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Argentina

Public Outcry As Chinese Supermarket Moves In On Elite Argentine Avenue

Endangering Buenos Aires' chic avenue?
Endangering Buenos Aires' chic avenue?

BUENOS AIRES - For some people, it’s a powerful sign of the crisis in the luxury market in Argentina. For others, it’s more a sign of the frivolity and stupidity of the Argentine elite – the opening of a Chinese supermarket on the Avenida Alvear, Buenos Aires’s most prestigious shopping street, has roiled passions.

The Lin family, the owners of the newly-opened store and four other similar supermarkets in the Argentine capital, saw an opportunity when luxury brand Escada announced that it would leave Argentina and vacate a 200-square-meter storefront right next to the mythic Jockey Club, a historic center for local aristocrats.

The fact that a Chinese supermarket has taken the luxury brand’s place is an affront to many of the locals, in a city that likes to brag that it is the Paris of South America.

Yolanda Duran, the spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce for the Development of Argentina and Southeast Asia, confirms that many of the neighbors have asked that “the chic nature of the avenue be respected.” No doubt that chic nature would be endangered by cartons of vegetables and delivery trucks. But she says that is ridiculous in a city that already has around 2,000 Chinese supermarkets, which occupy a niche in the shopping world between large chain stores and small kiosks.

In the end, whether or not there is a Chinese supermarket there will depend on whether or not the Lin family can pay the $10,000 monthly rent that the storefront commands. Or if there is a better offer. The irony, though, is that although the Escada Group is formed by 17 companies and controlled by Escada Luxembourg, the company is owned by the Mittal family – it was purchased years ago by Megha Mittal, the daughter of Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. So really, the difference is only that a Chinese entrepreneur is replacing an Indian one.

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eyes on the U.S.

The Weight Of Trump's Indictment Will Test The Strength Of American Democracy

The U.S. legal system cannot simply run its course in a vacuum. Presidential politics, and democracy itself, are at stake in the coming weeks and months.

The Weight Of Trump's Indictment Will Test The Strength Of American Democracy

File photo of former U.S. President Donald Trump in Clyde, Ohio, in 2020.

Emma Shortis*

-Analysis-

Events often seem inevitable in hindsight. The indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump on criminal charges has been a possibility since the start of his presidency – arguably, since close to the beginning of his career in New York real estate.

But until now, the potential consequences of such a cataclysmic development in American politics have been purely theoretical.

Today, after much build-up in the media, The New York Times reported that a Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict Trump and the Manhattan district attorney will now likely attempt to negotiate Trump’s surrender.

The indictment stems from a criminal investigation by the district attorney’s office into “hush money” payments made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels (through Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen), and whether they contravened electoral laws.

Trump also faces a swathe of other criminal investigations and civil suits, some of which may also result in state or federal charges. As he pursues another run for the presidency, Trump could simultaneously be dealing with multiple criminal cases and all the court appearances and frenzied media attention that will come with that.

These investigations and possible charges won’t prevent Trump from running or even serving as president again (though, as with everything in the U.S. legal system, it’s complicated).

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