Smoke on the Water.... and in the Sky Over Buenos Aires

Image from AP

We can't go outside tonight. The smoke is just too much. My wife's throat is irritated and I'm getting a headache from the fumes. It is 2:00am, and I have had to shut off all the air conditioners in the apartment because they are sucking in the fowl smell of burnt grass.

You may have noticed the news reports. Over 70,000 hectares of grasslands in the river delta region 300 km north of Buenos Aires have been burning. The fires are sending smoke all the way down to Buenos Aires and even over to Montevideo in Uruguay.

The blog, Still Life in Buenos Aires, has a good NASA photo of the area affected.

It seems that in the winter, farmers in the delta marshland use an age old slash-and-burn technique to clear dry grass and improve the land for grazing cattle. Normally, it is not a big deal. But this year, someone started a little early and the fire got out of hand because of the climatic conditions.

After a week or more of the smoke, 70,000 toasted hectares and several deaths on the highways due to the thick smoke, the government has finally labeled it a crisis. But rather than make much progress in fighting the real fire, they seem more interested in playing with political fire.

The government has used this crisis to their advantage in the farm strike negotiations, labeling the fires the result of greedy farmers that burned the land "to reduce costs and maximize profits, regardless of the consequences."

And of course this great quote circulating all the wire services:
“This is the largest fire of this kind we’ve ever seen,” said the interior minister, Florencio Randazzo. “It was started by farmers clearing land for cattle grazing, driven by greed for profit and with total disregard for human life.”

Because the area is a protected wetland, the use of chemicals and pesticides is banned. The marshland consists of 100s of islands with no roads and the only way in or out is by boat. Using heavy equipment is cost prohibitive, so the farmers have used the slash and burn technique for many years.

The only problem, there were never any safeguards put in place to prevent the tragedy we have now. But the government claiming that heads are going to roll and this is all the result of greedy farmers acting irresponsibly, sounds a bit like the Prefect of Police in the movie Casablanca claiming, "I'm shocked that gambling is going on here!" when he had been well aware of it all along.

Leave it to this government to use a crisis to drive a wedge and divide its people more.

I just don't understand this type of politics.

Peronistas want The Simpsons Banned In Argentina?

Homer Simpson at a bar in San Telmo

Poor Homer and his family... Or should I say Homero as he is known down here. When first on the air, he had to deal with the US religious right calling for bans and boycotts. Even our President George H.W. Bush took swings at The Simpsons calling them bad roll models for America.

Then, just last week the sitcom was deemed "unsuitable for children" in Venezuela and pulled off the air by president Hugo Chavez. The government stated, "the show goes against wholesome education for young boys and girls".

So what did Venezuela put on in its palce? Baywatch Hawaii. Now there is wholesome education—hot girls in bathing suits and David Hasslehoff! Go figure?

Huego Chavez isn't the only one with a beef about Homer. Here in Argentina, a former Peronist deputy has asked the broadcasting commission to ban an episode of The Simpsons for falsely attributing the "Disappeared" to former president Juan Perón.

In the episode, Moe asks, "Who wants to abolish democracy forever?" Carl replies,"I could really go for some kind of military thing like, uh, I don't know... Juan Perón. When he disappeared ya, you stayed disappeared." Lenny chimes in with, "Plus his wife was Madonna!"



OK first off, we all know it was the right-wing dictatorship that overthrew Perón's third wife,(Isabell, not Madonna) that was efficient at disappearing people. If there was a slight historical inaccuracy is that worth banning the show? You have to admit that Madonna line was funny. It just wouldn't of worked any other way.

Besides, everyone knows that people in the US are really bad at world history. Hell, they're bad at our own history. I'm impressed Moe even knew who Juan Perón was.

If historical accuracy is a requirement for our entertainment down here, then how come they allowed the disaster of a movie 10,000 BC to be shown? Come on dinosaurs during the time of cavemen? Cavemen in Egypt when the Pyramids were being built? Come on! I would of gladly gone to a cacerolazo to protest that movie!

