Thursday Mar 2, 2023 - Argentina - Huge Power Outage, President's final state-of-the-nation speech, Bird Flu hits the country

These are the trending news headlines in Argentina on Thursday March 2, 2023

Argentina has been hit by a huge power outage that affected several provinces, leaving residents without electricity as temperatures soared above 35 degrees Celsius. The blackout hit large parts of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area and many other regions across the country, including Mendoza, Santa Fe, Córdoba, and Neuquén. The outage occurred after the Atucha I nuclear power plant went offline due to a problem with the grid. The government is investigating the cause of the power cut, which also caused the websites of the national regulator and local electricity market to go offline. The incident arrived during a heatwave affecting 11 provinces, with Buenos Aires City recording its hottest summer since 1906.

Argentina's President Alberto Fernández has delivered his final state-of-the-nation speech to the Congress, defending his vice-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and condemning a failed shooting attack against her. In his speech, Fernández criticised the actions of the Judiciary and highlighted the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the country. He also slammed a recent Supreme Court ruling that favoured the Buenos Aires City government over the national government and accused judges of seeking to disqualify Kirchner from politics through a campaign of persecution. Fernández called on the Judiciary to deepen its investigation into the perpetrators of the attack and for them to act with the same haste with which they file cases against judges and powerful businessmen.

Argentina has suspended its poultry exports after confirming its first industrial case of bird flu, according to the country's agriculture secretary. The case was detected in the southern province of Rio Negro, an area with low poultry density. Secretary Juan Jose Bahillo said that the suspension of exports is in line with international regulations and aims to prevent further spread of the disease. While the secretary confirmed that Argentines can still consume the poultry products, fears are raised that the disease could spread and hurt exports from the South American nation, which generates poultry exports valued at just over $350 million per year.

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