surprising as the metaphorsis of the Flores-born San Lorenzo fan Jorge Bergoglio into Pope Francis, supreme pontiff of the Catholic Church

Against most expectations, the big news buzz from this week is not the fallout from the October 27 midterm elections (a wholly predictable government defeat) but the Supreme Court decision two days later ruling the 2009 Broadcasting Law constitutional by a 6-1 vote — a clear defeat for the Clarín Group, which can nevertheless contest each subsequent step while the Supreme Court pointedly calls for a more independent AFSCA media watchdog. Meanwhile the bottom line of the midterm elections is a massive two-thirds protest vote against a government which paradoxically emerges with a working majority in both Houses of Congress. The elections themselves are basically a PASO rerun although with CFK absent this time and certain differences in the results — thus the Victory Front fares much better in Córdoba and much worse in Buenos Aires province, losing by over 11 percent. Massa’s win there is massive — the Victory Front can only hold four of the 24 Greater Buenos Aires districts, almost losing La Matanza. Elsewhere, Macri, Socialist Hermes Binner in Santa Fe and Radical Julio Cobos emerge as potential presidential candidates on a par with Massa — the FAP Broad Progressive Front alliance of the latter pair are runner-ups to the Victory Front third of the vote nationwide with 21 percent. UNEN’s Solanas shuts out the Victory Front in this city from the Senate by beating Daniel Filmus behind PRO. Boudou’s turn to claim victory on the night but greater moderation in CFK’s absence does not produce much better results.

W45 — Just as the government has now accepted its defeat in a more institutional atmosphere, so the Clarín Group heeds the Media Law by subdividing itself into six. A big player in this is Mexico’s Fintech (with a foot in both camps as a Clarín partner with strong government ties), to whom Telecom Italia is now sold. Yet Rossi announces the discovery of military dictatorship material on Papel Prensa which could be potentially used to revive the feud with Clarín. “N8” saucepan-bashing proves something of a fiasco since protest has already been expressed electorally — will it be the last in the series? Central Bank reserve losses hit 10 billion dollars for the year.

source: www.http://buenosairesherald.com.com