Winter
in Argentina

By Carlos Madama Hernández
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Perhaps it is true that times have changed. The pandemic, the economic situation and so many other factors have disrupted that anxious wait for the winter holidays to go warm to any of the places that this blessed land offers at this time so attractive for some and so contemptuous for others.
Traditional places that under normal circumstances would be plagued by humans chilled with cold but filled with the transcendental happiness that vacations bring. Anyway, the blessed Argentine Republic has many options that do not necessarily have to do with traveling to ski and take a few hits against the snow.
A recent market study showed a clear preference of the public towards summer over the other three seasons, but winter is here and invites countless alternatives, which are more attractive.
There is no doubt that the favorite destination of this time is the city of San Carlos de Bariloche, in the heart of Argentine Patagonia. There are the best ski slopes, as well as excellent restaurants that are adequately prepared to receive national and international tourism. This beautiful southern town, too, has the option of taking countless walks and excursions and crowning them with a hot chocolate accompanied by the Welsh pastries that attract both those with a sweet tooth and those who do not, but are easily tempted.
The Cordoba mountains and the north of Argentina are also desirable destinations in these months, either for their picturesque landscapes or for their somewhat more pleasant temperature than the rest of the country. Another of the favorite places to visit in winter, it is one of the 16 unquestionable wonders of the world, which is the same as saying the Iguazu Falls. Formed by 275 waterfalls up to 80 meters high that make up one of the greatest spectacles of nature.
Those who, either due to financial problems or lack of time available to travel to any of the suggested sites, decide to stay in Buenos Aires, they have many alternatives for family walks.
We have already talked in these same pages of the mythical Plaza Serrano, where a certain Jorge Luis Borges used to walk on his unforgettable walks, or the forests of Palermo, the renovated downtown of Buenos Aires with the possibility now of being able to see a good play, tour the famous bookstores or eating a good pizza among the three or four places that are already the history of the business.
Also the colonial neighborhood of San Telmo, with its handicraft fair and antique houses the famous Plaza de Mayo, witness of so many events that made and make Argentine history and finally the world-famous Obelisk that since 1936 adorns the city. town.
Many more places are available to visit. It is that the thing is simple, Argentina is one of those places that due to its dimensions, provides places, panoramas and many other possibilities so that nobody can get bored.
Ladies and gentlemen, winter has arrived in these latitudes and Argentina welcomes it with everything ready.

The Coronavirus
lashes Latin America

By Carlos Madama Hernández
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Time passes casually and leaves traces in all aspects and especially with COVID 19, the evil that is striking in a blatant way in the world and especially in Latin America, where the numbers of the latest records clearly show that the battle is is losing. The cold statistics say that “nine of the ten countries with the most deaths in proportion to their population are in the region where vaccination campaigns are slow and chaotic.
Countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil, Chile and Peru head the disastrous Latin American panorama, which is immersed in a crisis that becomes catastrophic, since in the last week about 1.1 million new cases were registered and more than 31,000 deaths. In this regard, Carissa Ettienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization, was very clear in saying that "Currently only one in ten people in Latin America and the Caribbean is fully vaccinated with Covid-19"
Ettienne also noted a “slight increase” in infections in recent weeks, driven mainly by the Baja California and Yucatán regions, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, as well as new cases with high mortality rates in Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Guatemala and Panama. Then remarking that “Although vaccines are needed everywhere, we hope that the G7 nations will give priority in donating doses to the countries with the highest risk, especially those in Latin America that have not yet had access to enough vaccines to protect even the most vulnerable "
Another concern is that experts in the region noticed an increase in young patients requiring hospitalization and even intensive care, and in several cities, therapy rooms are full of people under 40 years of age.
When it was believed that the passage of time would clarify things, everything seems to be backwards, at least in this region of the world. In some cases due to negligence in the application of prevention measures towards the people and in others due to the constant defiance of the powerful who play with the health of the people, such as the case of the president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro who continues to maintain that the coronavirus is Like “a little flu”, he resisted containment strategies and now embarked on the organization of the Copa América soccer, more out of a capricious business than the real need to carry it out
Let's be clear, if we don't do anything to improve the situation, let's not put gasoline on the fire either. People's lives are at stake.