Top Kirchner Thug, D'Elía Now Attacking The Press

Picture from Clarin.com. D'Elía attacking the press.

In my last post, I covered the disturbing trend of the Kirchners attempting to control the press and stifle free speech. It gets worse.

As I reported yesterday, Queen Cristina at a rally of supports (a chunk of whom were threatened with their jobs if they didn't show up) held up a political cartoon printed in the local newspaper Clarín, and accused it of being a "quasi mafioso" attack on her.

The ironic thing is most porteños consider Clarín very pro-Kirchner. It was odd that the Presidenta was picking on one of her biggest supports in the press. But there she was accusing them of being mafioso thugs. (She also accused them of taking advantage of her because she is a woman... but that should be a whole other blog post.)

This from the government that sent thugs into the Plaza to beat up its own citizens that were peacefully protesting the government. A peaceful crowd made up of women, children, grandparents. Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?

The man leading the group of thugs was Luis D'Elía. A man that later shared the stage with the president in her big speech right after the protests against her. And a man that has been defended by all levels of the government here despite the vile, bigoted, hate-filled remarks he has made in the press.

Over the last couple of weeks the government has been clear in letting the independent press here know that they are now in the crosshairs. So who do they put on TV to beat up the press? Of course, Mr. D'Elía.

Last night on Television, there D'Elía was attacking the press and justifying a governments crackdown.

He took Cristina's lead and went after Clarín parent company that runs the 24 hour news channel. "This channel is always putting a pistol to the head of democracy...", he said.

He then attacked Clarín, "Before you used dictatorship to remove people, today the media is the dictatorship."

The world is starting to voice its concern about the governments recent attacks on the Press. So the Kirchners send D'Elía out to defend them. Who is the real mafioso, or should I say mafiosa.

Kirchnerism and a Free Press: Oil and Water

Anselm Kiefer
Book with Wings, 1992–94.
From the collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

I'm sorry for posting another political post. I promise I'll return to more pics and travel commentary from around Buenos Aires soon.

However, the above sculpture is one of my all time favorite works of art. It is called Book with Wings from the Museum of Modern Art Fort Worth. The wings give freedom to the printed word, something we are seeing less of here in Argentina.

I was shocked the other day, when a fellow blogger and Argentine rancher deleted all of his posts about the farm strike in fear of reprisals from the government. To keep his ID secret, we'll just call him Dandy Michael—not a reference to his sexual orientation, but to his well known moniker.

It seems that actions by the government towards neighboring farmers have served their purpose of silencing a wonderful and balanced viewpoint about life on the farm here in Argentina.

While the government's decision to seize farmers livestock is not a direct attack on freedom of speech, the end result is the same. There are plenty of recent examples that are direct attacks on the freedom of the press.


Cristina no le gusta. This cartoon by Sábat shows a two faced Cristina with her husband (side profile of the face) the hidden voice of the government.

In Cristina's recent rally in the Plaza de Mayo before the rent-a-crowd audience, she held up a very unflatering political cartoon of her and publicly criticized it as a "quasi-mafioso message". Before singling out the cartoon by Hermenegildo Sábat (see image above), she compared the current farm strike to a farm strike right before the 1976 coup that brought in the right-wing military dictatorship responsible for the murder of thousands of Argentines and the suspension of most liberties.

She added, "This time farmers have not been accompanied by tanks, this time they have been accompanied by those large media corporations that in addition to supporting the lock out of the people by the farmers, have locked out the information, changing, misrepresenting, and showing a one-sided opinion."

And soon after that speech, she met with the Social Sciences department at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) to announce the relaunching of a commission called Observatorio de Discriminación en los Medios (Discrimination Observatory in the Media). Its purpose is to investigate the "truthfulness" of the press and make sure it is "fair and balanced" as seen by the government. Yeah right! Kinda of like what FOX News does for our government.

