Wow...! Argentina's Nestor Kirchner dies...!

and here i sit in buenos aires wondering why the day is so strangely quiet...


Nestor Kirchner

Former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner dies

Argentina's former President Nestor Kirchner has died, after reportedly suffering a heart attack.

Mr Kirchner, 60, who had been operated on in September for heart problems, died in the southern Argentine city of El Calafate, local media reported.

His wife, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, is the current president of the country.

Mr Kirchner served as resident from 2003 to 2007, and was being tipped to stand for election again in 2011.

He entered office after Argentina had seen a series of presidents come and go during a financial crisis 2001.

like so many who rise to the heights of political power, kirchner was obsessed with power and money... i was no fan but i concede that he did manage to pull the country out of its death spiral and did it with a flourish of populism all too rare in today's world... by the end of his second term, however, his true colors were abundantly clear and when he positioned his wife to succeed him - which she did in the 2007 election - i washed my hands of him... the fact that he was angling to get back into office in next year's election simply deepened my disgust...

all that said, however, even though i have decided to give up my place here, a place i have had for five years, argentina will always occupy a very soft place in my heart... as for nestor, may he rest in peace...

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Only from the mouth of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

the telenovela that is argentina rolls merrily along as always... there have been a number of developments on the scene here that have been post-worthy, but, given my recent high pout about the state of world affairs in general, i've passed on the opportunity to reinforce their absurdity by paying them attention they don't deserve - until this stunning piece of idiocy passed in front of my eyes this morning...

Pork better for sex than Viagra?

Argentina's president recommended pork as an alternative to Viagra Wednesday, saying she spent a satisfying weekend with her husband after eating barbecued pork.

"I've just been told something I didn't know; that eating pork improves your sex life ... I'd say it's a lot nicer to eat a bit of grilled pork than take Viagra," President Cristina Fernandez said to leaders of the pig farming industry.

She said she recently ate pork and "things went very well that weekend, so it could well be true."

Argentines are the world's biggest per capita consumers of beef, but the government has sought to promote pork as an alternative in recent years due to rising steak prices and as a way to diversify the meat industry.

"Trying it doesn't cost anything, so let's give it a go," Fernandez said in the televised speech.

cristina is a piece of work, known in some circles here as a total air-head "fashionista," who earned that sobriquet after traveling to italy to attend an international conference and spending most of her time shopping in high-end clothing and shoe stores... besides being an air-head, she's also the wife of the FORMER president, nestor kirchner, a situation we in the u.s. would have been facing had we elected hillary...

cristina, imho, offers the perfect application of the following...



and, no, cristina, i don't give a fig for the details of your sex life...

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Follow-up: Argentine election results

i read a few articles on the election results which claimed that argentine voters were repudiating a center-left government... b.s... they were repudiating an incompetent, airhead, fashionista presidente who, with her ex-presidente husband, have systematically, in true argentine fashion, lined their own pockets while claiming to be on the side of the poor, a population that is steadily increasing while the rich - as usual - get richer...

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner lost power in Congress after voters angry at her handling of a farm strike, crime and a slowing economy favored opposition candidates in mid-term elections yesterday.

Fernandez acknowledged that a slate of candidates for the lower house led by her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, was defeated in the bellwether province of Buenos Aires. She told reporters today that the government will have 35 seats in the 72-member senate and 107 lawmakers in the 257- member lower house, not counting allies from other blocs.

Fernandez, 56, relied on her coalition’s control of Congress to back an agenda that included nationalizing $24 billion in private pension funds and the country’s flagship airline, Aerolineas Argentinas SA. She angered many supporters when she tried to raise farm export taxes last year, provoking four months of road blockades and protests.

too bad, so sad, cristina... meanwhile, check out what you've done to your wonderful country...

Argentina faces having to import wheat

Argentina, which considers itself the world’s bread basket, faces having to import wheat next year after the worst planting season on record because of drought, lack of credit and government policies.

