International
Argentina’s presidential candidates in final debate
November 13 |
The candidates for the Presidency of Argentina, Sergio Massa (Unión por la Patria) and Javier Milei (La Libertad Avanza) starred on Sunday night in the last and decisive television debate to seek support for the ballot on November 19.
The Law School of the University of Buenos Aires, in the Argentine capital, the same venue as the second debate held before the first round, is the space chosen by the National Electoral Chamber (CNE) for this last appointment.
Throughout the debate both candidates discussed several issues and had a new opportunity to make known their proposals and plans to reach the presidency of the country.
Both Massa and Milei entered into a strong counterpoint, in which the candidate of Unión por la Patria, managed to make the right-winger uncomfortable, who could not face each of the criticisms against him exposed by the candidate of Unión por la Patria (UxP).
The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, in his presentation, pointed out that “we have to decide who is going to take care of our health, our education, our work. I am here to propose a great change, with a great agreement of state policies, with dialogue, consensus and respect for those who think differently”.
Milei tried to defend his economic model saying that “Argentina has been in decline for 100 years. This is a consequence of the caste model, which assures that where there is a need there is a right. The problem is that needs are infinite and those rights have to be paid for. This manifests itself in fiscal deficit”.
Massa put Milei on the spot when he confronted him against his campaign and pre-campaign statements: “But there are many things at stake here. We are facing someone who lied during the whole campaign or is lying now”.
According to the Minister of Economy, “Argentina has the responsibility, in an absolutely convulsed world, to think its foreign policy in defense of the Argentine interest, we have to be clear about multipolarity, to have relations with all the countries that open their arms to sell Argentine work. The main partners are Brazil, China, we have to defend that commercial agenda that provides jobs to two million Argentines. This man [Milei] called the most important Argentine in history, Pope Francis, as evil, we are going to work for Francis to come to the country in 2024. And we have to defend the Malvinas cause”, says Massa when talking about Argentina and its relationship with the world.
In the same sense, Massa expresses that Milei said “that Margaret Thatcher was your idol and that the kelpers had the right to self-determination, I ask people to look up what you said”.
Milei tried to answer: “Thatcher was a great leader like Churchill or De Gaulle, she had a great role during the fall of the Berlin Wall, but you are upset that the Wall fell”.
However, Massa closed “Thatcher is an enemy of Argentina”.
The third axis was dedicated to Education and Health. While Milei denies wanting to privatize. Massa answered him in this sense: “Eight points of the GDP will be allocated to education, with 753 kindergartens, with a literacy plan, with compulsory mathematics and robotics, with the preparation of shorter university careers”, Massa listed his proposals.
In the economic block, Sergio Massa pointed out that from the Government “this year we made an effort that allowed us to grow in employment every month” and rejected Javier Milei’s proposal of “opening the economy” that will “destroy thousands of families”.
Massa expressed that “I do not want to go back to that stage in Argentina”, in relation to the indiscriminate opening of imports.
Sergio Massa, said this Sunday that he seeks to “definitively bury the political crack” that exists in the country, while his opponent, the libertarian Javier Milei, asked the population to vote “without fear because it paralyzes”.
At the end of the debate, both candidates were asked by the moderators why they want to preside Argentina.
Massa repeated the idea of forming a “government of unity”, with a program of 10 State policies, and promised to those who will not vote for him out of conviction, “but as a vehicle for not choosing a path that is violence, that is hate, that is damage”, that he will work “so that they do not feel that they threw their vote away”.
On his part, Milei highlighted that this is “the most important election of the last 100 years” because Argentina must ask itself if it wants to continue “walking this decadent path” and “sustain this parasitic, useless and useless caste”; therefore, he asked to “vote without fear because fear paralyzes and benefits the ‘status quo’”.
In view of Javier Milei’s difficulty to answer Sergio Massa’s questions and criticisms, the media could not hide their opinions about the right-winger’s participation in the last debate.
Several media reported that Massa came out victorious by answering with clarity and precision each one of Milei’s opinions, who on more than one occasion tried to make the candidate of Unión por la Patria uncomfortable.
At the end of the last debate for the second round of elections scheduled for November 19, specialized political programs and hegemonic media reported that the candidate of La Libertad Avanza was hesitant and erratic in contrast with Sergio Massa’s answers.
International
Marco Rubio launches U.S. campaign to “dismantle” the International Criminal Court
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Monday (July 13, 2026) the launch of a diplomatic campaign aimed at “dismantling” the International Criminal Court (ICC), a key institution in the global justice system, while pressuring Washington’s allies to withdraw from the organization, which he accused of interfering in U.S. affairs.
