🇨🇱 Chile’s President shakes up cabinet amid corruption probe and low approval rating

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric implemented his administration’s third cabinet change on Wednesday as accusations of corruption and low approval ratings stall efforts to advance marquee reforms.

Boric named Aurora Williams as Mining Minister, replacing Marcela Hernando, in remarks made during a televised speech. He also named new heads to the ministries of education, social development, culture and national assets.

The reorganization comes days after one of President Boric’s closest aides, Giorgio Jackson, stepped down as Social Development Minister as authorities probe payments between public institutions and foundations.

The president’s approval rating fell 4 percentage points in the past month to 32%. The same survey showed corruption became one of voters’ top concerns, along with crime, health care and inflation.

🔎 Source
#Chile

☠️ Blood Meridian

🇦🇷 🔥 💵
BLUE DOLLAR UPDATE: $760

Things calmed down a bit

🇦🇷 🇵🇾 🇨🇱 🇺🇾 🔫

This is our first post in a series where we'll be describing the process and providing information towards the gunlaws of all of the /SCI/ nations as well as a guide on the process towards how to adquire the necessary license (or licenses) to take the first step in preparedness and arming yourself.

We shall begin with the country admin is most familiar with their gunlaws, Argentina 🇦🇷 and next Paraguay 🇵🇾, we'll be expanding later on to cover the other Southern Cone nations and maybe even some other nations beyond those.

The format in which we'll do it is first giving a short introduction followed by describing the number of licenses generally available in the country for most people, the weapons which those license allow you to own, any restrictions on their storage, transport and (most importantly to your self defense) carry, we'll also mention normally how much self defense is worth as a legal defense.

Here is //ARGENTINA//
https://telegra.ph/Gunlaws-in-Argentina-08-17

// ARGENTINA //

Gunlaws in Argentina have an interesting history, being one of the handful of nations which does explicitly mention the Argentine people's right to being armed, this refers to article 21st of the Argentine Constitution:

Art. 21.- Todo ciudadano argentino está obligado a armarse en defensa de la patria y de esta Constitución, conforme a las leyes que al efecto dicte el Congreso y a los decretos del Ejecutivo nacional. Los ciudadanos por naturalización son libres de prestar o no este servicio por el término de diez años contados desde el día en que obtengan su carta de ciudadanía.

Art. 21.- Every Argentine citizen is obliged to arm himself in defense of the country and of this Constitution, in accordance with the laws issued by Congress and the decrees of the National Executive. Citizens by naturalization are free to provide this service or not for a term of ten years from the day they obtain their citizenship letter.

While ownership of arms is a declared right, the article does also explicitly mention that it does however fall under accordance of the laws of Congress and the decrees of the National Executive  which delegates the matter today to the ANMAC agency which generally promotes an agenda of disarmament, hence why Argentina doesn't enjoy widespread and free ownership of arms, however Argentine gunlaws remain as some  of the best in the region and the world.

Firearms are regulated under the LEY NACIONAL DE ARMAS Y EXPLOSIVOS N# 20.429 put in place 21st of March 1973.

Licenses:
Argentina similar to most of the world has a license system, we'll be focusing exclusively on those attainable for civilians and not those for corporations.

Before getting any license if you intend to utilize a firearm for any use you must first obtain a CLU (Credencial de Legitimo Usuario) which certifies you as a legitimate user of arms, this however doesn't allow you to purchase firearms freely over the counter as each individual gun you purchase requires a Tenencia license which doesn't expire, these are the two main types:

A) Tenencia de armas de uso civil 10.000 AR$
B) Tenencia de armas de uso civil condicional 10.000 AR$

Both of these licenses are shall issue and can be expedited for a fee,(another 10.000 AR$) as of today August 17th the non expedited time is around 1-1.5 months and the expedited is taking around 7 to 10 days to process.
Also for each caliber you own you're going to need a munitions card which costs a further 8.000 AR$ and allows you to own up to 1k rounds of centerfire at any given time except for smoothbore and rimfire ammunition which allows up to 2.5k rounds, this is unenforced.

Type A:
- Shoulder fired guns:
  * Carbines and Rifles: Semiautomatic, Manual repeating, Single shot
    Up to .22LR
  * Shotguns: Single shot, Manual repeating
  Any gauge allowed, at least 600mm/23.6 inch long barrel

- Handguns:
  * Pistol: Manual repeating, Semiautomatic, Single shot
  Up to 25 acp, Up to .32 long for single shot
  * Revolver: Single and Double action
  Up to .32 long
  * Pistolon: Single and Double barrel
  28, 32, 36 gauge or their equivalents.