Argentine farmers are set to sow about 2.9m hectares with wheat, the smallest area since records started more than a century ago and down 30 per cent from last season’s 4.2m, according to estimates from the Buenos Aires grain exchange.

“Since records started in Argentina more than 100 years ago there is not a single season with a lower planted area,” said Esteban Copati, an agricultural analyst at the exchange. “The wheat-sowing season has started badly, on the wrong footing.”

what a crying shame...

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Tomorrow's election in Argentina

a triumph of vacuousness... sigh...

In the waning minutes of “Showmatch,” the most popular entertainment show on Argentine television, the host managed on Thursday night to finally connect with Néstor Kirchner, the former president and now a candidate for Congress.

The suspense had been building for more than 90 minutes — “Will Néstor come?” was the title of the show — and the host, Marcelo Tinelli, periodically went to the street to check for signs of Mr. Kirchner’s motorcade. With the show nearing its end, Mr. Tinelli telephoned Mr. Kirchner at the presidential residence that he shares with his wife, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

“What’s up with you calling at this hour, Marcelo?” Mr. Kirchner asked jokingly.

Mr. Kirchner’s appearance had been rumored for days as a potential last-ditch effort to charm voters and perhaps save the Kirchners’ political future in congressional elections scheduled for Sunday. With a dearth of political television in Argentina and Mr. Kirchner’s refusal to debate his rivals, the political sketches of “Showmatch” have filled a void.

In what analysts say are further signs of desperation, the Kirchners have encouraged dozens of city council members and even Daniel Scioli, the governor of Buenos Aires Province, to run on their ticket as “testimonial candidates,” who do not expect to actually assume their positions if they win, a practice that has not been challenged in Argentina.

“This is one of the most vacuous legislative campaigns I have ever seen in this country,” said Graciela Romer, a veteran political analyst in Buenos Aires. “This is a campaign that has been almost entirely waged through Tinelli’s show.”

what a shame... argentina is such a wonderful country in so many ways and yet this is the kind of charade that passes for democracy... where's the real leadership...? that said, i could say virtually the same thing about my own country...

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Sovereign debt default, inflation and denial - a long overdue update on Argentina

i've posted extensively on argentina in general and particularly its $95B 2001 bond default (see here)... over seventy percent of the bondholders opted for a 2004 swap deal that offered them 30 cents on the dollar, leaving about $20B outstanding... the remaining bondholders, mostly in the u.s., refused the swap, and continued to hold out past the 25 february 2005 expiration date... they're still trying to get all of their money...

A United States judge granted on Wednesday a request by bondholders suing Argentina to extend a freeze on as much as 16 billion US dollars in sovereign bonds issued by the country and which now held by the Depository Trust Co. in New York.

Argentina claims it no longer has any interest in the bonds and that they are worth only 2 billion US dollars. The order stems from a class-action, or group lawsuit brought by bond holders who claim Argentina wrongly failed to pay interest or principal on its 11 percent global notes due in October 2006. The plaintiffs, who claim the bonds are worth as much 16 billion, are seeking more than a billion US dollars in damages.

[...]


Argentina defaulted on 95 billion in debt in late 2001. In 2005, then-President Nestor Kirchner offered holders of defaulted debt 30 cents on the dollar. Holders of about 20 billion in bonds rejected that deal. Argentina has since refused to re-open negotiations, preventing the country from being able to directly tap international credit markets. The country has also been the subject of lawsuits by individual bondholders.

imho, these primarily u.s. based bondholders are throwing away their attorney fees... argentina, while it would like to get back in the good graces of the international credit markets doesn't feel any great pressure to do so... for one thing, the country's economy has been pushing forward at an amazing 9% since the default... for another, much of latin america, including argentina, has banded together under the financial assistance umbrella of venezuela and hugo chávez (banco del sur) at considerably more favorable, less restrictive and much less ideological terms than offered by the world bank, the imf or the big transnational banks...

besides, argentina has other things to worry about at the moment...

