The footage is dark and grainy, but the view of the prison courtyard is clear enough. It appears to be empty, until suddenly three men are sprinting towards the far corner. A brief fight ensues, before two of those involved flee from the scene. The third – Daniel Martínez – tries to follow, but collapses after just a few paces, never to get up again. Unfortunately what the CCTV footage shows is not unusual, but a stark piece of evidence of the reality of life inside Argentina’s jails, where one inmate dies every two days.

For one night only, The Argentimes is joining up with Buenos Aires Pub Crawl for a tour of the bars of Palermo exclusively for readers. The night kicks off at 10pm in Plaza Armenia, on Armenia between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, with free beer, wine and pizza before hitting the barrio’s bars with a complimentary drink in each one, finishing with free entry into Hype at Kika, the place to be on a Tuesday. And all for $60 (pesos), so no excuse not to join in to meet and mingle with Argentines and foreigners alike this Tuesday, 2nd March.

They have come from all over Argentina. Some have even come from parts of Paraguay and Brazil. They have come with their spouses and children, aging parents and grandparents. They have come alone, leaving their families behind. They have brought tents, blankets, lawn chairs, guitars, portable barbeques, charcoal, snacks, and foam coolers. They have brought nothing but themselves. Most importantly they bring well-loved statues – whether small or as large as their torsos – of the man whom they have travelled to thank, remember, and ask of; the homegrown saint of Argentina, Antonio ‘Gauchito’ Gil.

“2009 was not just another year. It started with a new Miguel Bru that was Luciano Arruga, and finished with a new Walter Bulacios: Ruben Carballo. Police repression and violence grew to the point of taking the life of someone every 24 hours.” Any student of Argentine history is familiar with the dictatorship of the 1970s and 80s, and the thousands of students, unionists and activists that were “disappeared” by the military regime. Victims were kidnapped from their homes or the streets, tortured and murdered, and their bodies never discovered.

The Caribbean nation of Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake measuring 7.3 on 12th January. The quake left up to 200,000 dead, flattened much of the capital and affected an estimated three million people. Although aid is finally trickling in, it is going to take years to rebuild the country, which was already the poorest in the Americas. Many organisations have pledged hundreds of thousands of dollars, but as the true extent of the destruction becomes clear, much more will be needed.

Buenos Aires is hotting up for summer, and if you’re planning on staying in the capital while porteños head to Uruguay in vast swathes, there are still things to do, contrary to popular belief! The Argentimes has come up with some ways to feel like you’ve managed a break even if you’re in Buenos Aires during the summer months…

On 9th October, Pablo Martín Gómez was stopped at traffic lights on the way to his girlfriend’s house in Rosario. A motorcycle pulled up alongside his vehicle and, without saying a word, one of the riders shot the driver four times. Before falling into a coma from which he would never wake up, Gomez managed to call a friend saying: “They found me. They shot me.” Though the incident occurred away from any stadium, investigators suspect that Gomez is yet another victim of the unrelenting violence that plagues Argentine football. In a country where the beautiful game is sacrosanct, the action on the pitch is all-too-frequently overshadowed by the brutal antics of the barra bravas.

Have you ever wondered what this centuries-old secret society is all about? A month ago the sequel for ‘The Da Vinci Code’, one of the best-selling novels of all time, was published, and even though a tight lid was kept the plot, it became quickly known that the book would deal with Freemasonry and its little known role in the creation of the United States. Such coverage has led to a renewed interest in the ancient brotherhood as people wonder what exactly is Freemasonry. A religion, a gentlemen’s club… a shadow government?

We are sitting at the kitchen table of a quiet adobe house in the desert just above the town of Andalgalá in remote Catamarca, north-western Argentina. Seventy kilometres to the west, Alumbrera mine is in full operation, digging into the ground 24 hours a day. Alumbrera was sold to the people on the promise of bringing modernity to the little village. There would be new hospitals, schools, jobs and even a farfetched town-wide WiFi network. In one man’s words the people were promised “paradise”. But it never came.

Using some of the biggest national icons as inspiration, including Che, Evita and ‘mate’, contemporary Argentine designers revel in their country’s unique identity. But this wasn’t always the case. As a consequence of a need to reinvent itself after the economic crisis of 2001, Argentine design experienced a revival, and it has been enjoying a strong creative resurgence ever since.