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Source: Telam (Buenos Aires)
Late last night, in a marathon last session, Argentina's Senate approved a law project that makes changes to the observance and name of many public holidays.
The first change is to move the October 12 public holiday from the purview of Ley N° 21.329 (fixed date public holidays) to that of Ley N° 23.555 (public holidays that move to a nearby Monday). The October 12 public holiday would henceforth be observed on the second Monday of October (as is the case in Canada and the USA).
In addition, the proposed law actually gives an official name to all holidays (something that Ley N° 21.329 did not do) and in particular, accedes the the request of the INADI (Instituto Nacional Contra la Discriminación, la Xenofobia y el Racismo ) and changes the commonly used name "Día de la Raza" to "Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural" for the October 12th public holiday. This is slightly different from the name proposed by the INADI (10-Oct-2007), "Día de la Diversidad Cultural Americana", but should give impetus to similar requests in other countries such as Bolivia and Chile, where similar proposals have been made.
Maundy Thursday (3 days before Easter Sunday), which is currently only a holiday for the public sector, would be made a general non-working day for everyone (presumably, from the wording of the law, un-paid).
Finally, after years of repeated demands (11-Feb-2007), the bill would restore Carnival Monday and Carnival Tuesday, as non-working days, nationwide (the 2 days of Carnival were restored as public holidays for civil servants in Buenos Aires, and optional holidays for the private sector, in 2004, as reported in 21-May-2004).
The law, as approved by the senate, has now been sent back to the lower house (Cámara de Diputados) for approval, before the final stage of ratification by the President.
Related links:
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Argentina 2012 bank holidays and public holidays (current year)
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Argentina 2013 bank holidays and public holidays (next year)
• Argentina bank holidays and public holidays (news and updates)
• Worldwide
bank holidays and public holidays news updates (December 2008)
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Argentina Passes Public Holidays Law Reform