GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Alfredo Astiz, a former Navy spy, was sentenced 26 October to life in prison, one of a dozen police and militia officers from the military dictatorship that ruled the country from 1976 to 1983. Astiz was condemned for crime against humanity. He was widely known as the Angel of Death for his role in overseeing the disappearance and deaths of thousands, many of them through the navy’s torture centre, sent there through Astiz’s teams who infiltrated and betrayed activists during what is often called Argentina’s dirty war.
Links to other sites: El Pais (Sp), Guardian, Washington Post
Victor Oscar Matinez, 52, the sole witness in the death of the Argentinian Bishop Carlos Horacio Ponce de Leon.
The Bishop was driving to deliver evidence of junta crimes to the Vatican’s representative in Argentina when a suspicious accident took his life. The documents he was carrying disappeared.
Martinez who survived the accident says he was then tortured for information on the bishop’s activities.
A similar “accident” took the life of another activist a year earlier.
Argentina’s president, Cristina Fernandez, ordered all federal forces to look for Martinez saying it is “highly worrisome for the national government.”
In 2006 a witness to another high profile case disappeared right after accusing a formerly high-ranking police official of crimes against humanity.
Those with information are asked to call: +54 (0) 800-555-5065.
Links: Associated Press, Argentina’s presidency website (Sp)
International sports, football friendly in Geneva
Messi training in Geneva 8 February - Photo courtesy AFA
(video) Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Lionel Messi was busy at work kicking his zapatillas, as Argentinians call their trainers, at the Stade de Genève where his team will meet the Portuguese squad in the first exciting football friendly of the year.
Messi and the rest of the team were busy “training offensive and defensive plays and keeping their goalkeeper Sergio Romero and his replacement Mariano Andúja busy” reported their official Argentinian website.
Training was anything but soft in Geneva with three Argentinian players reporting some light injuries.
Sergio Romero twisted an ankle and Gabriel Milito hurt his nose and had to be taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a cut. Nicolás Pareja was having problems with his ankle and was ordered to sit out today’s game.
Portuguese prepare for tough game
The Portuguese know their fans will back them up in Geneva and are preparing for a difficult game.
“We will not change our strategy for the game against Argentina” said Paulo Bento, the Portuguese coach. It makes “no sense” he added.
When asked if he thought Cristiano Ronaldo, who will lead the squad, will match up against Ballon d’Or winner Messi, he refused to compare them.
“I’ve said it before. This is not the way I approach football. What we want to do now is to leverage the qualities of Ronaldo in the collective context,” he said.
The Portuguese please their fans, the Argentinians shun them
Portugal’s Seleçao trained to a full stadium in Meyrin. Their public training 8 February attracted more than 3,000 fans. A video report on Swiss public television TSR shows the Portuguese squad enjoying their fans’ attention.
The Argentinians, however, shunned the attention, training away from cameras and fans at the Geneva stadium and keeping Messi away from everyone. “We are very disappointed” said one of them who waited outside for a glimpse of the star.
The team is giving fans another chance, however: they have just made it public that they are staying at La Réserve in Bellevue, and that they will leave 11 February at 18:35 from the Geneva airport. They will fly via Madrid to Buenos Aires.
This might be another chance for Geneva football fans to catch Messi, although he won’t be wearing zapatillas this time.
TSR
A Portuguese fan worried about his team - Photo Euro208 by Amir Rijaveck
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Portuguese Seleçao has confirmed that Ronaldo Cristiano will lead the squad in Geneva 9 February in the friendly match against Argentina, and football fans everywhere are preparing for the Swiss showdown between Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Portugal and the South Americans have played only six times previously, with Argentina beating the Portuguese four times and tying once. Portugal has only been able to beat the Celeste once and that was back in 1972.
The game was moved to Geneva from London where it was originally scheduled to take place.
The last time Argentina played in Geneva was in 2005 when it was defeated by England 3-2 during a friendly.
