Coverage of the Olympics in Argentina II

A laconic summary of the title would be "IT SUCKS!!" So TyC Sports, the Fox and ESPN rival down here, has exclusive coverage along with Canal 7 of the Olympics. They, I just learned, had a very large hand in banning all YouTube feeds to Argentina with up to date Olympic highlights. WTF?!!? As if that weren't enough, tonight, TyC had been promoting their coverage of swimming starting at 10pm. So I, wanting to witness the historic Phelps run at 7 golds, tuned in like a schmuck. I actually believed that they were going to follow through with what they said they were going to do. At 10pm, all there was to see was fútbol. It was the beginning of the second half of some meaningless, non-historic, insignificant game in the Primera league. Same shit they have on every Friday. Except this Friday happened to be the Friday where Phelps could tie Mark Spitz record of 7/7/7. 7 gold medals and 7 world records in 7 events. Spitz did that in 1972. An athlete like this comes along once a generation. And in swimming its even more important because the world only cares about swimming and lets swimmers compete on the world stage once every 4 years. They get NO glory, NO press, and until recently (and only for the top 3 or 4 in the world) NO money. Sure Jordan was great, Bonds (epa!), Ruth, Aaron, Montana, Gretzky, Howe, Bird, Magic, etc. But all the greatest team sports players at one point had to rely on their teammates to make plays. Paxson hits a 3 to win Jordan's first 3-peat. Bonds relied on who knows what kind of "training". Montana and Rice; Bird and McHale and Parish; Magic and Careem and Worthy; etc. Phelps has Phelps. And that's it. Well, maybe his Mom in the stands. But I digress... The point here is that TyC metió la pata big time. Because when I then flipped back to TyC at around 10:20 there was nothing. 10:30, nothing 10:40... there is Phelps, celebrating, out of breath, having just won. AND THEN IMMEDIATELY THEY CUT BACK TO FÚTBOL!!! La remil puta que lo parió! At least my company Anuva deals with wine and I keep a large stock around for tastings. Time for some serious malbec.

Smoke on the Horizon in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Ahumado

As I’m sure many of you faithful readers already know, Buenos Aires has been enshrouded in smoke for the last week making breathing easy over the weekend all but a fantasy. Visibility just yesterday was about 200 meters from my balcony and we did everything we could do to keep the smoke out and avoid going outside. We even avoided doing laundry as long as possible as we knew that hanging the clothes out to dry would only make them absorb more smoke—great if you want some salmon ahumado or panceta ahumada (smoked salmon and smoked bacon), but not if you want to breathe. Yesterday, I was even suffering preliminary respiratory symptoms caused by smoke inhalation and exposure like burning eyes, nose and throat, congestion and coughing.

I had heard a lot on the news about how the farmers to the north of Buenos Aires had decided to burn their fields all at the same time (as opposed to their normal sequential burnings) as a sign of protest to the government’s proposed hike on beef exports. Then I heard the fires were out of control and that the firefighting teams had been prevented from doing their jobs by some sort of government bureaucracy. Then I heard that the government was simply outlawing field burning and that the farmers wanted to get in under the wire so that they could avoid buying expensive (cough, cough) land tillers to keep their soil healthy. Then I heard that the government may turn to criminal prosecution of these farmers. Then I heard some fellow expats talking about their disgust with the BBC’s Argentine correspondent for having gotten the story wrong….

So who knows the reality of the why… All I know is that I have never actually been in a city where I could imagine a scenario for massive rioting in the street. Today looks clear, and I don’t imagine we will get to that point. But only last night, a few blocks from my house, I could see massive explosions and fireworks being launched in protest. I have never looked out the window of my home to see what I had only before ever seen as footage of the abominable pollution of Beijing or some sort of post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie. It was disgusting, appalling, stomach-churning. Even INSIDE my own apartment, looking at my fiancée, sitting there at her desk, only about 5 meters from where I was standing, the haze was apparent.

So what are we supposed to make of all this? With no clear sign as to who is taking what action for what reason me pongo nervioso (I get uneasy). And I do not get uneasy very easily. I have been imagining airports overrun with people trying to flee the country. Am I crazy? Quite possibly. In my defense, however, all the bus terminals and most of the major roads in and out of Buenos Aires were shut down because people were dying in traffic accidents due to the low visibility. What is next if this is to continue?

US Democrats in Argentina to Organize

Here is a note we got this week from a fellow Expat in Argentina, Yanqui Mike, its an invitation to be part of Expat history in Argentina! If you are a Democrat in Argentina, you will not want to miss this event.

