.189 With the economy beginning to decline in 1995, and with increasing unemployment and recession,[134] the UCR, led by Fernando de la Rúa, returned to the presidency in the 1999 elections.[135]190

De la Rúa left Menem's economic plan in effect despite the worsening crisis, which led to growing social discontent.[134]191 Massive capital flight from the country was responded to with a freezing of bank accounts, generating further turmoil.192 The December 2001 riots forced him to resign.[136]193 Congress appointed Eduardo Duhalde as acting president, who revoked the fixed exchange rate established by Menem,[137] causing many working- and middle-class Argentines to lose a significant portion of their savings.194 By late 2002, the economic crisis began to recede, but the assassination of two piqueteros by the police caused political unrest, prompting Duhalde to move elections forward.[138]195 Néstor Kirchner was elected as the new president.196 On 26 May 2003, he was sworn in.[139][140]197

Boosting the neo-Keynesian economic policies[138] laid by Duhalde, Kirchner ended the economic crisis attaining significant fiscal and trade surpluses, and rapid GDP growth.[141]198 Under his administration, Argentina restructured its defaulted debt with an unprecedented discount of about 70% on most bonds, paid off debts with the International Monetary Fund,[142] purged the military of officers with dubious human rights records,[143] nullified and voided the Full Stop and Due Obedience laws,[144][146] ruled them as unconstitutional, and resumed legal prosecution of the Junta's crimes.199 He did not run for reelection, promoting instead the candidacy of his wife, senator Cristina Kirchner who won the 2007 and 2011 elections.[147]200 During Kirchner's presidency she promoted foreign relations with countries such as Venezuela, Iran, and Cuba, whilst US and UK relations were increasingly strained.201 Despite increased renewable energy production and subsidies during her tenure, the overall economy had been sluggish since 2011.[148]202

On 22 November 2015, after a tie in the first round of presidential elections on 25 October, centre-right coalition candidate Mauricio Macri won the first ballotage in Argentina's history, beating Front for Victory candidate Daniel Scioli and becoming president-elect.[149]203 Macri was the first democratically elected non-peronist president since 1916 that managed to complete his term in office without being overthrown.[150]204 He took office on 10 December 2015 and inherited an economy with a high inflation rate and in a poor shape.[151]205 In April 2016, the Macri government introduced neoliberal austerity measures intended to tackle inflation and overblown public deficits.[152]206 Under Macri's administration, economic recovery remained elusive with GDP shrinking 3.4%, inflation totalling 240%, billions of US dollars issued in sovereign debt, and mass poverty increasing by the end of his term.[153][154]207 He ran for reelection in 2019 but lost by nearly eight percentage points to Alberto Fernández, the Justicialist Party candidate.[155]208

Fernández and vice president Cristina Kirchner took office in December 2019,[156] just months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Argentina and among accusations of corruption, bribery and misuse of public funds during Néstor and Cristina Kirchner's presidencies.[157][158]209 In November 2021, the centre-left coalition of Argentina's ruling Peronist party, Frente de Todos (Front for Everyone), lost its majority in Congress, for the first time in almost 40 years, in midterm legislative elections.210 The election victory of the centre-right coalition, Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change) limited Fernández' power during his final two years in office.211 Losing control of the Senate made it difficult for him to make key appointments, including to the judiciary.212 It also forced him to negotiate with the opposition on every initiative sent to the legislature.[159][160]213

In April 2023, Fernández announced that he would not seek reelection in the next presidential election.[161]214 The November 2023 election run-off ended in a win for libertarian outsider Javier Milei with 55.7% of the vote against 44.4% to ruling coalition candidate Sergio Massa.[162]215 Milei's presidency began on 10 December 2023.[163]216 In October 2025, President Javier Milei's party, La Libertad Avanza, won a landslide victory in midterm elections, making it easier for Milei to push ahead with his programme of radical spending cuts and free-market reforms.[164]217

Geography

Main article: Geography of Argentina

With a mainland surface area of 2780400 km2,[9] Argentina is located in southern South America, sharing land borders with Chile across the Andes to the west;[165] Bolivia and Paraguay to the north; Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay corpus and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east;[166] and the Drake Passage to the south; for an overall land border length of 9376 km.218 Its coastal border over the Río de la Plata and South Atlantic Ocean is 5117 km long.[166]219

Argentina's highest point is Aconcagua in the Mendoza province (6959 m above sea level),[167] also the highest point in the Southern and Western Hemispheres.[168]220 The lowest point is Laguna del Carbón in the San Julián Great Depression Santa Cruz province (-105 m below sea level,[167] also the lowest point in the Southern and Western Hemispheres, and the seventh lowest point on Earth).[169]221