It all sounds like a witch hunt to go after journalist that disagree with the government to me. I don't think Stephen Colbert could make up such a bit.

Need more proof? A report by Reporters Without Borders noted that journalists in the provinces were threatened and harassed by police and the courts. The press was also blackmailed by withdrawal of local government advertising. That was in 2007. In terms press freedom, Argentina ranked 82 out of 167 nations as tracked by Reporters without Borders. After recent events, it will surely drop further.

This trend is troubling because the freedom of the press is a critical foundation for any democratic government. Unfortunately, here it is the only vehicle for people to be heard outside the Kirchners who strongly control congress and all local governments. If you don't like what the government is doing, you can't rely on the traditional separation of powers a strong democracy has. That just does not exist here.

The weak Judiciary is slow and ineffective. Congress is in bed with the government and is just a rubber stamp for whatever the Kirchners want. What the government says here, goes. That only leaves the press to keep citizens informed and to give them a voice.

Hopefully, the Argentine press will continue to stand up for the truth and won't be bullied by the Kirchners when the truth goes against the Kirchners' wishes. The press is the last line of defense for this democracy.

All of this is ironic. Cristina and her husband were once part of the underground movement against the right wing dictatorship and the lack of freedoms that government was known for. Maybe they learned a few too many things from their enemy.

Irony... like the wings above made of lead.

Recoleta Protest: Cristina's speech didn't calm things here.

Young protester with her dad joining the crowd on Pueyrredon

Just returned from the protest here in the Recoleta tonight. It was much bigger than the night before. When talking with people in the crowd, it appears that Cristina didn't do anything to calm the emotions of the middle class here in the Recoleta. (OK...maybe some were well above middle class status.)


Protest Turning onto Santa Fe

The cacerolazo started soon after Cristina's speech. People headed to their windows and balconies and started banging on pots and pans to announce the start.

People then started gathering on the street. I went up a block to the corner of Callao and Quitana where everyone from my neighborhood seemed to gather each night. There was a pretty good crowd, although not as big as the previous night.

When enough had gathered to block the road, everyone marched up to the corner of Santa Fe and Callao. This was the area where all of the groups from Barrio Norte would meet up before marching on to the Obelisco the other nights.

I left the crowd about 9:00 and headed home for dinner.

About 10:00 we heard a large bang of fireworks and the tin of the Cacerolazo approaching our apartment. I grabbed the camera and raced downstairs. I was surprised to see a very large march down Callao.


Protest moving up Santa Fe

I guess the pro-government supporters had occupied the Obelisco and Plaza de Mayo all day. So the Cacerolazo decided to march through the streets tonight.

It was a great tactic. The group drew more and more participants as it marched down Callao. I followed the group of about 3,000 people. down Callao and onto Ave. Libertador. From Libertador, the crowd moved up Av. Pueyrredon and back up to Santa Fe.

All along the way the crowed grew bigger an bigger. And when they reached the intersection of Santa Fe and Callao again the crowd was easily 5,000. Later, they broke out in the national anthem before many left for home around 11:00. It was very moving.


Protest heading to Callao and Santa Fe

The mood was more like being in a parade than a protest. There were families with small children, older couples, soccer mom types, and a large number of young adults. As we passed down the street, the balconies would fill with people banging pots or throwing confetti down on the crowd.


Cristina Maria Antonieta

One thing is clear. The middle and upper classes do not like the Kirschners. They are tired of the bad government and the fact that they have no real congress to stand up for them. They feel the cacerolazo is the only way they can be heard.


I've got a ton of great video. It just takes forever to upload to YouTube. I'll post more as I get it uploaded. I promise.

I'll leave you with a moving video of the singing of the National Anthem:


Right before the Protest Broke up

The Voice of the Government: Luis D'Elía"

D'Elía attacking a man in the Plaza de Mayo

Why is this man the face of the government?

This is the man that sent a small group of thugs into the Plaza de Mayo to break up the protesters supporting the farmers. The self proclaimed voice of the government and the "people".