'Democrats Abroad' are planning to establish a chapter in Argentina for the first time in their 40 year history.

We are throwing a big shebang Wednesday the 21st at 8:00pm at Thames 2334 in Palermo Viejo with free beer and good fellowship for all.

Every eligible US citizen there will become a founding member.

Folks can find out more about this really terrific organization and the good work it has done for US citizens living abroad by going to www.democratsabroad.org and can RSVP via a link at yanquimike.com.ar.

It's a chance to make a little history and leave something lasting behind here in Argentina when we leave.

Unorthodox Rebound for Argentina's Economy

USA TODAY'S David Lynch writes in todays edition about Argentina'a economy, and its recovery from the 2002 financial collapse, check it out if you are interested in Argentina's financial condition. What do you think about the governments plans to continue growth even at the high costs of inflation, or do you think they should consider slowing growth to limit inflation? You are welcome to comment through the 'post comment' link below.

Argentina's snub of conventional wisdom pays off

By David J. Lynch, USA TODAY

"The economy purrs at a growth rate of better than 8%."

"Over the past four years, Argentina has recovered its hope," says Mercedes Marco del Pont, a member of Congress.

"The biggest significance of this recovery is they just rejected the orthodox economic advice … and they've been the fastest-growing economy in the Western Hemisphere over the last five years," says Mark Weisbrot, a left-of-center economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

"As the grumbling grows in Argentina's financial community, some in the government insist that the country shouldn't be judged by the same criteria as fully developed economies such as the United States or European Union. Interest rates, for example, are less important here in determining economic growth because 90% of transactions are conducted in cash."

Time to Cry for Argentina... Starbucks is Coming!

Not to worry, Buenos Aires will be safe. Although Starbucks is coming to Argentina it should be mentioned to people who have not yet seen BA that US brands are not as ubiquitous in Argentina as in Europe for example. Unless Starbucks is willing to sell coffee for less than 1 USD per cup they can only grow so much, domestic competition should keep them honest and with a small footprint in the country. You can guess where the stores will be... major US hotels, large office buildings, airports, Recoleta, and other places where large amounts of gringos congregate.

We can only hope that young people in Argentina will stay away from the scourge we call Starbucks. *kidding* It seems every conversation I ever hear about saving for retirement that is directed to thirty-somethings always includes the obligatory advice to lay off $4 drinks everyday and invest that in a mutual fund. If only it were so easy!

Current Events: Winter Weather Closes Pass Between Mendoza and Santiago

Current event posts like this are mostly for our readers outside of Argentina. Our readers in Argentina all must know about the snowy weather that has closed the pass that connects Mendoza (Argentina) and Santiago (Chile) a few days ago. If it makes our news up here in the US, then it's safe to say everyone knows about it in Argentina. In any event, this current event is a fun bit of news that lets us mention a route often taken by tourists and expats alike: the road from Mendoza to Santiago.

This New York Times article about the storm mentions the fact that there are only 16 passes along the 2,500 mile border between Argentina and Chile. Of these 16 passes, it says only a few are paved. The main overland route from Chile to Argentina is through the Christ The Redeemer Pass. This heavily traveled route moves huge amounts of freight from Valparaiso, on the Pacific coast of Chile, on its way to places all around Chile and Argentina. The road goes from the port town of Valparaiso straight through to Santiago, then through the Andes mountains and the Christ the Redeemer tunnel (pass) to Mendoza 8 hours away (by bus), and then continues on to Buenos Aires. The pass is a crucial link for imports and exports for both countries, and it also makes a great sight seeing trip.

Many tourists and Expats will take the trip across the Andes on a luxury bus although flights to Santiago are readily available from both Mendoza and Buenos Aires. People take the 8 hour trip from Mendoza to Santiago during the day so they can enjoy the views along the way. Here are some photographs I found of the trip from Mendoza to Santiago. The road passes by Aconcagua, which is the largest mountain peak in all of the Americas (the next biggest mountain is in the Himalayas.) Looks like a fun trip to take, of course doing it in the Austral Summer (Dec-Feb) would limit the closed road problem that the 6,100 truckers up there are currently dealing with.

Argentines Rally in Support of Dictator?

I received an interesting question from a reader who read an Associated Press article about Argentines rallying "to support dictatorship." Having seen the local coverage of this rally as well, I wanted to clarify for the international readers out there what is actually going on.

