International
High-profile murder trial shines light on Argentine discrimination
January 28 | By AFP | Philippe Bernes-Lasserre |
The shocking story of a teenager beaten to death by eight young rugby players has opened old wounds and shed light on class, race and gender discrimination in Argentine society.
Eight friends, now age 21 to 23, are facing life in prison if convicted of the premeditated murder of Fernando Baez three years ago in a popular seaside resort.
The trial is under way in Dolores, 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of Buenos Aires, and has gripped the nation, as did the original murder that sparked protests in several cities.
In the early hours of January 18, 2020, a fight broke out in a nightclub in Villa Gesell, a resort city popular with young people.
After those involved were evicted from the club, their quarrel continued in the street, but Baez, then 18, became isolated from his friends and surrounded by the eight defendants, who beat him so severely that he died of his injuries.
The trial opened three weeks ago but precious little light has been shone on who did what that night.
Some defendants have even denied hitting Baez.
The matter of who, or what, exactly was responsible for Baez’s death has inflamed social media debates.
“The question of class plays an important role in this case,” said sociologist Guillermo Levy, a professor at the universities of Buenos Aires and Avellaneda.
“Most of the rugby players are from rich, rural families.”
Some have pointed the finger at rugby itself, and the culture that surrounds it.
“It’s true that it is a cocktail of violence, racism, machismo, alcohol, etc. But I’m going to add the component of rugby training,” Facundo Sassone, a sociologist at the University of San Martin who is also a junior rugby coach, told AFP.
He said the “herd” mentality nurtured within a team environment had a role to play.
‘Why did rugby values fail?’
For all its positive publicity as a sport where respect and camaraderie are integral, rugby has a dark side in which gratuitous violence, and sometimes deeply inappropriate pranks, are commonplace and unquestioned.
“If we… say that it is a sport of values and friendship, why did it fail?” asked Sassone.
“Some issues can be misunderstood by rugby players and can generate situations of violence away from the pitch.”
Some former professional players have spoken out on the matter.
Former Argentina captain Agustin Pichot was one of the people to hit out at his sport after meeting Baez’s family in 2021.
He said rugby had “normalized bad things” by failing “to differentiate good from bad” in some of the practices that have developed within and around the sport.
Rugby by no means has a monopoly on violence — barely a year goes by without a death related to clashes between rival football fans, while drink-fueled fights outside nightclubs are commonplace.
It is a minority sport in Argentina, whose popularity pales compared with football.
But it stands out because it is traditionally played and watched by a wealthy elite.
And that is why this case has captured the public’s imagination in a way that violence between poor people would not, said sociologist and writer Alejandro Seselovsky.
The wealthy white “who kills, that’s like ‘a man bit a dog’, it’s newsworthy,” said Seselovsky.
‘Society needs to reflect’
The racial aspect of this murder is also forcing Argentine society to confront an awkward truth it would rather brush under the carpet.
According to witnesses, the defendants called Baez — whose parents, a bricklayer and a caregiver, are both Paraguayan immigrants — a “shitty black” while beating him.
“You cannot escape the reference to Fernando’s blackness in the assault,” sociologist Sebastian Bruno, an immigration specialist, told AFP.
The “racism and classism” is obvious, said Bruno, although Levy points out that it “doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have attacked him if he weren’t” Paraguayan.
In a country where the majority of the population is descended from white Europeans, mostly from Spain, Italy or Germany, the term “black” has been widely used to describe indigenous people or migrants from neighboring countries viewed as inferior, said Bruno.
“We need to reflect on the society that produced this,” said Levy.
International
Study finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
COVID-19 vaccines prevented an estimated 2,533,000 deaths worldwide between 2020 and 2024, according to an international study led by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy and Stanford University in the United States, published in the journal JAMA Health Forum. Researchers calculated that one death was prevented for every 5,400 doses administered.
The analysis also found that the vaccines saved 14.8 million years of life, equivalent to one year of life gained for every 900 doses given.
The study, coordinated by Professor Stefania Boccia, revealed that 82% of the lives saved were people vaccinated before becoming infected with the virus, and 57% of deaths avoided occurred during the Omicron wave. In addition, 90% of the beneficiaries were adults over 60 years old.
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International
Trump administration blasts judge’s ruling reinstating TPS for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump criticized a federal judge’s ruling on Friday that reinstated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua, stressing that the immigration program was never intended to serve as a “de facto asylum system.”
On Thursday, Judge Trina Thompson extended protections for about 7,000 Nepalese immigrants, whose TPS was set to expire on August 5. The ruling also impacts roughly 51,000 Hondurans and nearly 3,000 Nicaraguans, whose TPS protections were scheduled to end on September 8.
Immigrants covered by TPS had sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), alleging that the program’s termination was driven by “racial animus” and stripped them of protection from deportation.
DHS Deputy Undersecretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement saying the decision to end TPS was part of a mandate to “restore the integrity” of the immigration system and return the program to its original purpose.
“TPS was never conceived as a de facto asylum system; however, that is how previous administrations have used it for decades,” McLaughlin emphasized.
She also criticized Judge Thompson, calling the ruling “another example” of judges “stirring up claims of racism to distract from the facts.”
McLaughlin added that DHS would appeal the decision and take the legal battle to higher courts.
The Trump administration has also terminated TPS protections for approximately 160,000 Ukrainians, 350,000 Venezuelans, and at least half a million Haitians, among other immigrant groups.
International
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The announcement was made by Karoline Leavitt, the administration’s press secretary, during a briefing in which she explained that the expansion responds to the need for a larger venue to host “major events.”
“Other presidents have long wished for a space capable of accommodating large gatherings within the White House complex… President Trump has committed to solving this issue,” Leavitt told reporters.
The project is estimated to cost $200 million, fully funded through donations from Trump himself and other “patriots,” according to a government statement. Construction is scheduled to begin in September and is expected to be completed before Trump’s term ends in 2028.
The Clark Construction Group, a Virginia-based company known for projects such as the Capital One Arena and L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C., has been selected to lead the project.
The new ballroom will be built on the East Wing of the White House, expanding the iconic residence with a space designed for state dinners, official ceremonies, and large-scale events.
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