Three men on motorcycles held up a man, a government official, carrying $90,000 in cash in a backpack in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina 13 January. The cash was withdrawn ahead of President Cristina Fernandez’ visit to the Middle East, where she is to visit Qatar, Kuwait and Turkey, beginning Sunday 16 January. Police were investigating why the official withdrew the cash so many days before the president’s visit begins and why he was taking it home.
Buenos Aires used to be widely considered Latin America’s safest metropolitan area, but crime has soared in recent years, and polls show that crime is citizens’ foremost concern.
Links to other sites: Clarin (Spa), Press Association
International sports, football
In 2008 Portuguese fans in Geneva saw their team kicked out of the Euro Cup, the 2010 friendly could be their chance to make it up to their fans - Photo Euro208 by Amir Rijaveck
Update 20:00 / Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – February 9 is the date for a battle of the famous when footballer Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and his national team face the world’s most valuable player in football, Lionel Messi from Argentina, and his squad.
Ronaldo, the highest paid soccer player in the world, and the Portuguese squad facing off with Messi, widely considered the best player of his generation, are expected to draw thousands of fans to the Stade de Genève.
The Portuguese living in Geneva made up an estimated seven percent of the city’s population in 2008.
The friendly will kick off at 20:00 on 9 February.
The game was moved to Geneva from London where it was originally scheduled to take place, a change confirmed by the official site of the Argentina football team.
The last time Argentina played in Geneva was in 2005 when it was defeated by England 3-2 during a friendly.
International sports, football
(video) Zurich, Switzerland (GenevalUnch) - Lionel Messi was awarded Fifa’s (international football federation) highest honour, the Ballon d’Or. The Argentinian told reporters afterwards that he felt his Barcelona teammates Xavi and Andres Iniesta deserved it as well. Messi received 22.65 percent of the vote, while Iniesta had 17.36 and Xavi 16.48 percent. Coaches and team captains as well as sports journalists from around the world vote for the winner.
Messi, 23, was not considered a frontrunner by some observers because of his failure to make a single goal in the 2010 World Cup, for Argentina, which was bumped in the quarter-finals. His 60 goals for the year, however, counted for something.
The Ballon d’Or award “was created following the merging of France Football magazine’s European Footballer of the Year prize with the Fifa World Player of the Year award,” notes the Guardian.
Links to other sites: Fifa, Guardian and Guardian March 2010 praise for Messi
Video, TSR (Fr)
Argentina has recognized an independent Palestinian State within the pre-1967 borders, the government announced 6 December. Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said, “the time has come to recognize Palestine as a free and independent state” in a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas he read out to the press.
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman noted that “this regrettable decision will not help at all to change the situation between Israel and the Palestinians.” A statement released later said: “Recognition of a Palestinian state is a violation of the interim agreement signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 1995, which established that the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will be discussed and solved through negotiations.”
US polititicians have called the decision “regrettable” and “severely misguided”. The move comes as part of a Palestinian strategy to gain UN support for an independent State. Peace talks between Israel and Palestine have bogged down amid Israel’s refusal to stop building settlements in the territories it occupied in the 1967 war.
The decision follows an similar announcement by Brazil. Uruguay and Paraguay are expected to follow suit in the new year.
Links to other sites: ABC News, Jerusalem Post
A budget spat erupted into a name-calling and a mini-slap session when Argentina’s opposition legislator Graciela Camano slapped fellow lawmaker Carlos Kunkel in the mouth.
Under congressional rules, Kunkel, a close-ally of the president, can file a complaint that could lead to possible sanctions against Camano.
The session had been politically charged for hours, then the two exchanged words, Kunkel gestured with his arms and Camano socked him before leaving the chamber.
Video of the slap
Emilio Eduardo Massera, a leader of the military coup against Isabel Perón’s government in Argentina, has died, aged 85. He died in the Naval Hospital in Buenos Aires of a brain hemorrhage 9 November.