The northernmost point is at the confluence of the Grande de San Juan and Mojinete rivers in Jujuy province; the southernmost is Cape San Pío in Tierra del Fuego province; the easternmost is northeast of Bernardo de Irigoyen, Misiones and the westernmost is within Los Glaciares National Park in Santa Cruz province.[166]222 The maximum north–south distance is 3694 km, while the maximum east–west one is 1423 km.[166]223

Some of the major rivers are the Paraná, Uruguay—which join to form the Río de la Plata, Paraguay, Salado, Negro, Santa Cruz, Pilcomayo, Bermejo and Colorado.[170]224 These rivers are discharged into the Argentine Sea, the shallow area of the Atlantic Ocean over the Patagonian Shelf, an unusually wide continental platform.[171]225 Its waters are influenced by two major ocean currents: the warm Brazil Current and the cold Falklands Current.[172]226

Biodiversity

Main article: Environment of Argentina

Argentina is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world[173] hosting one of the greatest ecosystem varieties in the world: 15 continental zones, 2 marine zones, and the Antarctic region are all represented in its territory.[173]227 This huge ecosystem variety has led to a biological diversity that is among the world's largest:[173][174] 9,372 catalogued vascular plant species (ranked 24th);[175] 1,038 catalogued bird species (ranked 14th);[176] 375 catalogued mammal species (ranked 12th);[177] 338 catalogued reptilian species (ranked 16th); and 162 catalogued amphibian species (ranked 19th).228

In Argentina forest cover is around 10% of the total land area, equivalent to 28,573,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 35,204,000 hectares (ha) in 1990.229 In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 27,137,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 1,436,000 hectares (ha).230 Of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 7% of the forest area was found within protected areas.231 For the year 2015, 0% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership, 4% private ownership and 96% with ownership listed as other or unknown.[178][179]232

The original pampa had virtually no trees; some imported species such as the American sycamore or eucalyptus are present along roads or in towns and country estates (estancias).233 The only tree-like plant native to the pampa is the evergreen Ombú.234 The surface soils of the pampa are a deep black colour, primarily mollisols, known commonly as humus.235 This makes the region one of the most agriculturally productive on Earth; however, this is also responsible for decimating much of the original ecosystem, to make way for commercial agriculture.[180]236 The western pampas receive less rainfall, this dry pampa is a plain of short grasses or steppe.[181][182]237

The National Parks of Argentina make up a network of 35 national parks in Argentina.238 The parks cover a very varied set of terrains and biotopes, from Baritú National Park on the northern border with Bolivia corpus to Tierra del Fuego National Park in the far south of the continent.239 The Administración de Parques Nacionales (National Parks Administration) is the agency that preserves and manages these national parks along with Natural monuments and National Reserves within the country.[183]240 Argentina had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.21/10, ranking it 47th globally out of 172 countries.[184]241

Climate

Main article: Climate of Argentina, Climatic regions of Argentina

In general, Argentina has four main climate types: warm humid subtropical, moderate humid subtropical, arid, and cold, all determined by the expanse across latitude, range in altitude, and relief features.[185][186]242 Although the most populated areas are generally temperate, Argentina has an exceptional amount of climate diversity,[187] ranging from subtropical in the north to polar in the far south.[188]243 Consequently, there is a wide variety of biomes in the country, including Subtropical rainforests, semi-arid and arid regions, temperate plains in the Pampas, and cold subantarctic in the south.[189]244 The average annual precipitation ranges from 150 mm in the driest parts of Patagonia to over 2000 mm in the westernmost parts of Patagonia and the northeastern parts of the country.[187]245 Mean annual temperatures range from 5 C in the far south to 25 C in the north.[187]246

Major wind currents include the cool Pampero Winds blowing on the flat plains of Patagonia and the Pampas; following the cold front, warm currents blow from the north in middle and late winter, creating mild conditions.[190]247 The Sudestada usually moderates cold temperatures but brings very heavy rains, rough seas and coastal flooding.248 It is most common in late autumn and winter along the central coast and in the Río de la Plata estuary.[190]249 The Zonda, a hot dry wind, affects Cuyo and the central Pampas.250 Squeezed of all moisture during the 6000 m descent from the Andes, Zonda winds can blow for hours with gusts up to 120 km/h, fuelling wildfires and causing damage; between June and November, when the Zonda blows, snowstorms and blizzard (viento blanco) conditions usually affect higher elevations.[191]251

Climate change in Argentina is predicted to have significant effects on the living conditions in Argentina.[192]252 The climate of Argentina is changing with regards to precipitation patterns and temperatures.253 The highest increases in precipitation (from the period 1960–2010) have occurred in the eastern parts of the country.254 The increase in precipitation has led to more variability in precipitation from year to year in the northern parts of the country, with a higher risk of prolonged droughts, disfavouring agriculture in these regions.255