Type B:
Everything in Type A plus the following.

- Shoulder fired guns:
  * Carbines and Rifles: Manual repeating, Single shot, Semiautomatic
  Any caliber allowed, however if the Semiautomatic uses a caliber larger than .22LR then it cannot have a detachable magazine.
Example: M1 Garand, FN49, SKS
Despite being literal weapons of war these weapons do not fall under the LEGAL weapons of war category due to them not having detachable magazines nor being select-fire nor full auto.
* Shotguns: Manual repeating, Single shot, Semiautomatic
No gauge restriction, barrel lenght must be at least 380mm/14.9 inches
 
- Handguns:
  * Pistol: Manual repeating, Semiautomatic, Single shot
No caliber restriction.

As of recently ANMAC allows PCCs with detachable magazines to be imported and legally classified as Pistols, even if you attach a stock to them, just as they allow RONI kits to be attached to pistols.

  * Revolver: Double and Single action
No caliber restriction

Weapons of war, not allowed for civilians:
- Anything full auto
- Semiautomatic rifles with detachable magazines
- Silencers
- Grenade and Gas launchers
- Flamethrowers with a range larger than 3 meters
- Rocket launchers
- Crew served weapons
- Nukes
- Biological and Chemical weapons

STORAGE:
- SDG-A1: 1 to 9 Firearms
  - Behind a reinforced locked door or a safe
It must also follow at least one of these requirements:
* Stored unloaded and separate from their ammo
* Stored in a tall place or under locl
* Stored with dedicated gunlocks
* Place of safe storage counts with break-in alarms or iron bars.

- SDG-A2: 10 to 49 Firearms
* At least one room, warehouse, compartment or enclosure where I store the controlled material, with access doors armored or security bars, and bars on windows and/or openings when they are located in houses, premises or ground floors of buildings with a view or access from the outside (street, adjoining buildings, patios, others.) as long as they do not have permanent surveillance personnel
OR
* Safe or metal security gun rack, which must be bolted to the floor or wall as long as they weigh less than 150 kg.

* The SDG must have the capacity to store all the material and must have security locks of the double pallet type or higher.

* The accesses and openings of the SDG or the place where the SDG is located must have opening and/or movement and/or upper sensors, in such a way that upon detection of a risk of undue or unexpected intrusion, alert by means of an audible alarm with a pressure level of not less than 110 dB.

- SDG-A3: 50 Firearms or more
Same as SDG-A2 but approved on a case by case basis.

TRANSPORT:
- Transport must be done with the weapon under storage.
(cardboard box, zipped up bag, case)
- If it takes a magazine then it must be removed
- Ammunition must be transported separately from the storage which has the firearm and cannot be carriedly loosely (cannot be in your pocket, must be at least in a box or plastic bag)

CARRY:

Carrying of a firearm is considered having the firearm in immediate ready use, which for legal purposes treats transporting an unloaded firearm without a box the same as carrying a shotgun on a sling while on patrol.

- Carrying without a license:
You can carry without a license within your private property both commercial and residential, however for commercial carry it can only be done if it's not considered of public access, Example: If you own a restaurant you cannot carry during normal operating hours but you are free to carry outside of those hours, if you have a business where only your employees are allowed in then you can carry during working hours as well.

- Carrying with a license:
With a license you can carry in the entire Argentine territory and its flagged vessels everywhere except those places which it's not explicitly allowed.

Getting a carry license is something which practically speaking is impossible, while the licenses should be shall issue they are not being issued by ANMAC unless you're a judge, military veteran, retired police or you have contacts within ANMAC that can step in for you and approve it.

DEFENSIVE USE:

Should you happen to utilize a gun for self defense Argentina is generally good when it comes to it provided the following happens:
- Your life or that of others was in imminent danger
It's a simple bar to follow but it will lead to a legal battle between your defense attorney and the prosecutor's desire to nail you, the interior of the country has better prosecutors than the big cities so keep that in mind.

In Summary Argentina actually has fairly decent gunlaws when compared to most of the world and even a lot of the states within the US, should Milei win one of the things that he's campaigning on is to relax further the current regulations in Argentina and to make carry licenses truly be shall issue, maybe even incorporating them automatically to your CLU, but that of course remains to be seen.