Massera, known as “Almirante Cero”, was head of the Navy when the junta led by Jorge Videla took power in Argentina in 1976 to face a growing left-wing insurgency. He personally took charge of a secret detention centre at the naval mechanics school, ESMA, in a quiet Buenos Aires suburb, where suspected leftists were tortured and killed. The military government’s anti-insurgency quickly spun out of control, with innocents being kidnapped for ransom and killed for their property. Some 30,000 people are believed to have been “disappeared”, as it came to be known, in Argentina’s “Dirty War”.
He was sentenced to life in prison in 1985 for crimes against humanity, but was released by President Carlos Menem in a 1990 amnesty. Massera was charged in 1998 with stealing political prisoners’ babies and and putting them up for adoption, a crime not covered by the original amnesty, and put under house arrest. The Supreme Court reinstated his life sentence in 2007, but he was considered incapable of facing further prosecution after suffering a stroke in 2002.
Links to other sites: BBC, Canadian Press, La Nación (Spa),
Nestor Kirchner, 60, former president of Argentina and husband of the current president, Cristina Fernandez, died Wednesday 27 October of a heart attack. He was in El Calafate, where the couple have a home, and he was rushed to hospital, where he died with the president by his side. He was widely expected to run again for president in 2011 elections. Kirchner’s aggressive political style made him many enemies, but he was also widely respected in Argentina for turning the economy around after a 2001-2002 crisis. His wife ran and won the presidential seat when his maximum term, 2003-2007, was up.
Scores have died in the southern cone of South America in a wave of Antarctic cold, and schools and some highways have closed. In Bolivia, 18 people were reported to have perished due to the cold, and in Argentina, nine homeless people died in the capital Buenos Aires. It has snowed in the main wine growing region, Mendoza, and on the coast, in Mar del Plata – the Argentines’ main summer holiday playground. Deaths have also been reported in neighbouring Uruguay and in Paraguay.
Consumers in Argentina have been complaining of low gas pressure for domestic gas, and a dearth of gas supplies. Distributors deny low pressure to domestic consumers, but up to 400 industrial plants throughout the country have had their supplies cut, as have service stations that supply liquified natural gas to the country’s car drivers.
Argentina’s Senate voted 33 – 27, with three abstentions, to permit gays to get married legally. The bill was supported by left-of-centre President Cristina Fernandez, whose government is under pressure in the polls. Mexico City’s tourism office announced that it would pay an all-expenses paid vacation to the first Argentine gay couple married.
A justice of the peace in General Pico, in the central province of La Pampa, said she would refuse to marry gay couples on principle. “The Bible taught me to obey the law of God first, then the law of man”, she said. She said she would delegate the job to her deputy.
Links to other sites: BBC, Dallas News, La Nación (Spa),
Argentina fans cheered for Maradona to take them to semi-finals but no one was able to help them against Germany - Photo 2010 FWCLOC
Argentina fans cheered for Maradona to take them to semi-finals but no one was able to help them against Germany - Photo 2010 FWCLOC
International sports, World Cup Football
Cape Town, South Africa (GenevaLunch) - Germany’s young team smashed their way past the stars of Argentina in the first of the Saturday 3 July quarter-final matches.
The Mannschaft combined teamwork, energy, organization and clinical finishing to notch up another four-goal win. The team also scored four against Australia and England in earlier rounds. Thomas Muller scored the first goal with a deflecting header after just three minutes; two goals came from Miroslav Klose and one from Arne Friedrich.
Spain vs Paraguay
In the other game Spain just managed to edge out Paraguay1-0 with a goal by David Villa in the 83rd minute. Spain will face Germany in the semi-finals on Wednesday 7 July, while the Netherlands meet Uruguay on Tuesday 6 July.
Links to other sites: Fifa, Telegraph
Follow GenevaLunch’s daily recap of the 2010 World Cup.
