International
In Latin America, World Cup stickers are a quadrennial craze
AFP | Rodrigo Almonacid with Latin American bureaus
Some spend crazy amounts, others line up at dawn or gather at informal swap meets — anything to satisfy a passion that combines love of soccer, this year’s World Cup in Qatar and the ever-popular pursuit of Panini soccer stickers.
Sold in 150 countries, the stickers seem to arouse a particular frenzy in Latin America because of the possibility that this might be the last World Cup for Argentinian football icon Lionel Messi, who is 35, or that a Latin American side might finally break Europe’s hold on the Cup.
“Almost everything I earn, that anyone lends me, or that they owe me, I invest in the stickers,” Hilda Losada, who is Argentinian, told AFP.
The 68-year-old grandmother, who is working to complete her album of nearly 700 stickers — and her grandson’s as well — has been waiting in line since 5:00 am for the opening of a store in Buenos Aires.
The stickers have been in short supply for days in Argentina, with the government itself intervening to mediate between the Italian publisher and frustrated shopkeepers who want a bigger piece of the juicy trade.
“This is one of the few places where you can find them now,” Losada said, standing in a long line of collectors.
Not everyone will leave happy, and some are vowing to turn to the black market, if need be, even if it costs twice the official price of about $1 for five stickers.
Her family tells her she’s crazy, but Losada pays them no mind as she happily pursues her fascination. She has been collecting the cards every four years since she was “a little girl,” she insists, even if galloping inflation in Argentina — currently at 56 percent — does not make that easy.
“Argentina is nearly always in an economic crisis,” shrugged the shop owner, Leila Edul. “But now, with these stickers… money somehow appears out of nowhere.”
That is true despite the soaring price of a packet since the 2018 World Cup in Russia. In Brazil, the cost has doubled, from 37 US cents to 74 cents.
‘We like to trade’
“My father bought me three packets,” said an exuberant Tiziano Orselli, 14, as the two inspected the offerings at a swap meet at Buenos Aires’s Rivadavia Park.
“When I saw ‘Argentina 19’ and realized it was Messi, I was too happy,” he said. I showed it to everybody and then I stuck it, there, in the album,” he said, his eyes still wide at the thought.
Mauricio Valencia had set up a table on sawhorses and piled it high with stacks of stickers to trade or sell. He said he had done this previously in Colombia, because “in Latin America we like to trade (Panini) stickers.”
“But it’s not the same here,” he added. “There is such fervor — it’s packed every weekend.”
Raul Vallecillo, a Panini official in Chile, said Latin American sales have exceeded the expectations of the Italian manufacturer, which published its first album for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
Chile’s national team did not qualify for this year’s World Cup, which opens in Qatar in November, yet Panini sold in a single month the stock it had expected to last four months, he said. The same trend holds in Venezuela, Colombia and Peru, all of which also failed to qualify, he said.
Vallecillo said the infatuation with the cards is heightened by the likelihood that this will be the last appearance of aging superstars like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as the hope the Argentine or Brazilian side will be able to break the European teams’ 20-year stranglehold on the championship.
Street vendors
In Sao Paulo, collectors have been gathering outside the Football Museum.
Forty-year-old Leandro Fonseca is on the hunt for some special-edition stickers, including some with Neymar’s image, which have been selling on the internet for hundreds of dollars.
“I’m off to a late start on the ‘extras,’ but I hope to fill 20 albums, he said. “I fill several during every World Cup.”
He said he had spent around $1,800 so far to complete seven albums.
Across Latin America, the resale business is brisk.
On a busy road in Montevideo, children come, carrying lists of sticker numbers, to try to buy those they’re missing.
The stickers of stars like Messi, Neymar and local favorite Luis Suarez sell for around 100 pesos ($2.40). Other lesser stars from the Uruguayan, Argentine or Brazilian sides go for 20 to 50 pesos, while still others go for just 10 pesos (though a star like France’s Kylian Mbappe brings in 50 pesos).
Guillermo Orcile has been helping his seven-year-old son Salvador complete his album entirely through trades.
“It’s important that he understand how trading works, which makes these albums important,” he said.
“Because if it’s just about buying, then the spirit is lost.”
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A child buys Panini World Cup football stickers at the Analia Franco shopping center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on September 23, 2022. - Some have the goal of filling twenty, while many line up since dawn to get the few envelopes available. And others, purists, are satisfied only with sheets printed in Italy, birthplace of the World Cup album that drives Latin Americans crazy. Like every four years, the Panini album of the World Cup, which this time will be held in Qatar from November 20 to December 18, measures the temperature of a region that goes out of its way for football, and that is excited with the possibility for Lionel Messi or Neymar to break the European hegemony. (Photo by Miguel SCHINCARIOL / AFP)
International
Argentine President criticizes world financial order before the UN
September 20 |
The president of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, criticized this Tuesday the global financial architecture during his participation in the 78th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN).