Inflation has become the main concern of a majority of Argentines, leaving aside other issues such as insecurity and poverty according to the latest public opinion polls from Ibarometro and Hugo Haime & Associates, released this week in Buenos Aires and which refers to the second half of April.

According to Ibarometro, 36.9% of respondents consider their main concern “the hike in prices”, while for Haime 50% of Argentines feel that “inflation is what most impacts daily life”. This suggests a radical change from last January.

At the beginning of 2008, for Ibarometro the main issues were insecurity, education, poverty and fourth rated inflation. But in three months inflation climbed to top of the list. Similarly with Haime, the April 50% was only 31% last January.

To make things even more worrisome, last January 37% believed inflation in 2008 was to be higher than in 2007, but in the latest poll the percentage jumped to 71%. That is 71% believe the current Argentine administration is not considered capable of keeping prices at a reasonable level.

Food, clothing and personal hygiene goods were the most volatile according to the opinion polls.

“Inflation, newspaper headlines almost daily and the discredited image of Indec (the office responsible for calculating consumer price indexes) is fueling the negative perception of the economic situation. We also believe that the camp conflict increases that negative perception”, pointed out Ibarometro.

More specifically compared with January “the inflation issue has jumped 200% from 11% to 36.9%, while insecurity falls ten percentage points. Clearly the increase in prices shadows all other concerns. The education issue also virtually has disappeared from the list of ratings”, added Ibarometro.

As to the overall economic situation, a majority of Argentines have a negative view: 56.8% describe it as “bad” or “very bad”. Only 30% considers it “very good” or “reasonably good”. However in spite of these percentages four out of ten respondents considered positive the sacking of the Economy minister Martin Lousteau.

the argentine government officially claims inflation at just under 10%... my finger in the air calculation is closer to 20%, and, if you're a foreign tourist, it's pushing 30%... it's that inflation, not a suit by disgruntled bondholders, that's going to bite cristina in her expensively-clad tush...

S&P said it had downgraded Argentine bonds’ risk rate precisely because the Kirchner administration refuses point blank to apply any cooling policies and insists that inflation is under control. In spite of the fact that the overall consensus is that inflation contrary to the “official” statistics of just below two digits is in the range of 18 to 24%.

as much as i have a very soft spot in my heart for argentina, it's difficult to let the argentine government off the hook when it's still led by those who think denial is a river in egypt...

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U.S. issues indictments for crimes committed in Argentina? Help me out here...

seriously, help me out here... i posted on this story back in early october, even though it occurred in early august... (yeah, sometimes i'm a bit slow... so sue me...!)

from the washington post...

Days after authorities discovered a suitcase full of nearly $800,000 that had been taken on a private airplane carrying Argentine and Venezuelan officials, one of those officials has resigned and suspicions of a government scandal have grown.

A Venezuelan businessman was detained at a Buenos Aires airport Saturday when customs officials found $790,550 in undeclared cash in his luggage. The incident preceded Monday’s arrival here of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, leading to questions about the possibility of a link between the businessman and the Venezuelan or Argentine governments.

Aeropuerto Internacional Ezeiza, Buenos Aires

ANYWAYZ, i've been following the story excerpted below for the past week, figuring it was going to cause some heartburn for officials in both argentina and venezuela, and, sure enough, it has...

A U.S. grand jury indicted four Venezuelans and a Uruguayan on Thursday on charges of acting as unregistered foreign agents for Venezuela who allegedly tried to cover up a scheme to smuggle $800,000 in cash to Argentina.

The indictment formalizes charges brought last week when four of the five were arrested in connection with the case, which touched off corruption allegations in South America and diplomatic tensions between Washington and Buenos Aires.

U.S. prosecutors say the men represented the anti-U.S. government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and alleged in court that one of the defendants said the money was destined for the campaign of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who won Argentina's presidential election in October.

[...]

The Venezuelan-American businessman accused of trying to smuggle the $800,000 in a suitcase into Argentina visited the presidential palace two days after the incident, an Argentine prosecutor said on Thursday.