International sports, World Cup football
Lukas Podolski of Germany challenged by Glen Johnson of England - Photo 2010 FWCLOC
Bloemfontein, South Africa (GenevaLunch) – England were thumped 4-1 by Germany and even complaints that an appalling piece of refereeing cost England an equalizer cannot disguise the fact that England were thoroughly outplayed.
The first German goal came from a boot upfield by the goalkeeper which went straight to the German striker Miroslav Klose as the England central defenders looked on.
The second goal also came from an English defensive error.
England then pulled one back with a beautiful header by Matthew Upson and a minute later Frank Lampard struck a ball from the edge of the penalty area onto the crossbar, where it bounced about one metre into the goal.
Unfortunately, the referee and his assistant did not see it and no goal was awarded.
Germany scored two more goals in the second half.
Argentina vs Mexico
Argentina celebrates yet another victory - Photo 2010 FWCLOC
Argentina celebrates yet another victory - Photo 2010 FWCLOC
The second game provided another reason to introduce goal mouth technology, as Carlos Tevez scored Argentina’s first goal against Mexico from a blatantly offside position. Argentina added two more before the Mexicans pulled one back to end the game 3-1 for Argentina.
Follow GenevaLunch’s daily recap of the 2010 World Cup.
Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez da Kirchner announced 16 February that ships going from the South American mainland to the Falklands/Malvinas will need a licence from Argentina. Britain promptly rejected the move, saying that the waters around the Falklands are UK territorial waters and the licenses will not apply. It has told the shipping industry to ignore the Argentine instructions when going from international waters to Falklands territorial waters. The two countries have disputed ownership of the islands since the 19th century and in 1982 they fought a short war, which the British Royal Navy won. Diplomatic relations were resumed in 1990. Observers are calling the new, stronger stance by Argentina “worrying”, suggesting that drilling for oil in the region may lie behind the move, with Argentina wanting a share.
Links to other countries: BBC, Canadian Press, El Pais (Spa), Mercopress
Cristian Emanuel Amuchastegui, first place, 2010 Prix de Lausanne dance competition (photo: ©2010, Jean-Bernard Sieber)
Click on images to view larger
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Cristian Emanuel Amuchastegui, age 18, won the top prize at the 2010 Prix de Lausanne dance competition. He is from Argentina and has been studying at the Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy in Texas, USA.
Amuchastegui also won the coveted prize as the audience’s favourite, selected with a poll taken during the final performances.
His prize is a year at the dance school of his choice, from among a host of top companies that are partners of the Prix de Lausanne.
The other top winners
Dancers who place in the top six spots, including the best contemporary dance winner, all receive scholarships at top partner schools/dance companies:
Spain has agreed to Argentina’s request to extradite Dutch-Argentinian citizen Julio Alberto Poch, an airline pilot who is accused of having dumped bodies in the sea, from the air, under Argentina’s military regime, 1976-83. Poch was arrested in Valencia in September 2009, while working as a pilot for Dutch company Transavia. The flights, which he denies being part of, were known as the junta’s “death flights” and are alleged to have been linked to the disappearance of many of the 30,000 people who went missing under the regime’s rule.
London, England (GenevaLunch) - Andy Murray started strongly in the end of year ATP Masters, beating Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina, the winner of the US Open, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. The Scot looked in fine form in the first set, quickly going to a 5-0 lead. Del Potro suffered from an inability to maintain a rally, and a nosebleed. He came back in the second set, winning it 6-3, but quickly fell behind in the third. The match ended 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
The other match in the O2 arena saw world number one Roger Federer take on Fernando Verdasco.
Twickenham, London, England (GenevaLunch) - England played better than in recent matches, holding the All Blacks to 6-6 at half time but could not match the New Zealanders in the second half and lost 6-19. At least the England women beat the New Zealand Ferns.