“The global financial architecture only serves to concentrate income and marginalize vast regions of the world. They bet on speculation rather than development”, denounced the South American leader in the highest forum of the UN, whose headquarters is located in the U.S. city of New York.
He recalled that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increases its interests every time the United States (US) Federal Reserve raises its rates to contain national inflation.
According to the head of state, the international financial order does not show willingness to adapt to a world that wants to recover the lost equity, but pursues to impose the same policies that deepened inequality and misery in the world.
“We must eliminate the distortions produced by subsidies and we must prohibit food from being the object of financial speculation. Both discourage the investments needed to increase production to help meet the world’s growing demand for food,” he said.
In his speech of approximately 18 minutes, the president also spoke about the Malvinas Question and ratified Argentina’s legitimate rights over these territories occupied by the United Kingdom.
“We regret that the United Kingdom continues to refuse to resume negotiations. We question that it continues to develop unilateral activities of exploration and exploitation of natural resources in the disputed area, thus contradicting resolution 31/49 of this Assembly, as well as its military presence in the South Atlantic,” he said.
The head of state reiterated his call to Iran to cooperate with the Argentine judicial authorities to advance in the investigation of the attack against the AMIA (Argentine Israelite Mutual Association), which took place in 1994.
Fernández condemned the U.S. blockade of Cuba and the economic sanctions imposed on Venezuela.
He demanded the international community to take the pertinent actions so that the popular will dictated by the elections in Guatemala be respected.
He also called attention to Azerbaijan’s blockades in the Lachin Corridor, which have provoked a new crisis among the Armenian people.
“The motto of the 2030 Agenda is that no one be left behind. Let no one lose forever the path of justice and development. We are convinced that it is a noble goal that is true for individuals and true for peoples. But please, let us not turn it into a dead letter. Afterwards, repentance does not repair the lives spoiled, the lives without future, and much less the lives lost”, concluded the dignitary.
International
New massacre reported in Putumayo, Colombia
September 20 |
The Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz) of Colombia denounced Tuesday that three young people between the ages of 17 and 20 were killed by armed men in the municipality of Mocoa, Putumayo department, in the southwest of the country.
According to the non-governmental organization (NGO), the victims were killed with firearms, while a fourth person was injured in the incident.
The Ombudsman’s Office, in issuing the Early Alert AT 030/23, warned of possible restrictions to mobility (both of populations and candidates), giving continuity to the current scenarios of disputes between armed groups in the territory.
“The use of violence as a mechanism of coercion of the civilian population or of social control continues to be a constant in the context of violence in the regions”, the Colombian instance remarked.
Among the groups that interact in the area are the Carolina Ramirez Front of the Southeast Bloc of the Central General Staff and Comandos de la Frontera, as well as the sixth division of the Colombian Army.
With this, there have been 65 massacres so far in 2023, said Indepaz.
International
President of Bolivia affirms that a new world order is under construction
September 20 |
The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, said Tuesday that a new world order is being built in which the United Nations (UN) has a fundamental role, during the 78th session of the General Assembly of the multilateral organization.
“The pending challenges are still numerous and enormous, but today we are at the dawn of a new international configuration. We are convinced that we are witnessing the construction of a new World Order, a situation in which the United Nations Assembly, following the principles for which it was created, must play a leading role”.
“We must put an end, once and for all, to the arms race and prioritize sincere dialogue and the diplomacy of the peoples,” said Arce, while stressing that “it is urgent that our nations unite in a collective effort, with diverse voices.”
Similarly, the Bolivian president warned about the increase in military spending in the world, which “has reached historic figures”. Until April 2023, the world invested more than 2.24 trillion dollars in weapons and the war industry.
Another of the challenges presented by the Bolivian head of state stressed the need to change the unjust international order that burdens our peoples, and to sit down to debate within the framework of the United Nations, to build a new pact for the future.
“We are obliged to address the needs of present and future generations in an equitable manner. We cannot allow a child to starve to death today to ensure a snack for another child not yet born. Eliminating poverty and inequality today will prevent unimaginable economic and ecological distribution conflicts in the future,” said Arce.
On the other hand, the president reiterated that “it is necessary and urgent to change the capitalist system in times of neoliberalism, which multiplies and reproduces the forms of domination, exploitation and exclusion of the great majorities”.
The climate crisis requires concrete actions and renewed commitments, said Luis Arce before the UN, who also referred to Bolivia’s vision, where the sustainability of development has strong roots “in our vision of Living Well and harmony with nature”.
Characterizing the international scenario as complex, the Bolivian dignitary said at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit that his country reaffirms its commitment to achieve them, although he insisted that to do so, they need an unprecedented collective action of historic proportions.
“Discarding capitalism and promoting policies that are more humane and compatible with Mother Earth are other structural actions. To achieve the objectives we must deploy strategic investments from each country,” he added.
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