The money was seized by Argentine customs in August.

The case has caused an uproar in Argentine. Chavez has accused Washington of seeking to undermine Argentine-Venezuelan relations, while Washington says its probe is not politically motivated.

Prosecutor Maria Luz Rivas Diez said a former Argentine government employee testified the man with the suitcase, Guido Antonini Wilson, visited Argentina's presidential palace two days after the money was confiscated.

"Apparently he was with other people at a sort of toast or celebration, while in another office an accord was being signed with Venezuela," Rivas Diez told Radio Del Plata.

Argentine government officials, who allowed Antonini to leave the country but now seek his extradition from the United States to question him about possible money laundering, did not immediately comment.

The case -- dubbed the "suitcase scandal" by Argentine media -- erupted after Antonini carried the cash on a private jet chartered by Argentina's government to ferry Argentine and Venezuelan officials from Caracas to Buenos Aires.

[...]

On Wednesday, Argentina's Congress, in which Fernandez's center-left coalition holds a majority, passed a resolution condemning the United States over the investigation.

Fernandez, a former first lady and senator, succeeded her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, who has publicly accused Washington of engineering a smear campaign against his wife.

now, HERE'S my big question... where does the u.s. get off indicting these guys for a crime that DIDN'T EVEN TAKE PLACE INSIDE THE U.S...? anyone...?

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El Baradei talks about Iran and Argentina's nuclear program - more news we never see from a source we can't access

mohamed el baradei, the head of the international atomic energy agency, was in buenos aires earlier this week to receive an honorary doctorate from the university of buenos aires... he also met with outgoing argentine president nestor kirchner and granted an interview to the largest argentine daily, clarín... the translation is courtesy of the open source center (see below) via juan cole...

"I hope that what was done in Iraq will not be repeated. We have all learned a lesson and I hope with all my strength that the situation in Iran will be resolved diplomatically." [emphasis in original] Egypt's Mohamed ElBaradei, who is now in Buenos Aires and gave an exclusive interview to Clarin yesterday afternoon, is at the center of a storm and is working against the clock. ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is supervising the Iranian (nuclear development) plan, and he is also under pressure from the United States and its allies to harden his stance toward Tehran. Both the United States and Israel have sharply attacked the IAEA report on Iran.

el baradei continues...

I try to convince, argue, apply pressure, and use persuasion. Of course, my diplomacy is limited to dialogue, as there is no army behind it. I am indeed the target of pressures, but as long as you know that you have your feet on the ground and are sure of what you are doing, pressures are like Teflon; they do not stick. Moreover, I have gotten used to this, as we have been criticized by Saddam, by Korea, and now by Israel. We deal with extremely sensitive issues and we have to be very careful that we are not pushed in any direction. Everyone listens to us with great attention. This does seem rather schizophrenic, doesn't it? Governments hire us, but at times we make a judgment about them and it is difficult for them to accept the fact that, even though they are paying us, we can still judge them.

as much time as i spend there, i still have to remind myself that argentina's a nuclear nation... here, el baradei responds to a question about argentina's nuclear program...

Argentina is the only country in the region that has developed the complete nuclear fuel cycle and that is in a position to export nuclear technology, like the reactor that was sold to Australia, which is very pleased with it. Argentina may play a significant role as a possessor of this technology. It could be part of this possible rebirth of nuclear energy, and Argentina and Brazil may be in a position to cooperate by supplying nuclear fuel.

ok, back to the open source center... juan cole regularly posts excerpts in translation from media outlets around the world that he credits to the u.s. government "open source center"... this morning i was moved to go check it out... what i found is that it's definitely not "open..." here's what they say on their password-protected site (see screen shot below)...

