Buenos Aires bans shops from handing out plastic bags

A ban on shops handing out disposable plastic bags went into effect in Buenos Aires on 1 January, after the lawcourts ruled it was legal and rejected a challenge by the sector. EFE news agency termed the move the culmination of a process that began in 2009, intended to curb, then eliminate massive plastic bag use. The city had already ruled that shops should charge for plastic bags, and the newspaper Clarín cited the retailers' association ASU on 2 January as observing that this had duly reduced demand by "70 per cent." Yet EFE cited the city's chief environmental officer Eduardo Macchiavelli as saying in an interview that the city still typically consumed 500 million bags a year, which could "circle the world seven times." Shops failing to comply with the new norm would be fined 100,000 pesos (almost 6,000 euros), and the city was helping people by gifting reusable cloth bags around the capital during January, the website Infobae reported. In spite of advance warning of the ban, on 2 January many shoppers reportedly had to buy bags as they arrived at supermarkets without them. At stores like Carrefour and Walmart, large, reusable bags were sold for 15 pesos (around 0.9 euros), while Día supermarkets were selling plastic bags for 1.5 pesos, as a product. This was strictly legal, a spokeswoman told Clarín, as the bags sold were thicker than the single-use bags the city had banned, and reusable.

Kirchner opponents repeat protests in Argentina

"Tens of thousands" of Argentinians protested on 8 November in Buenos Aires and other cities against insecurity, inflation, corruption and the policies of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, repeating the protests organized in September, the daily Clarín reported on 9 November. It observed that these protests were "directed principally against" Kirchner, who many Argentines suspect may wish to serve a third presidential term. She is not allowed by law to serve a third consecutive term and the government has said nothing about plans to alter the constitution to allow this, but suspicions evidently persisted. Police reportedly counted some 30,000 people outside the presidential palace in Buenos Aires in the evening, while Clarín, a daily unsympathetic to Kirchner, reported "massive demonstrations" not just in the capital but in cities including Córdoba, Mendoza and San Miguel de Tucumán, without citing figures. The government noted the support of some opposition politicians for the protests including of the mayor of Buenos Aires Mauricio Macri who was reportedly in the crowd. The speaker of Argentina's lower legislative chamber Julián Domínguez observed on 9 November that mobilisations "for negative sentiments are not good for" Argentina and would not strengthen institutions, the state agency Telam reported. Kirchner in turn defended her policies at a gathering in the presidential palace on 9 November, as a "political project of inclusion, even of those who disagree," Telam reported. On 7 November, a power outage left some 1.5 million residents of central Buenos Aires without electricity for over two hours, also halting the metro and utilities and causing traffic jams, Europa Press reported on 8 November. Work in parliament and government offices was also affected. The planning minister Julio de Vido said on 8 November that the government would investigate prior to possible legal action, and insisted there had been "no problem with energy supplies or generation," Europa Press reported. He said "we cannot blame the heat...we notice the hour, the place and the demand, which was half what that line could convey." November is late spring in Argentina.