These are the trending news headlines in Argentina on Tuesday March 28, 2023

Argentina marked the 47th anniversary of the US-backed military coup that overthrew the government of President Isabel Martínez de Perón in 1976. The event installed the bloodiest dictatorship in the history of the country, marked by state terrorism and human rights violations. During the seven years and nine months of military dictatorship, Argentine security forces hunted down and silenced anyone believed to be resisting the military junta or associated with socialism, left-wing Peronism, the Montoneros movement, or against the neoliberal economic policies imposed by the military junta. Over 30,000 students, activists, trade unionists, writers, journalists, artists, and any citizens suspected of being left-wing activists were kidnapped, tortured and disappeared. The armed forces seized their property and their babies. Several thousands were killed in the “planes of deaths” and thrown into the Atlantic Ocean or La Plata River. This year, hundreds of thousands of Argentines marched across the country to remember the victims of enforced disappearance and to say "never again." They demanded that the judicial processes against the perpetrators of those horrendous human rights crimes continue, and President Alberto Fernández announced the construction of a new Space for Memory and the Promotion of Human Rights in Campo de Mayo, a military base and one of the secret detention centers used by the military regime.

Argentina has banned the sale and import of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products due to their potential harm to health. The Ministry of Health issued a resolution prohibiting the distribution, commercialization, and advertising of these products throughout the country. The ban includes all accessories and cartridges intended for the operation of the devices. The health department cites multiple independent studies that demonstrate the harmful and potentially harmful chemicals produced by these products, including nicotine, which induces dependence and is particularly attractive to children and adolescents. Although e-cigarette consumption in Argentina is low among adults, it has increased alarmingly among adolescents. The ban aims to prevent tobacco initiation in young and non-smoking adults and reduce the enormous impact of tobacco consumption on the country's public accounts.

The XXVIII Ibero American Summit, the first to be held in person after the Covid-19 pandemic, concluded with the Declaration of Santo Domingo, which supports Argentina's claim over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands. The document also covered issues such as gender equality, energy transition, and the promotion of Spanish/Portuguese bilingualism. The next gathering is scheduled for Nov. 29, 2024, in Quito, Ecuador. The Ibero-American cooperation action plan for 2023-2026 was approved, including plans for alternative economies, food security, and climate change mitigation. The Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries was admitted as a consultative observer to the Ibero-American Conference. The Quadrennial Action Plan for Ibero-American Cooperation 2023-2026 focuses on strengthening regional cooperation action to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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