Welcome to the website of the Open Source Center. OSC provides foreign media reporting and analysis to policymakers, government institutions and strategic partners. We deliver targeted, timely and authoritative open source intelligence for analysis, operations and policymaking. [...] This is a U.S. Government computer system. You have reached a United States Government computer system. Unauthorized access is prohibited by U.S. Public Law 99-474 (the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986) and can result in administrative, disciplinary, and/or criminal proceedings. If you are not an authorized user, exit this system immediately. Use of this system constitutes consent to monitoring at all times.

so, who CAN access the open source center (besides juan cole)... again, from their website...

# U.S. Government Employee
Select this option if you are an employee of a U.S. Federal Government agency.
# U.S. Government Contractor
Select this option if you are a U.S. contractor working under the terms of an active U.S. Federal Government contract, and if our material is required to support your work for the U.S. Federal Government.
# State and Local Government Employee
Select this option if you are an employee of a state or local government in the United States with Homeland Security responsibilities.
# State and Local Government Contractor
Select this option if you are working under the terms of an active contract with a state or local government in the United States with Homeland Security responsibilities.
# BBC Monitoring Employee
Select this option if you are an employee of the BBC Monitoring Service, and if our material is required to support your work for BBCM.
# Foreign Liaison with U.S. Government
Select this option if you are an officer of a government other than that of the United States, or if you are employed by a government-level international organization. Note that you should only apply for this account after having secured our explicit consent to do so. If you would like an account but have not secured such consent, please contact us at OSCinfo@rccb.osis.gov.

just a few more facts to file away for future reference... not that i don't have a head packed full already...

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Not-so-amazing divergence of opinion on Argentina's presidential election

prompted by Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's victory in this past sunday's presidential election in argentina, the pundits weigh in, and a fascinating juxtaposition of perspectives it is...

here's one point of view that paints a very positive picture of how argentina's managed its recovery by repudiating the imf and its policies, but neglects to mention anything about the seamy reality that underlies literally everything in the country...

from the la times op-ed page...

[T]he authorities made sure that their currency didn't rise too high and didn't swing wildly as a result of movements in financial markets. (Here in the U.S., where we have shed more than 3 million manufacturing jobs since 2001 -- the bulk of them lost because of an overvalued dollar -- we might take note.) They also kept interest rates low and made growth, rather than the lowest possible inflation, the top priority.

These policies are mostly a no-no among central bankers and economists, and Argentina had a few showdowns with the IMF, including a brief temporary default to the fund in September 2003. But the fund backed down, and most of the defaulted international creditors ended up settling for 35 cents on the dollar in 2005.

Of course, Argentina hasn't gotten a lot of foreign direct investment in the last five years, and it cannot directly borrow in international bond markets. But these handicaps -- which if you read the business press should spell doom -- turned out not to be all that important. Nor are they permanent. In time, foreign investors and lenders will find their way back to a fast-growing economy.

[...]

Getting basic macroeconomic policies right for your own economy is a lot more important than pleasing international financial markets. That goes double for failed international financial institutions like the IMF. The fund not only oversaw the train wreck that collapsed Argentina's economy from 1998 to 2002, it opposed the major policies that drove Argentina's remarkable recovery.

The fact that Argentina's break with the IMF and its policies was key to the country's economic success also has implications for other countries. Over the last quarter of a century, the fund and its allied institutions -- run from Washington -- have presided over Latin America's worst long-term growth performance in more than a century. As a result, most governments in the region have moved away from the IMF. Its loan portfolio in the region has shrunk from $49 billion just four years ago to less than $1 billion today. But it still holds sway in many poor countries.

Argentina's new government will face challenges, the kind brought about by a fast-growing economy: keeping inflation in check and assuring adequate supplies of energy. But these problems are manageable. Of course, there are analysts who argue otherwise, but their forecasts over the last five years have not been very accurate.

so, ya got that...? bad imf, good argentina...

now, let's jump across the country to the wapo op-ed page, where we're offered the standard beltway point of view...

Argentina -- and Ms. Fernandez de Kirchner's Peronist party -- still have not learned the lessons of the country's history. That could make the coming years more turbulent.

[...]