Who is he? While none other than a former official from Nestor Kirshner's (Cristina's husband) presidential cabinet&mdashLuis D'Elía.

It is not everyday you see an official from the government punching ordinary citizens in the street (see the video clip above from La Nacion) and spewing hatred like this:

"I am replying that I have a visceral hatred for the oligarchy whore (i.e. the farmers) that has its hands full, but filled with blood from people, blood workers, but never had a problem with killing massively "

Translated by Google from La Nacion

And of course this gem:

"You, the north of the city, whites, those who accumulate and concentrate and kill and that the only flag they have in their hands is its own profitability, they have a visceral hatred, sépanlo of my mouth, the only thing I hate it moves against you"

Translated by Google from La Nacion

Here is the link to the full article in spanish. My US friends can read the translated version here.

This is insane. Someone please explain why people like Luis D'Elía are inciting class warfare and splitting this great country instead of trying to solve the problems at hand.

The most outrageous thing? There he was tonight on the stage with the Kirshners as Cristina gave her speech. How can a man like that be allowed to sit on the same stage with them?

BTW...In my previous post when I mocked the woman's boyfriend for saying this was heading to civil war....I sadly retract my statement.

Farm Protest: Start of A Civil War?

Everything is backwards down here. I guess because we are south of the equator. Although the jury is out on the whole water draining down the toilet thing, every thing else is reversed.

In the States, we heavily subsidize our farmers. In Argentina, they have resorted to taxing the hell out of them. To the tune of 44% export tariffs on things like soybeans and wheat. Ouch!

Like anyone who's livelihood is reduced by 44%, the farmers are pissed. And they are taking to the streets of the Campo with roadblocks on all the major roads.

By coincidence, the timing comes with maximum impact. During holy week, Buenos Aires empties out and the Argentines take to the road for a four day holiday. The roads are packed this weekend and no one is going anywhere fast. Angers are flaring on both sides of the issue.



The farmers here rule the economy and tariffs on their exports have been filling the government's coffers to the tune of some $39 billion (US) at last count. The soaring commodity prices have been a big factor in Argentina's rapid turn around.

Things aren't all rosy for the new president though. Despite official numbers on inflation at 8.5% it is really topping 20%. People on the streets are grumbling about food prices.

Because of price controls on energy supplies(yes Mike, price controls), there will be a huge shortfall—if not this winter then by next. At current prices, it is just not feasible to refine and produce enough fuel. That has sent Argentina's President in her finest short designer skirts off flirting with Brazil and Chavez to come to the rescue.

Back to the farmers. So how do you solve the high food prices and continue to subsidize energy? Tax the hell out of the farmers. This is socialism at its worst. Lets punish the one sector of the economy that is saving this economy.

The Government gets by with this because the farmers are vilified as greedy opportunists and painted as the cause of the high prices.

One post on the Yahoo BA Newcomers group claimed the farmers were killing babies and deserved all to be taxed until they bleed... Alright, maybe the post was on how their blockades were shutting down all the roads were causing accidents...

“Greed runs deeper than wealth in these farmers. So before offering
any sympathy for these swine; remember the people bleeding to death
in accidents along these roads, and the ambulances that can't get
through cause some greedy rich farmer doesn't want to surrender a
small percentage of his outrageous profit in this poverty-seized
nation.

To hell with the corn revolution.”

It is that kind of propagandist vilifying that allows things like this to get out of control. It is starting to split the country. On yet another BA Newcomers post, a women quotes her Argentine boyfried as saying, “the country is heading to civil war.” I doubt it. However, it is yet another crack in the wall.

It is all a sad reminder of how this country continually shots itself in the foot economically. Every seven years this country implodes. Cristina's economic policies just might get us their sooner than we thought.

Cristina and Chávez Sitting in a Tree....

Every wonder why Cristina and Chávez always seem to be having a good time when they're together. Maybe they have something going on the side that Néstor doesn't know about?



