Argentine work singled out

An Argentine photo of police detaining a priest at a pension protest in Buenos Aires won a 2026 World Press Photo regional award. (worldpressphoto.org) World Press Photo listed Tadeo Bourbon’s image, “Milei’s Argentina,” as a South America regional winner in the Singles category. The photograph was taken on May 14, 2025, during a weekly demonstration outside Argentina’s National Congress. (worldpressphoto.org) The image shows police detaining Father Jorge “Chueco” Romero as retirees protested pension freezes and cuts to medication coverage. Romero and Father Francisco “Paco” Olveira are part of the Catholic clergy group Opción por los Pobres, or Option for the Poor. (worldpressphoto.org) World Press Photo said the protests centered on older Argentines’ struggle to afford food and treatment after austerity measures aimed at slowing inflation. The organization said the minimum pension was about $300, below half the estimated basic cost of living. (worldpressphoto.org) Bourbon’s award came in a contest that drew 3,747 photographers from 141 countries and 57,376 photographs taken in 2025, according to Argentine coverage citing the organizers. The winning work will be shown in Amsterdam from April 24 to September 27 at De Nieuwe Kerk. (lanacion.com.ar, primeraedicion.com.ar) A second Argentine project was also recognized: Pablo E. Piovano’s long-term series “The Human Cost of Agrotoxins.” World Press Photo named it a South America regional winner in the Long-Term Projects category. (worldpressphoto.org) Piovano’s project tracks the health effects of pesticide exposure in rural Argentina over years, using portraits and case histories from farming communities. World Press Photo says pesticide use in Argentina rose from 40 million to 580 million liters a year after the 1996 approval of genetically modified soybeans paired with glyphosate-based herbicides. (worldpressphoto.org) The organization says about 60 percent of Argentina’s cultivated land is sprayed and 14 million people are affected. It also says independent studies have linked exposure to higher risks of cancer and congenital malformations, while agrochemical use has moved closer to populated areas. (worldpressphoto.org) Argentine reports said Piovano’s work included provinces such as Misiones, where he photographed tobacco-growing families exposed to glyphosate and other chemicals. His project had already received earlier international recognition before this 2026 award. (primeraedicion.com.ar, lanacion.com.ar) Together, the two selections put Argentina in the 2026 World Press Photo winners list with one image about street repression in the capital and one long-running project about chemical exposure in rural provinces. (worldpressphoto.org, worldpressphoto.org)