For the last century, Argentina has lived by a cycle of economic boom and bust, driven by prices for its agricultural exports, by the fondness of its governments for populist policies and by its resistance to playing by the usual rules of global financial markets. The boom under Mr. Kirchner, which followed the devastating bust of 2001, follows the usual pattern: It has been fueled by high prices for Argentine beef, wheat and soybeans, and by Mr. Kirchner's stiffing of international creditors, vast government spending, and controls on energy and food prices. The predictable result has been disinvestment in the energy sector that already has caused brownouts and mounting inflation that is probably double the official estimate of 9 percent annually.

The Kirchners managed to get through the election season by manipulating the inflation figures and bullying supermarkets into keeping prices down.

[...]

Ms. Fernandez de Kirchner ... can use her mandate to deliver the tough medicine the economy needs -- including energy price and interest rate increases, a revaluation of the currency and a reconciliation with the International Monetary Fund, which holds the key to renewed foreign investment. Or she can pursue her husband's populist course until it produces another crash.

message from the wapo...? good imf, bad argentina...

even tho' i live there part-time, i am not going to present myself as a fount of argentina truth, but i do know a few things... there's a little truth in both points of view as well as some things left out... imf policies have seriously damaged many countries, although perhaps none as spectacularly as argentina... was it all the imf's fault...? of course not, but the imf does deserve a large portion of the blame... does argentina need to reconcile with the imf...? maybe, and they're trying, but i think they're now smart enough to not ever again let the imf dictate their macroeconomic policies... are price controls a good way to combat inflation...? honestly, i don't know... my guess is, probably not... is inflation higher than the government reports...? my shoe leather analysis says, oh, yeah... when i am now paying almost double cab fare, a 2/3 increase for a bag of bran cereal and a liter of drinkable yogurt, i ain't buyin' the 9% figure...

naturally, the wapo also gets in a dig about hugo chávez, venezuela and the bolivarian revolution, but neither writer talks about argentina's alliance with venezuela, both for economic development loans and energy supplies, an important omission, imho... also, neither article mentions the on-going and seemingly unmanageable corruption at all levels of argentina society... basically, i have found the average argentine to be honest, decent and well-intended, but they have become so jaded and resigned to ever-present corruption that most of them just throw up their hands, a state of mind that leads to this, another fact that neither article deigned to mention...

[O]nly 73 per cent of electors voted, the lowest turnout since 1928 in a country where voting is compulsory.

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Exit polls say Cristina won 46%, enough to avoid a runoff election

looks like the hillary of the southern hemisphere pulled it off...

Argentina's glamorous first lady, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, on Sunday became the first woman in her country's history to be elected president, exit polls said.

The data, broadcast immediately after polling stations in Buenos Aires closed, suggested she had won 46 percent of the ballots -- enough for her to be declared the outright victor without a runoff.

The runner-up, on a distant 24 percent, was a former lawmaker and beauty queen, Elisa Carrio, according to poll figures given by television networks TN and Cronica. The other 12 candidates trailed even further behind.

Official figures were due to be released at 9:00pm (0000 GMT Monday).

at least four more years of a kirchner in power... here's hoping it's for the best...

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The Argentine Hillary poised to win the presidency tomorrow

must. not. forget... argentina's presidential election is tomorrow, altho' there's hardly any question about the outcome...

President Nestor Kirchner and his wife are poised to launch a new political dynasty Sunday in an election that promises to replace him with her.

Argentines are grateful to Kirchner for engineering a recovery from a 2001 economic crisis that savaged the middle class, and that has translated into such broad support for his wife, Sen. Cristina Fernandez, that she will likely avoid a second round.

Argentine law prevents more than two consecutive terms, but a husband- and-wife team could alternate in power for as long as their support continues.

[...]

Fernandez's two main rivals—former lawmaker Elisa Carrio and former economy minister Roberto Lavagna—have criticized Fernandez for failing to build a platform, saying she is merely trying to ride in on her husband's coattails.

[...]

