La Tecla Asustada

El despliegue de Mauricio Macri encontró en el Papa a su objetivo más elusivo By Sebastián Lacunza @sebalacunza Veintidós minutos, escasas palabras y máxima frialdad.  Para un país laico, una visita breve y circunspecta no debería causar escozor, pero la política mueve resortes menos simplistas.   El marco del encuentro entre el papa Francisco y el presidente Mauricio Macri resultó insoslayable hasta para quienes se esfuerzan en disimular la marcada   d istancia entre ambo s jefes de Estado. Jorge Bergoglio, el sacerdote del gesto adusto p ermanente como jefe de la Iglesia de Buenos Aires y, luego, el obispo de Roma cálido, jovial y chistoso, es un experto en medir el valor de una sonrisa fotografiada. Ayer, apenas hubo un instante para medio rostro distendido al momento de saludar a Juliana Awada, la pareja del Presidente. La recepción a la primera dama, con la que el Presidente no está casado por Iglesia, fue la única “concesión” del protocolo, remarcaba ayer ant...

By Sebastián Lacunza Editor-in-Chief Catholic priest Carlos Mancuso receives a request to carry out the ‘cleansing’ of the Olivos presidential residence, but Macri ends up going another route. It was the last days of December when Father Carlos Alberto Mancuso received a call at his La Plata home. A woman with the last name of Gómez said she was calling on behalf of President Mauricio Macri with a specific request: to carry out a “cleansing” at the Olivos presidential residence. The conversation outlined, in a brief, generic fashion, the task at hand, although Mancuso, 81, was cautious. He didn’t know whether it was about an “infestation” (a possessed spirit moving about the home), a “demoniacal obsession” (a demon pursues a person, causing physical discomfort) or “a possession” (the malignant force is inside the human). Each diabolical incursion requires specific therapies, so Gómez vowed to be in touch again to coordinate the logistics of a first visit. Three days later,...

By Sebastián Lacunza Editor-in-Chief In a single afternoon, the government suddenly made articles from the Infojus news website vanish Until not so long ago, authoritarian governments or dictatorships that sought to censor a book or the press appealed to methods that required daring but which could prove to be effective. They could choose to send a newspaper’s entire archive to the most humid basement or risk the disgrace of burning books in a public square. If with some effort the censor was able to ensnare all of the copies in circulation and control the presses, the sought-after final solution was in reach or at least the unwanted content was reduced to gloomy attics and small-scale distribution such as the Agencia de Noticias Clandestina during the last dictatorship that cost its director Rodolfo Walsh his life. In the digital era, archives and libraries began to grow into infinity. If before the task of accessing an archive or distributing a prohibited text meant putti...

Contrasting foreign affairs By Sebastián Lacunza Editor-in-Chief It’s an open secret. In First World diplomatic spheres, the kind words about Mauricio Macri are overwhelmingly more generous than their impressions of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Although the envoys from other countries tend to take a more complex view of Peronism than that prevailing in their capitals of origin — a judgement they form by virtue of being witnesses of a giddy reality — the word on CFK has been dominantly acid. This does not only reflect a displeasure with protectionist measures or an ideological distance from “leftwing populism.” Manners and keeping channels open despite differences have their value in international relationes but these were not aspects achieved (or even sought) by Kirchnerite diplomacy. By late March Mauricio Macri will have held bilateral huddles with a sizable chunk of the leaders of the world’s richest economies, among them Barack Obama, Matteo Renzi and François Ho...

The pope ends up being the most elusive target for Mauricio Macri’s marketing  By  Sebastián Lacunza @sebalacunza Twenty-two minutes, a few words and a chilliness that was almost palpable. The symbols surrounding the meeting between Pope Francis and President Mauricio Macri ended up being unavoidable even for those who take great pains to conceal the marked distance between the two heads of state. Jorge Bergoglio, the priest with the permanently sullen gesture as archbishop of Buenos Aires, and, then the warm, jovial and funny pope, is an expert in knowing the value of a photographed smile. Yesterday, there was barely an instant of a relaxed half-smile when he greeted Juliana Awada, Macri’s wife. The first lady’s reception was the only concession of the protocol, which forbids it, a priest with close ties to Francis told the Herald yesterday. “You have to analyze everything: the 22 minutes, the table (instead of the way he meets with other world leaders in...

By  Sebastián Lacunza Editor-in-Chief @sebalacunza Hasta no hace mucho, los gobiernos autoritarios o las dictaduras feroces que procuraban censurar un libro o una publicación periodística apelaban a logísticas que requerían osadía pero podían resultar efectivas. Tenían a mano enviar el archivo completo de un diario al sótano más húmedo posible o someterse al oprobio de quemar libros en una plaza. Si, con esfuerzo, el censor capturaba todas las ediciones en circulación y controlaba las imprentas, alcanzaba la ansiada solución final o, al menos, reducía el contenido indeseable a la distribución artesanal, como fue el caso de la Agencia de Noticias Clandestina durante la última dictadura, que le costó la vida a su director, Rodolfo Walsh. En la era digital, la hemeroteca y la biblioteca comenzaron a construir un infinito. Si antes, la tarea de acceder a un archivo o difundir un texto prohibido implicaba poner el cuerpo, ahora Internet brinda muchas facilidades para la r...

La pre nsa argentina airea supuestos ritos esotéricos encargados por Macri en la residencia de Olivos y en la casa de Gobierno.  Sebastián Lacunza El C orreo Buenos Aires - Transcurrían los últimos días de diciembre y Mauricio Macri se terminaba de acomodar en la Casa Rosada. El proceso que puso al político conservador en la Presidencia argentina había sido vertiginoso y, en cierta forma, inesperado. Semanas atrás, Macri y su predecesora, la peronista de centroizquierda Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, habían protagonizado una absurda pelea que impidió un traspaso de mando armonioso. Entonces, e l padre Carlos Alberto Mancuso recibió un llamado en su domicilio de la ciudad de La Plata, capital de la provincia de Buenos Aires. Una señora de apellido Gómez — según cita el sacerdote exorcista ante el diario Buenos Aires Herald — dijo hablar en nombre del flamante Presidente con un requerimiento específico: hacer una “limpieza” en la quinta presidencial de Olivos,...