Reader's Question

I just saw this AP article about a rally in support the 76-83 regime. I'm totally confused by it so I thought I'd get your opinion as a current resident of Bs. As. First of all, would you agree that this is a rather small group of people compared to those "counterpart" protesters that the article mentions (they didn't mention how many people were in that group)? Since you live there, have you noticed whether there is some kind of renewed pro-military movement or something?

There was some discussion on your page previously in which there was pretty much a consensus that Argentines were generally against all aspects of dictatorship and the "milicos." I'm also confused as to why the AP would even put this weirdly short and one-sided article up on their cover page. I thought these people might just be family members of those parties involved who may finally have to pay for their crimes (and if so, why would this be a headline).

Political Situation

As part of the leftist opposition during the days of the dictatorship, President Kirchner is making the prosecution of former military men and elements of the old regime one of his key domestic policies. In addition to the prosecution of top generals and military officers, prosecutors have opened cases on police officers and even civilians who served in the government at the time -- the most famous of which is José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz, who served as the junta's economy minister from 1976 to 1981.

Many members of the former regime received pardons from former President Carlos Menem, which have now been overturned by the courts. In addition, two laws that prevented the prosecution of former regime members were overturned by the Supreme Court early this year, setting the stage for further prosecutions.

Opposition to Kirchner

The largest opposition to Kirchner's actions comes from the family members of the former regime elements, many of whom feel they are being scapegoated for Kirchner's political gain. They say Kirchner is rewriting history by only telling one side of the story -- the abuses of power by the government. They claim the government is failing to prosecute the former left-wing terrorists, who also committed abuses. Before they were essentially wiped out by the military regime, these left-wing terrorists were setting off bombs in Buenos Aires, killing government officials, kidnapping businessmen, and causing chaos and havoc in the country. Some say Kirchner would prefer to glaze over that part of the story and just focus on abuses by the military government.

Most of the Argentines I know are part of the middle class -- people who work hard, have families, and play by the rules -- and they don't subscribe to the version of history that Kirchner is putting out. They say there was an undeclared civil war and that there were abuses on both sides. They certainly don't support what the military government did, but think the government now is revisionist and one-sided with history. It is no secret that Kirchner was part of the leftist opposition to the military regime and now, they say, he's using his presidency to punish is former foes.

My Take on Things

To be fair, I'm not sure I can intelligently take a side on this issue. I know what it means to fear terrorism and it can never be condoned. At the same time, the disappearance of people without a trial is not something that can be excused in the name of fighting terrorism. Perhaps the military started out with the execution of terrorists, but they finished by going after political opponents, students, and left-wing sympathizers who had nothing to do with terrorism.

I do think the climate has gone too far, however. Just a few months back, left-wing students protested to stop the vote for rector of the University of Buenos Aires. One of the candidates had been a civil servant during the military government and the students felt he should not be given the opportunity to be on the ballot. Blocking the exercise of democracy through popular protest by a vocal and militant minority should not be condoned, but it is increasingly accepted here when it is the far-left who are doing the protesting. Kirchner has failed on multiple occasions to use police force to stop left-wing protests from becoming violent. He even allowed left-wingers to occupy the French Embassy, which, to me, shows a complete disrespect of law and order.

Incidents like these, as well as the failure to stop urban crime, have led to the Blumberg anti-crime movement. Personally, I feel the pendulum has swung too far. There must be a happy medium between government repression and total anarchy. Asking the police to enforce laws and bring order to the society does not mean a return to repression. However, there are many who feel otherwise and would prefer to see the leftists set loose to do what they will.

Ultimately, the Argentine people will have to decide how they wish to proceed. They will either reelect Kirchner and the trials will continue along with the tacit approval of left-wing activists, or they will choose center-right candidates who want to provide law and order to the country and take a harder line on issues like crime. Next year's presidential elections will determine what path Argentina takes.

My First Argentina Protest

Yesterday I went to Plaza de Mayo to listen to Juan Carlos Blumberg speak about crime and security in Argentina. It was my first time at a protest here and, for me, it was a very interesting experience. According to media outlets and unofficial police estimates, there were between 40 and 60 thousand people in attendance.

Blumberg has called for Argentina to toughen its laws against criminals. The government, however, has refused to do so, harking back to the tough approach to crime and punishment that was used during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship, in which thousands of people were made to disappear. In fact, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo have denounced Blumberg and compared him, quite unjustifiably in my opinion, with the military dictators that ruled the country back in the 70s and 80s.

If you don't know the story of Blumberg, a little background is in order. Blumberg was a textile engineer whose son was killed by kidnappers. Although Blumberg paid the ransom in the designated drop-off point, a corrupt cop with knowledge of the operation informed a different criminal gang, who stole the money. When the kidnappers were not paid, they killed Blumberg's son. Since his son's death in 2004, Blumberg has been an anti-crime crusader.