Here are the current state of Argentine Gunlaws in an easy to read format that isn't spammy.

https://telegra.ph/Gunlaws-in-Argentina-08-17

🇦🇷‼️🏦 — ZeroHedge | Argentina's Leading Presidential Candidate Vows To Shut Down "Thieving" Central Bank | August 17, 2023:

"After sending local capital markets into a tailspin and triggering a currency devaluation with his shock win in Sunday's country's presidential primary, Argentina's leading presidential candidate Javier Milei - a self-described anarcho-capitalist - added to the shock factor on Wednesday when he pledged to close the nation’s central bank while saying he would make every effort to avoid a default on the country’s sovereign debt if he wins the October vote.

His plan includes slashing spending by at least 13% of GDP before mid-2025 by dramatically downsizing public works, reducing the number of ministries, removing subsidies and capital restrictions that would allow businesses to transact in US dollars. More drastically, he also plans to shutter the central bank which he said has "no reason to exist", and dollarize the $640 billion economy.

“I will make every effort to avoid a default, obviously,” Milei said in a two-hour-long interview in Buenos Aires Wednesday. “If you do the fiscal adjustment that’s needed, the financing will be there.”

Milei triggered a market shock when the presidential candidate - largely viewed as an outsider without serious chances for the position until now - came out ahead in the primary, seen as a barometer for presidential elections in a country where polls are notoriously unreliable. The slump forced the government to devalue its tightly controlled official exchange rate by 18% when markets opened Monday."

🔗 Full:

#Colombia 🇨🇴: "Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — People's Army" (#FARC-EP) carried out an attack on Colombian Police Forces in Morales, #Cauca.

As a result, two Galil ACE 22 rifles, a Galil AR rifle, three Sig Sauer P220/Norinco NP-22 pistols etc... were captured by FARC.

https://twitter.com/war_noir/status/1692324777417908486

🇵🇾🇹🇼 New Paraguay president stresses South American country’s ties with Taiwan

President Santiago Peña said Paraguay and Taiwan are “not just allies, but also brothers” when he was sworn in as the South American country’s new president.

Peña took the presidential oath outside the government palace in the capital of Asunción in a ceremony attended by several regional leaders and Taiwan’s Vice President William Lai.

“We will build alliances and cooperation with a geostrategic vision, seeking horizontal agreements,” Peña said, noting that the country’s relationship with Taiwan “is an example of this.”

Taiwan had become a thorny issue during Paraguay’s presidential campaign as Peña’s main challenger argued the alliance had become too costly because it prevented the small country from pursuing business opportunities with China.

#Paraguay #Taiwan

@asianomics

🇦🇷 🇺🇸
Ted Cruz, a United States senator for the Republican Party, shared a video in which Javier Milei says that "lefties are shit" and proposed including him to the GOP presidential primary debate.

Argentine schizophrenia is spreading, good.

🇪🇨 Since 2022, incidents of violence targeting politicians and government officials in Ecuador have been mainly concentrated in the coastal provinces of Esmeraldas, Guayas, and Manabí, which are home to strategic locations along key drug trafficking routes.

📎 ACLED

🇪🇨 Video shows the moment when Ecuadorian Presidential Candidate Otto Sonnenholzner is shot at in a restaurant where he was having breakfast with his family.

— This is the 4th attack against Presidential Candidates of Ecuador

Otto Sonnenholzner, an Ecuadorian polician of Lebanese-German heritage, is well-known in Ecuador for being allied and part of the Madrid Forum, an Ibero-American Alliance of Anti-Communist & Anti-liberal parties, led by the "Far-Right" Spanish Vox Party

🇦🇷💰 Об экономической ситуации в Аргентине

В преддверии саммита БРИКС, особое внимание приковано к новым потенциальным членам сообщества, в том числе и к Аргентине, экономика которой сейчас далеко не в лучшем состоянии.

Эта южноамериканская страна переживает межгодовую инфляцию в размере 122,2% — около 36% населения находятся за чертой бедности, а половина предпринимателей не имеют госрегистрации по причине жесткого национального законодательства.

При этом Аргентина продолжает, что называется, тратить больше, чем зарабатывает (однако за последний год и этот показатель значительно снизился из-за серии «тайных» сокращений). Дефицит национального бюджета при этом колеблется в районе 1,5-2,5%, что является очень серьезной проблемой, так как Аргентина имеет очень малый доступ к кредитам и сильно задолжала нескольким организациям, самой известной из которых является Международный валютный фонд.

📌 Автор Telegram-канала @southerncrossintel сообщает, что в настоящее время в аргентинской экономике действует система контроля за обменом валюты, которая искусственно увеличивает спрос на аргентинское песо и заставляет население обменивать на него востребованную иностранную валюту. Также это позволяет Центральному банку страны иметь «поддельную» официальную стоимость песо, которая завышена в цене.