Dubbed "Queen Cristina" by many critics—and "the queen of Botox" by Carrio—Fernandez campaigned in gritty slums in designer clothes, and many joked that her frequent campaign trips abroad were focused more on shopping than politics.

[...]

To win without a runoff, Fernandez must get either 45 percent of the vote or 40 percent with at least a 10-percent lead over her closest rival.

A poll released Friday by Poliarquia Consultores suggested Fernandez would get 42 percent, compared with 17 percent Carrio and 12 percent for Lavagna. The poll had a margin of error of 2.1 percentage points.

lavagna is the former minister of the economy under kirchner who largely engineeered argentina's massive debt default and bond re-financing scheme... he resigned his post a couple of years ago and i'm not sure exactly why... his replacement, felica miceli, had to resign earlier this year due to some shenanigans over money... i've posted extensively on argentina and it's on-going issues, but i'm not going to bother digging up the links right now... feel free to do a search if you're so moved...

ya gotta love the snark about "the queen of botox..."

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U.S. Federal Reserve Bank's shipment of $80K to Argentina's Central Bank stolen at Buenos Aires airport

Aeropuerto Internacional Ezeiza, Buenos Aires

another caper from down south...

Two airport Customs workers were under arrest yesterday in connection with the disappearance of 80,000 dollars from a bag entering Argentina from the United States. After searching the lockers of freight and Customs workers at Ezeiza airport police also found cameras, cell phones, perfumes, gold watches and other valuables which they believe to have been stolen from air passengers’ luggage.

The deputy-trustee of aeronautics, Julio Postiglioni, said that there were “many indicators” to suggest that the 80,000 dollars missing, after arriving from a United Airlines flight from Washington, were stolen directly from the plane’s cargo bay as it was stationed at Ezeiza airport. The money had been sent from the Federal Reserve of the United States and was en route to the Central Bank in Argentina.

ok, now remember, this is ARGENTINA we're talking about, where folks don't just grumble about their privacy being invaded... they STRIKE...!

On Thursday, baggage handlers went on strike for six hours in both Ezeiza International Airport and Jorge Newbery metropolitan airport in protest after police began searching their lockers. Workers accused police of “repressive tactics” in their investigation.

as a regular in and out of ezeiza and argentina, i'm always fascinated when i read the goings-on... i've posted several times on argentina's air traffic control (here and here), an oxymoron if there ever was one... i haven't posted on some of the larger recent scandals (with the exception of former economy minister, felisa miceli, and her bathroom cash stash)... but here's a rundown of recent history...

The spectacular part of the news surrounding Thursday’s surprise airport strike was the robbery of 80,000 Central Bank-bound dollars from Washington’s Federal Reserve at Ezeiza international airport — especially coming less than two months after a far larger sum of undeclared currency [$800K*] was detected in a Venezuelan businessman’s suitcase at Aeroparque downtown airport, not to mention the 2004 Southern Winds cocaine-laden suitcase scandal now undergoing trial.

* oh, yeah, about that $800K...

Days after authorities discovered a suitcase full of nearly $800,000 that had been taken on a private airplane carrying Argentine and Venezuelan officials, one of those officials has resigned and suspicions of a government scandal have grown.

A Venezuelan businessman was detained at a Buenos Aires airport Saturday when customs officials found $790,550 in undeclared cash in his luggage. The incident preceded Monday’s arrival here of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, leading to questions about the possibility of a link between the businessman and the Venezuelan or Argentine governments.

on the snarky side, argentina is so-o-o-ooo small time when compared with the billions disappearing in iraq...

p.s. argentina's presidential election will be held this month on the 28th, where current president nestor kirchner's wife, cristina fernandez de kirchner, is the leading candidate... does that bring anything to mind...? hmmmmm...?

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Felicia Miceli, Argentina's Minister of the Economy, quits after cash found in her office bathroom

ok... three things to keep in mind... one, it's argentina... two, it's a presidential election year in argentina - october 28 - ... three, miceli is a close ally of the current argentine president, nestor kirchner, whose WIFE (yes, his wife), cristina fernandez de kirchner, is running to replace him... why, my goodness gracious, the possibilities for political gamesmanship are positively breathtaking...

