Post Turtle Politics

 My host-family told me an interesting political allegory...

Politics are like a turtle on a post. When you come across this strange spectacle:

1. You are thoroughly bewildered and cannot understand why he is up there.
2. You wonder how he got up there.
3. You inevitably realize that he could not have gotten up there without help.
4. You know he doesn't belong there.
5. You realize he cannot do anything useful while he is up there.

Therefore, the only logical action is to help the poor, dumb thing down.

 

 I can't say that I've every heard anything as outrageous or so sincerely applicable.

 

*Funny side note - Later I read someone's commentary on this analogy on the internet and couldn't help but laugh. It translates as: "and most importantly, the shit goes in the direction of those below".

 

 

~From Argentina with Love

 

 

Chaos in Cordoba

 

So the police in Cordoba went on strike... the looting started December 3rd and there was a moment of 24hr chaos. More than 1,000 shops were looted, ransacked, and stolen from by ordinary civilians as well as organized crime gangs took the advantage of their absence. (click on the pic above for some footage)

Here's the background:

Governor de la Sota and President Cristina Krichner are not friends and have squabbled for years. In the 2001/04 elections, la Sota considered running against Krichner. He is rather open about his opposition to her as president. The consequences: the federal government has systematically delayed delivering federal checks. Short of funds, Cordoba -an important province as well as Cordoba, Argentina's second-largest city- de la Sota has faced continuous social and political unrest plus financial challenges.

The government gives each province a certain amount of funds, which often differ from province to province, consequently affecting the rate of pay to police in different parts of the country. Similarly, the wages have not changed even with the high inflation rates. The conflict was initiated after failure to resolve a wage dispute and they went on strike.

Following Cordoba's example 19 out of the 23 provinces had similar protests and strikes also resulting waves in crime. Federal police were sent to trouble locations to subdue the chaos and protect shops, temporarily serving as a substitute police

The result? Up to 53 percent wage increases. Now Cordoba's police are some of the highest paid in the country.

Personal Experience

While some of my AFS friends were sent to Buenos Aires, Cordoba, or Mendoza; I'm in La Pampa. It is one of the least populated provinces and far from anything. Not so different from my little hometown in Wyoming. Recently, I found out that La Pampa in German is an expression to that means, "the middle of nowhere". La Pampa literally means the middle of nowhere!

 

I was in Buenos Aires on a brief two day visit with my host-family. Watching the news, they were worried about their shop in Santa Rosa. Somehow I figured 1) Santa Rosa, La Pampa will be the last place in Argentina to react and 2) an organic and special foods store will be the last place to be looted.

 

On the way back from Buenos Aires my father, going a whopping 70 kilometers over the limit passed 11 green military trucks of the Federal Police headed to Santa Rosa. Then, when we passed the center and plaza it was like we had walked into a town after a zombie apocalypse. All merchandise was pulled off shelves in the window displays and all the shops were boarded up. I still can't get over the strangeness of seeing the whole display of a sports shoes store empty.

 

For the next couple of days, the police and federal police were posted in all the major streets (not quite as many as the picture). The governor of La Pampa and the president are very good friends from what I here so we had good back-up and support. All precautionary but unnerving non-the-less.

 

Hunger Games anyone? The cities rebel against the capitol... That reminds me: I need to see the Catching Fire.

 

~ From Argentina With Love

 

Sources:

     Argentina News

     Host Family

     Personal Experience

     http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25230743

     http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/10/argentinian-looting-spreads-police-strikes

 



Beat Around the Bush?! NEVER

Someone told me before I left that the Argentines were very indirect in communicating, insinuating rather than being direct. I wish I could remember who that person was so I could tell them just how wrong they were...

The Argentines I've been around are very direct about everything. There use of nicknames is but one mere example. For instance, if you're a tall skinny guy, your nickname might be el Flaco (skinny). The same goes for if you are larger, then you would be el Gordo (fat). Or even if the pigment of your skin is darker you might be el Negro (black). In my case, I'm la Gringa, or la Americana. No offense is meant by this type of directness and none is taken. As far as I've seen, people just state things as they are, especially when it comes to politics.

One of the first questions people ask me is how I like Obama. Most of the time, I'm so slow at formulating a response they state exactly how they feel about him and the US before I even utter a word. It's interesting, although they are quick to recognize others' flaws, Argentines are just as quick in pointing out there own. In fact, one of the first things they told me was that their politics were corrupt and that their president, Cristina Fernandez, is bipolar. Although their opinions my seem blunt to outsiders, anything but would simply impede in getting the point across.

~ From Argentina with Love