Shortages, Bilateral Fun and Cochinos, June 2007

It was bound to happen sooner or later. The shortages have begun. It started with large grocery stores, when they started having shortages of key items, such as milk and meat. We’re not talking Cuba. Most items are still available, and you can still get your favorite cuts of steak at smaller stores that most likely ignore government mandates to keep prices artificially low, but the perverse effects of the Argentine government's price controls and economic policies are starting to take shape. The sign at the large grocery store near my house in the meat section reads, "Dear customer. We apologize for the shortage of meat, but this is due to the fact that the producers do not want to sell us the meat at the government-mandated prices". So the meat producers are fed up. I would be too, if I was banned from exporting internationally to maintain prices artificially low for the local market. Then, heavy rains in the milk-producing part of the country started to impact both milk production and sales, as many roads leading to and from milk factories were washed out. Skim milk is no longer available anywhere. The milk industry says things should be back to normal by September or so. Until then, the sign in the milk section at the supermarket section reads, "For family use only". Businesses are now forced to buy milk products directly from suppliers.

Inflation is also becoming more of a problem, although you won't hear that from the Argentine government. The government's economic statistic office, INDEC, recently reported how prices on the family food basket had increased one month by over 10%. After some quick thinking by the politicians, the figures were later "adjusted" to be only half that amount. Just ask anyone on the street, most of all business owners, and they will tell you that prices for all inputs and food are on the rise.

The transportation sector is also in somewhat of a crisis. Lightning struck one of the radars used by traffic controllers at a local airport, and several near misses by planes in the air have been reported. It is nearly impossible to go to the airport for a domestic flight and actually leave on time. Flight cancellations and last-minute airline strikes are common. So you really roll the dice when you fly, even internationally. A friend recently traveled to the U.S. the day that the LAN Argentina airline staff struck at the last minute, conveniently leaving a LAN airplane on the tarmac, blocking other airplanes from taking off. My friend sat on his plane for four hours until the LAN plane was moved.

If that wasn't enough, then the train system started to have problems. Several lines were abruptly closed down during rush hour one day for maintenance. In a city of roughly 12 million people, most of who rely on public transportation to get to and from work, this was too much. Professionals quickly became rioters and trashed several stations, putting the entire train system into crisis for days. I remember the night it happened, when traffic leaving the city for the suburbs was at a standstill with bumper-to-bumper traffic and cars honking furiously from 5-10pm.

Then it got cold. We can live with food shortages, government lies about inflation, and take the bus, but when Argentina started to suffer a cold wave of 30-degree F temperatures and strong winds, the lowest May temperatures in 50 years, things started to get nuts. In spite of multiple warnings from private sector groups and others, the government has maintained fixed energy prices since 2003, so energy companies are refusing to invest in upgrading the energy infrastructure to meet rising demand. I wasn't aware of it before, but there are many types of gas used in cars here. In fact, many taxis and remises (car services) are run on natural gas, in addition to the heating system in most houses and public buildings. The unnaturally cold weather skyrocketed natural gas demand, straining the system. Schools started to close or hand out blankets to students. Natural gas-run taxi drivers started to protest shortages. Medium and large companies that use natural gas are being forced to close their gas-using operations between 6 and 10pm, cutting into production. The government has imposed a rationing system, and fines will be slapped on everyone who breaks the gas savings imposed. Last Monday, my husband and son and I returned from a snow-filled weekend in Cordoba to an unusually cold apartment. The heating system had been turned off a number of times over the weekend. Then while we were giving our kid a bath, the lights went out. Apparently, there is a connection between the natural gas shortages and power generation. It was a short-lived inconvenience, as our building has a generator and our doorman stocked up on diesel gas, but now there is a diesel shortage too, so we better start saving our electricity, or we might have to do some time without lights if it gets really cold again. Jeez, I thought we had left West Africa.

That is the thing about Argentina. On the surface it does not look like a developing country, but its politicians have done a great job keeping it firmly in third world status. So, Argentina is starting to be less cheap and a little less convenient for those of us living here. However, eating out, tourism and shopping are still both quite reasonable for visitors from outside the country. And it is still, by far, the nicest, and most kid-friendly place to live in Latin America. This is an election year, so it will be interesting to see what other economic tricks the government has up its sleeve so the Peronist party stays in power.

Speaking of Peronists, even after more than 50 years, you really can't understand how much Juan and Evita Peron infuse so much of life here, until you live it for yourself. Now that I am a civilian again and no longer work for the U.S. government, I don't often have a chance to visit local government offices. However, I recently went to obtain my Argentine driver's license, and was somewhat shocked to see pictures of both Perons hanging on the walls of the Argentine DMV in the cubicle of the worker who helps foreigners get their licenses. Next to the Perons, was a Malvinas War memorial poster (say "Falklands War" here, and you will get a quick beat down). I guess the equivalent of the poster-hanging incident in the U.S. would be to have pictures of JFK and Jackie Kennedy and a POW MIA poster hanging in the Boston DMV. I guess it is possible, but more likely in our world, some Republican or peacenik would be offended, emails would circulate, a supervisor would intervene, and the pictures would come down. I guess in Argentina, you are free to express whatever political opinions you want while working for the government, as long as it is for the ruling party. Scary, but it sheds some light on why many Argentines like Castro and Chavez so much.