Argentina's economy minister has resigned after being asked to testify about storing $64,000 (47,000 euros; £32,000) in her office toilet. Felisa Miceli said the cash was lent to her by her brother to buy a house. But a prosecutor investigating the case called on Mrs Miceli to be questioned under oath about the money. The case has caused embarrassment for the government in Argentina, where tax evasion is common and officials are often suspected of corruption.

[...]

President Nestor Kirchner had initially stood by his minister, who presided over a period of dramatic economic growth in Argentina. But she could not provide any credible explanation and in the end her position became untenable, says the BBC's Daniel Schweimler in Buenos Aires.

[...]

In newspaper interviews, Mrs Miceli said the cash had been lent to her to buy a house in the capital, Buenos Aires. "I was naive, clumsy. It was a mistake... there could have been negligence but I am sure I haven't committed any crime," she was quoted as saying by Clarin daily.

"It's a political attack, not against me, but against the government during a political year," she said after the scandal broke. Presidential elections are due on 28 October in which Cristina Kirchner, the wife of the president, is a leading candidate.

The investigating prosecutor said he had traced the origin of the money and implied in a statement that that minister had been involved in a cover up, and was suspected of destroying documents. La Nacion quoted Mrs Miceli as saying the affair "makes me look suspicious and that truly hurts. The situation is much more simple and normal".

did i mention it's argentina...?

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Argentine president's wife to campaign to replace him in office

everyone in argentina has been predicting that argentina president nestor kirchner's wife, cristina fernandez de kirchner, would announce a run for argentina's presidency in the coming october presidential elections... well, i see in today's news that it's official, and that she will begin her campaign on july 19... if any of this sounds familiar, it should...


Nestor and Cristina


Bill and Hillary

the difference is that bill would never approve a picture of him standing behind hillary...

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Remember the LAST time Bush visited Latin America?

yep, that's right... it was the summit of the americas, right here in argentina, back in november 2005... they didn't like him back then either...



Mass protests at the
Summit of the Americas
in Mar del Plata



Protestors display the famous image
of Che Guevara who was born in
Rosario, Argentina

tomorrow's the big rally with hugo chávez, nestor kirchner, and evo morales here in buenos aires... oughta be interesting...

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What will it take for the WaPo to stop cheerleading for Bush?

i sure as hell don't know...

from today's wapo op-ed...

• [W]e'd caution once again against writing his administration off entirely.

• Mr. Bush can adjust course when forced.

• Nor has the administration taken to its bunker and stopped trying.

• [T]he administration seems to be shaping a policy that combines pressure with diplomacy in a way that at least has potential.

• Mr. Bush understands the needed elements...

• [T]the domestic and international success of immigration reform could be a tonic -- maybe even a legacy.

i'll grant you... any other president in history would probably have resigned by now, but is the fact that this one hasn't a mark of principle and dogged determination, or an unwillingness or outright inability to see just how badly he's screwed the pooch...?

bush is leaving d.c. for brazil this evening for a 5-nation latin american tour... he will be arriving in uruguay when a massive "anti-imperialist" rally will be held right across the river here in buenos aires, with presidents hugo chávez of venezuela, nestor kirchner of argentina, and evo morales of bolivia in attendance... will bush understand that HE is one of the principal reasons why that rally will be so huge...? no, of course not...

bush granted an interview at the white house the other day with reporters from all five countries he will be visiting... in his comments, which i read in the argentine paper clarin this morning, he mentioned "social justice" five times... i have been following bush for 6+ years and that is the FIRST time i can recall him EVER mentioning "social justice..." you can bet that the good citizens of latin america don't recall him ever saying it either... does he really think he's fooling anybody...?



Preparations at Estadio Ferro in Buenos Aires for the anti-Bush, anti-imperialist rally tomorrow night

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