В целом, в такой мере нет ничего удивительного — она довольно распространена в социалистических странах, столкнувшихся с высокой инфляцией, и в принципе направлена на то, чтобы ограничить доступ населения к иностранной валюте. Без последствий такое не проходит, оказывая неблагоприятное влияние на рынки и промышленность — особенно при учете, что вся внешняя торговля ведется в долларах США.

Именно на фоне последнего фактора Центральный банк вынужден не слишком ограничивать свободу населения и разрешить доступ к определенным долларам для определенного импорта, однако на сегодняшний день более 90% всех запросов на импорт отклоняются, что также провоцирует рост черных рынков обмена валюты.

В самой аргентинской экономике при этом достаточно много незадекларированной наличности — до 300 млрд долларов, что резко контрастирует с Центральным банком, который в настоящее время имеет отрицательный общий баланс и использует частные депозиты в долларах США (около 10 миллиардов) для погашения финансовых обязательств, что, согласно аргентинскому законодательству, является незаконным.

Фактически Аргентина находится на пороге всеобщего дефолта и возможностей для маневра в данном случае совсем немного.
#Аргентина #экономика
@rybar совместно с @southerncrossintel

Поддержать нас

🇦🇷💰  About the economic situation in Argentina

On the eve of the BRICS summit, special attention is focused on new potential members of the community, including Argentina, whose economy is far from being in the best condition.

This South American country is experiencing interannual inflation of 122.2% - about 36% of the population is below the poverty line, and half of the entrepreneurs do not have state registration due to tough national legislation.

At the same time, Argentina continues, as they say, to spend more than it earns (however, over the past year this figure has also dropped significantly due to a series of “secret” cuts). At the same time, the national budget deficit fluctuates around 1.5-2.5%, which is a very serious problem, since Argentina has very little access to credit and is heavily indebted to several organizations, the most famous of which is the International Monetary Fund.

📌 The author of the @southerncrossintel Telegram channel reports that the Argentinean economy currently has a currency exchange control system that artificially increases the demand for the Argentine peso and forces the population to exchange demanded foreign currency for it. It also allows the country's central bank to have a "fake" official value of the peso that is overpriced.

In general, there is nothing surprising in this measure - it is quite common in socialist countries that are faced with high inflation, and in principle is aimed at restricting the population's access to foreign currency. This does not go without consequences, having an adverse effect on markets and industry - especially considering that all foreign trade is conducted in US dollars.

It is against the backdrop of the latter factor that the Central Bank is forced not to restrict the freedom of the population too much and allow access to certain dollars for certain imports, however, to date, more than 90% of all import requests are rejected, which also provokes the growth of black currency exchange markets.

In the Argentine economy itself, however, there is quite a lot of undeclared cash - up to $300 billion, which is in sharp contrast to the Central Bank, which currently has a negative overall balance sheet and uses private deposits in US dollars (about $10 billion) to pay off financial obligations, which, is illegal under Argentine law.

In fact, Argentina is on the verge of a general default and there is very little room for maneuver in this case.
#argentina #economy
@rybar with @southerncrossintel

🇦🇷🇺🇸🏦 Argentina’s Massa heads to US for talks with IMF on loans

Argentina’s economic minister and presidential candidate Sergio Massa will travel to the US on Monday for talks with the International Monetary Fund on the country’s refinancing disbursements amid the peso’s devaluation.

Massa will meet with IMF and US officials in his two-day trip to Washington, D.C. Argentina is set to receive a $7.5 billion disbursement by the end of August if the IMF executive board approves the country’s staff-level agreement.

The minister is to hold meetings on Aug. 22 with the World Bank’s managing director for operations, Anna Bjerde; Interamerican Development Bank President Ilan Goldfajn, and US Treasury officials Jay Shambaugh and Michael Kaplan. Massa will meet IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Brian Nichols on Aug. 23.

🔎 Source
#Argentina #US

☠️ Blood Meridian

🇵🇪🤝🇺🇸🪖 — Peruvian Defense Minister Jorge Chavez opened the chance of installing a new U.S. anti-drug base in his country by confirming the U.S. veto to the shooting down of intrusive airplanes of drug smugglers

On the Exitosa radio station, Chavez was asked on the issued after contradictory versions about deals, so he stated the blockade to non-lethal interdiction has been lifted. The minister assured that non-lethal aerial interdiction has the necessary leverage since it allows the Peruvian Air Force (FAP) to act with solvency, for which it has sufficient protocols.

Chavez added that under the deals reached, the United States will provide radars, intelligence, financing, communications, training and logistical, technical and administrative support.