Scotland pulled off a surprise 9-8 victory over Australia where their heart was just enough to hold out against the technically better Wallabies. It was their first win against the Aussies for 27 years. Wales beat Argentina 33-16 with two tries by Shane Williams.
Links to other sites: The Guardian, The Times
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The international football federation, Fifa, has handed Argintina’s football coach and former superstar Diego Maradona a CHF25,000 fine and a two month ban on participating in any football-related activities. Maradona’s outburst at the qualifying match between Uruguay and Argentina 14 October 2009 in Montevideo. Maradona, who was interviewed for 40 minutes by Fifa’s disciplinary committee, apologized to Fifa and the football world. The ban runs from 15 November-15 January 2010.
Croke park, Dublin,Ireland (GenevaLunch) - Irish captain Brian O’ Driscoll celebrated his 100th cap for Ireland with a last minute try that allowed the home team to draw their match with Australia 20-20. In other matches a dull England side plodded their way to a 16-9 win over Argentina. The New Zealand All Blacks struggled against a tough Italian side before winning 6-20 in front of 80,000 fans in the San Siro stadium in Milan.
Links to other sites: Irish Times, The Times
An earthquake of magnitude 5.6 shook the provinces of Salta and Jujuy in Argentina’s northwest, early 6 November. The epicentre was 165 km northeast of the capital of Salta, in the Serranía de la Mesada near the border with Bolivia. Reports of injuries and damage were not immediately available, according to the national Earthquake Prevention Institute, Inpres.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Nineteen countries have now secured their places in the Fifa World Cup finals to be held in South Africa in 2010 after the penultimate games in the qualification series. In the African group Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are through and six places are up for grabs. Australia, Japan and the two Koreas take the Asian places with one more team entering a playoff with New Zealand. Seven of the 13 European places are decided:
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland moved to the top of its qualifying group for the 2010 Fifa World Cup with a 2-0 win over Greece in their match. The Swiss scored two goals in the final 10 minutes after playing much of the game with an extra man as Vyntra was sent off for receiving two yellow cards.
Iran’s new government contains one woman, Marzieh-Vahid Dastjerdi, as health minister, the first in the Islamic Republic’s history. The parliament approved most of the cabinet proposed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, recently re-elected president, although it rejected two other women.
The new defense minister, Ahmad Vahidi, is a hardliner and former chief of the elite Quds force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. He is wanted by Interpol and the Argentine government for his alleged involvement in the 1994 explosion of the headquarters of Amia, a Jewish organization in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people. He received the most votes from parliament. CNN, Reuters, Clarin (Spa)
Honduras ordered all members of the Argentine embassy in Tegucigalpa to leave the country within three days, Tuesday 18 August. But Argentine foreign minister, Jorge Taiana, on a trade mission in Mexico, said he had not been informed of the deadline, and his diplomats were staying put. The Honduran ministry of foreign affairs said it was expelling the diplomats in line with “strict reciprocity” for the expulsion last week of the Honduran ambassador in Buenos Aires, who stated publicly that she approved of the forced removal of Manuel Zelaya as Hondura’s president last 28 June. The interim government of Honduras said its relations with Argentina would be conducted through the Argentine embassy in Israel. Honduras previously expelled Venezuelan diplomats, most of whom have stayed because President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela says he will not take orders from the interim government. BBC, Clarin (Spa), CNN, La Nación (Spa)
Title: Tango madness in Lausanne
Location: Lausanne, Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: This is the tenth edition of one of the most popular Argentinean tango festivals. Meeting places: the Montbenon Casino and the park.
You can dance non-stop from 15:00 to 4:00 the next day and until Monday 1 June. Milongas, live orchestras, DJs and more.
Start Date: 28 May 2009
End Date: 01 Jun 2009
Raul Alfonsin, the first democratically elected leader of Argentina after the military regime that ruled the country from 1976 to 1983, has died after an illness, age 82. His economic record has been criticized but he is credited with bringing the country back to a democratic regime. BBC