Put those rumors to rest. We found out today the real reason.



I would be happy too if someone gave me a suitcase with $800,000 US dollars. To be fair, the money never made it to Cristina, but it is the thought that counts right?

Argentina's First Elected Female President... Is the US Ready For the Same?

Photo copyright and stolen from La Nacion
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner took office today as Argentina's first elected female president.

There have been numerous comparisons between Cristina and Hillary Clinton. Both are smart women who went to law school and their husbands preceded them in office as president. That is Cristina's husband in the photo above who as outgoing president had to turn over the keys to his office to his wife.

What does this mean for Argentina? From what I have heard, elections can be anxious times for Argentina. Most election years, people don't know how policy changes from one president to the next will affect them. And they have been burned in the past.

However, after this last election, everyone was resigned to the fact that things would remain the same no matter what they thought of the Kirchners' political record.

Under Señor Kirchner's presidency, Argentina climbed out of one of the biggest economic collapses this continent has ever witnessed. The country has rebounded and had over 5 years of strong economic growth. A little too strong.

The strong growth has let inflation rear its ugly head. The outgoing Kirchner and his wife have been accused of mucking with the inflation index and under reporting the true numbers. Anecdotal evidence from the local supermarket would tend to back the critics.

In retrospect, it was kind of hard for Nestor Kirchner to look bad when your country could fall no lower. The only way was up for Argentina after the collapse of 2001. But now there are storm clouds on the horizon for Cristina's turn. We'll see how well she navigates the rough water ahead.

Likewise, the next US President has one big mess to clean up. A much bigger mess with no easy solutions. I'm afraid things will be much tougher for the next President no matter who he or she is.

Let Them Eat Wii!

We were shopping at the Paseo Alcorta shopping mall the other day and we noticed a Nintendo Wii in the window of a store. We about passed out on the spot. The price was a mere AR$3,000. That is $1,000 in US dollars. It was not some ebay scam. It was not due the some crazy inflation rate. That is the actual retail price here.

I love my Wii. We can't imagine life without it. I don't know that I would pay $1000 for one.

It is not just Wii's that are priced so crazy. All electronics here are priced through the roof due to huge import duties. Just the other day I was offered a handsome sum for my video iPod. The offer was more than double what I paid for it and it is even a couple of generations old now.

Most things in the store are made here. The government since the time of Peron has really pushed Argentine economy to be self sufficient. And that policy has helped employ a large number of people. However, this gringo feels they are getting a raw deal.

The stores are filled with inferior goods. We went shopping for baby strollers last week and were looking at paying $200 for a stroller that was not even to the standard of the $19.95 version at Toys R Us. Why? My guess is that the market isn't being allowed to work freely and efficiently and the manufactures here have been insulated from any real competition. Plus the raw goods are harder to come by and more expensive from the duties placed on them.

Another example. My daughter started school way out in the suburbs. Which means she (and we) must get up at the un-Argentine hour of 6:00 to get ready for the bus that comes by at 7:00. Time to get an alarm clock. Only there are none to be found in the stores. At first I thought this was a cultural thing. Why would a country that prides itself on never being on time for anything need alarm clocks? OK, it may be partly due to that. But in reality with limited pesos, why spend money on the overpriced item when the alarm on your cell phone will work just fine.

We were told in our expat orientation meeting at school that if you want to find good quality goods go out to the Wal-Mart. The Wal-Mart! Something is seriously wrong with this place if I have to go to Wal-Mart to find "quality".

If they opened the markets here and eliminated the tariffs, prices would come down, the economy would grow the quality of life would increase along with the quality of goods. Sure some local manufacturers would have to close due to the pressure to compete globally. But, BustBuy, CompUSA and the new Argentine equivalents would trip over themselves opening new stores employing more than the factories that did have to close ever did.

Then every boy and girl would be blessed with Wiis and life would be grand. I say let them eat Wiis! Wii tennis anyone?