Argentina

Thousands took to the streets of the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires on Friday to protest against Monsanto and its activities in the rural town of Malvinas Argentinas. The agro-industrial corporation has been planning to build the world’s biggest maize seed treatment plant in the location.. RT reports: Protests were also held in other cities across Argentina. Protesters marched in support of an activists’ camp, which is blocking the Monsanto-owned property in Malvinas Argentinas in the Cordoba region. The camp recently received an eviction notice from the authorities.

On Wednesday evening, Argentina’s FinMin (and former head of global FX research at JP Morgan) Alfonso Prat-Gay abolished currency controls, fulfilling new President Mauricio Macri’s promise to unify the official and black market peso rates.

The move came on the heels of central bank governor Alejandro Vanoli's forced resignation. Macri has accused Vanoli of endangering the country's finances by racking up some $17 billion in dollar futures which the new government attempted to renegotiate ahead of the deval.

Late last month, Argentina voted to throw out the Peronists. In what amounted to a sharp rebuke of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's handling of the economy (among other things) Mauricio Macri defeated Daniel Scioli, Kirchner’s hand-picked successor, ushering in what the market hopes will be a new era for a country plagued by persistently high inflation and slumping growth.