In bilateral relationship news, in my last update I spoke about the relationship between Argentina and the U.S., and how things might get interesting after Hugo Chavez' visit to Argentina while George Bush was across the river in Uruguay. Turns out folks in Washington were none too pleased with Argentina's participation in Chavez' visit, and in an uncharacteristically undiplomatic move, a top, non-political State Department official singled out Argentina's Ambassador to the U.S. in public during questions at a meeting of Latin American diplomats in DC, telling him that what Argentina did was essentially wrong and inappropriate. Then, more recently, Argentina countered by demanding the presence of the U.S. Ambassador to the Foreign Minister's offices late one evening to protest the State Department's recent publishing of a Consular warning to visitors to Argentina. The Consular warning asked travelers to be cautious when walking around town because the drivers are rather aggressive and vehicular manslaughter is a leading cause of death here. The warning also stated that travelers should be weary of pickpockets and scam artists who spray things like mustard on you to distract you and rob you. Mind you, this is after one of the Bush twins had her purse stolen while eating lunch in a touristy part of town here last summer. Think of Claude Raines in Casablanca--the Argentines were "Shocked! Shocked!" the U.S. government would publish such vile lies! In the words of the Argentine Foreign Minister, "How dare the U.S. presume to judge another country"! Whether these "lies" are true or not (of course they are, ask any foreigner living here, or any Argentine for that matter), is irrelevant. It's just another move in the chess game of diplomatic relations between our two countries during a local election year. Check, Argentina!

So things have been pretty interesting lately on the political scene. In cultural news, although the rap on Argentines is that they consider themselves culturally superior to all other countries in America, they are suckers for reality TV. It’s really a crime too, since Buenos Aires has a huge theater industry, and a constant stream of operas, concerts, and art shows coming through town. Art and theater are readily available for kids too, and there are puppet shows and kids theater available every weekend, especially on Corrientes Avenue. But sadly, television still reigns supreme here for entertainment, and the two highest rated shows in Argentina are “Big Brother” (just like the European and U.S. versions) and “ShowMatch”, the local equivalent of “Dancing With the Stars”. Big Brother’s cast members become stars here too, with paparazzi following them while shopping in Palermo SoHo as soon as they get kicked off the show. And leave it to the home of tango to take the dance show to the extreme. Last week, pole dancing was introduced as an event on the show. The female and male contestants all dressed up as strippers, and acted accordingly. The most controversial contestants included a woman who, like Janet Jackson at the Superbowl, was totally naked on top other than stickers covering her nipples. She emulated sex with her partners as part of her routine. The dance “climax” included the male dancers popping open champagne in front of her and pouring it down her chest. Ratings went sky high and the papers are still running the story. Maybe Cindy Sheehan (the mom of a Marine killed in Iraq-turned war protestor, who recently gave up her struggle given her disgust with America’s lack of interest in the war and love for reality TV) should come visit Argentina to get some perspective. It’s not just the U.S. that is sick with reality TV fever.

We have also been doing a lot of travel over the last few months. Since April, we visited the Patagonian lake district of Bariloche, went to Carilo (a beach Southeast of Buenos Aires for a last gasp of summer Easter weekend), visited Iguazu Falls, and just returned from the historical town of Cordoba. I'm happy to report that once the travel part ended, every trip pleasantly surprised me. Argentina's geographic diversity is stunning, and the natural beauty of some of these places is just breathtaking. I have never seen anything as spectacular as the mountain ranges behind Bariloche's multiple sparkling lakes. I loved Carilo's kid-friendly, unpretentious beach scene, mix of convenient development inter-sperced with pine trees and dirt roads. If you can block out the constant hum of Brazilian helicopter rides, the sights and sounds of Iguazu Falls might be the most beautiful natural tourist attraction I have experienced yet.

Buenos Aires just gets better and better too. It is like New York City in that you can always find new parts of the city to explore, and neat and cheap things to do. There is always a new place to try the food and coffee, always another park being refurbished (a kids playground is being built two blocks away from our apartment). Each week, a new event takes place at the conference center down the street from our apartment (Buenos Aires Design, International Book Fair, Modern Art Fair, etc). I recently discovered the old flower market, which is the part of the city where you can buy two-dozen roses for less than $5. You can arrange to have fresh flowers delivered to your house each week if you like.

So Argentina keeps surprising me, in good ways and bad. After nine months here, I'm starting to understand the level of cynicism and despair many locals have when they talk about their country, its potential, and whether its politics will ever change for the better. It is such an amazing country in so many ways–it just so desperately needs better leadership to become even more awesome. Yesterday I was in the service elevator with a woman I had never seen in our building before. She said “hello”, and mentioned that we are neighbors (apparently she rents her apartment here) and we started chatting about life in the building. She mentioned that she used to rent her apartment to the U.S. Embassy in the days before, “Ese cochino de Presidente llego a poder” (translation: That pig of a President came to power). The doors of the elevator opened, and she walked out and grabbed a cab, leaving me thinking, which President did she mean was the “cochino”? Hers or ours? I take comfort in the fact we can still call our respective Persidents “cochinos” and not get thrown in the slammer. Well, not yet anyway.

p.s. My wine picks for the month are two HUGE Malbecs. 1) Sur de los Andes Malbec Gran Reserva, 2004. www.bodegasdelosandes.com.ar; and, 2) Laborum Malbec 2004, from Calafate, Salta’s Bodegas el Porvenir de los Andes (only 18,540 bottles made).