“The ICC represents an intolerable threat to American sovereignty: it claims the authority to prosecute and even imprison military personnel and officials acting in defense of the national interests of the United States,” Rubio said.
He also accused the court of waging “a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles, but with statutes, agreements and the power of what they call international law.”
The United States is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. The Trump administration has previously imposed sanctions on senior court officials over investigations into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and actions targeting Israeli officials, a key U.S. ally.
“Step by step, if necessary”
The new State Department initiative proposes banning ICC personnel from entering the United States and expanding sanctions against court members and affiliated organizations.
The plan also includes increasing pressure on Washington’s allies, particularly countries that “benefit from the U.S. security umbrella,” to publicly reject ICC actions and distance themselves from the institution.
The Trump administration will summon foreign ambassadors and senior officials to highlight what it describes as “ICC abuses” and encourage them to withdraw from the court.
Washington also plans to increase scrutiny of countries that refuse to reject what the administration calls the ICC’s “claimed authority” while continuing to rely on U.S. assistance.
Rubio said the ICC seeks to become “a global unaccountable arbiter.” In an opinion piece published Monday in The Wall Street Journal, the secretary of state said that with the support of its allies, the United States would dismantle the ICC “step by step, if necessary.”
International
ICE reverses course and moves forward with New Jersey migrant detention facility project
The administration of President Donald Trump has reversed course and resumed plans to convert a warehouse in New Jersey, purchased for $129.3 million, into a migrant detention facility with capacity for up to 1,500 people, according to a court filing in the state.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) submitted a document Friday to a federal court in New Jersey stating that it will continue moving forward with plans to establish the facility in the township of Roxbury.
According to the court filing, ICE had previously informed the court on June 29 that it had decided to abandon the plan to convert the property into a detention center.
However, on July 8, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials notified attorneys that, “after reconsideration,” the agency intended to continue evaluating the renovation of the warehouse for use as a migrant detention facility.
“DHS officials further informed counsel that, as of July 10, the agency’s deliberations remain ongoing,” the document stated.
The decision to revive the project comes two weeks after The New York Times reported that ICE had decided not to proceed with plans to establish new detention facilities as part of the Trump administration’s immigration detention and deportation strategy.
According to that report, the agency had planned to sell seven warehouses, including the Roxbury property, for more than $700 million or transfer them to other federal agencies.
The New Jersey facility proposal is part of broader efforts by the Trump administration to expand immigration enforcement infrastructure amid its push to increase detention capacity and accelerate deportations of undocumented immigrants.
International
Judge rules Trump’s IRS lawsuit was a “bad faith” attempt to manipulate the judicial process
A federal judge ruled Monday that a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was an attempt to “manipulate the judicial process” and determined that the case was brought in bad faith.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered sanctions against the attorneys involved in the lawsuit, which led to an effort to create the now-defunct $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund aimed at addressing alleged political targeting by government institutions in favor of Trump allies.
The lawsuit was also used to justify a government order that sought to provide Trump and his companies with immunity from any past tax-related matters.
In a 56-page opinion, Williams sharply criticized both the Department of Justice (DOJ) — saying the government’s response to the case disregarded agency policies and may have violated the law — and the private attorneys who filed the lawsuit on Trump’s behalf.
“The very nature of the lawsuit and the conduct of the parties and counsel since its filing make clear that this was an attempt to use the court to provide legitimacy to an agreement designed to grant immunity to individuals and entities connected to the president and to allocate billions of taxpayer dollars to remedy grievances that the law does not recognize,” Williams wrote.
The judge also ordered that her opinion be referred to attorney disciplinary authorities in New York and Washington, which are already reviewing previous ethics complaints involving Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Deputy Attorney General Stanley Woodward.
Williams criticized the Justice Department for abandoning its responsibility to defend the interests of the United States, arguing that the government entered into an agreement that departed from its position in similar legal cases, ignored DOJ policies and pursued objectives beyond what is permitted by law.
“By abandoning its responsibility to vigorously defend the interests of the United States, the government entered into an agreement that deviated from its litigation position in similar cases, ignored Department of Justice policies and achieved objectives that exceeded those authorized by law, as well as others expressly prohibited,” Williams wrote.
The judge also referred one of Trump’s private attorneys to the Florida Bar for possible disciplinary action and barred another lawyer representing the president from appearing before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida for one year.
The ruling adds another legal setback for attorneys involved in cases connected to Trump’s administration and raises new questions about the conduct of government lawyers and private counsel involved in the IRS lawsuit.
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ICE reverses course and moves forward with New Jersey migrant detention facility project
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