The government dislikes Blumberg so much that they staged a pathetic counter-protest at the obelisk, which gathered only about 5,000 people. In fact, there would have been more people at the Blumberg march, but many people were scared away by the rantings of the leader of the counter-protest, Luis D'Elía, who spoke of marching his counter-protest to the Plaza de Mayo to cause trouble.

Unlike most protests, which are filled with the unemployed, the Blumberg march was filled with middle-class taxpaying families, who were asking their government to fulfill one of its most basic duties - the protection of its citizens. While the piqueteros, the poor, and the leftists here are protesting every other day, it isn't easy to get a middle-class person who has a good job and a family to go and join a protest march. Usually middle-class people are content. Whenever a government starts to see its middle-class rise up and protest, they should pay attention.

The newspapers today were filled with articles at how the government had made a major miscalculation by staging a counter-protest and dismissing Blumberg as an extremist or a right-wing politician. In fact, he made no political statements at the march last night (some expected him to launch a candidacy for governor of Buenos Aires province) - he only called on the present government to improve the security situation.

Unless Kirchner is content to lose middle-class votes, I expect him to address Blumberg's concerns or he just may turn Blumberg into a political foe. We'll see what happens in the coming months.

The World Cup Effect

After more than a month, the blog continues with another post on the World Cup. If you're in Argentina right now, you already know about this, but if not, you may be a little surprised about just how intense the effect of the World Cup is on this country.

If you wanted to plan a bank robbery here in Buenos Aires, the best time to do it would certainly be during a World Cup match. When you left the bank, your getaway car would be easily able to speed away because the streets are totally empty. During a World Cup match, the entire country is indoors next to whatever television they can find. You could literally run naked down the streets during the World Cup and nobody would notice or care.

Work comes to a halt as well. This goes for people in my office as well. Everyone made it clear to me that they would be watching the World Cup rather than working. During the latest match between Argentina and Holland, everyone gathered around our office TV and work stopped for 90 minutes while we all watched the game.

I was even told by a friend yesterday that women's clothing stores are offering a 20-30% discount on clothes purchased during Argentina's World Cup matches. She explained to me that if the stores didn't offer those discounts, their sales would be dead during that period.

Today, Argentina goes up against Mexico. It isn't a work day, but the city will stop nevertheless. ¡Buena suerte Argentina!

The Mundial Is Coming and Argentina Gets Ready

You can feel the anticipation. Everyone's talking about the Copa Mundial (or just "mundial), which is known to the English-speaking world as the World Cup. Mundial-fever is definitely something new for me. In the United States, I lived 25 years without noticing or caring about the World Cup. Advertisers are giving away tickets and trips as promotions -- it seems like everywhere I go, I've been entered into a contest to win a trip just by buying a soda, making a phone call, etc.

Not only are big businesses getting ready with promotions, but so are small ones. I noticed the corner café that I usually eat my lunch in has just installed a new 42-inch plasma screen. Apparently restaurants that do not show the game will be facing a severe loss of business during June. It wasn't just my local café, either. All over the city, new plasmas are going in.

The fever isn't just restricted to Argentina either. Last week in Brazil, the rioting prisoners of Sao Paulo demanded two things -- conjugal visits from their wives and girlfriends and plasma TVs to watch the World Cup. That just goes to show you how Latin Americans view the World Cup in terms of importance -- its right up there with sex.

In addition, I've been informed by people in my office that I should not expect anyone to be working should Argentina be playing during office hours. Since I'm American, apparently they felt the need to explain this to me explicitly, just so there's no confusion. I don't know how it works in other companies, but I expect that on the days Argentina is playing, there won't be too much work going on either.

So, get ready. Just 18 days until the start of the World Cup. If you're here in Argentina, its going to be the event for June/July.

Keeping Argentina a Secret

There was a comment just posted to my previous post about the Washington Post article. I wanted to repost it here and then comment.

Reader's Comment

Interesting article. Part of me doesn't like seeing this stuff, but I suppose it's good for BA at the end of the day, which is good. The average person attracted to BA by reading this story in the Washington Post has got to be preferable to the avergae person attracted there by reading the recent story in New York Magazine.

Buenos Aires Is No Longer A Secret

Over the last three years (but especially over the last 6 months) there have been so many stories about Buenos Aires and how it is really making a comeback -- and becoming an expat paradise. The fact is, the secret is out. I suppose you could consider me and everyone else blogging about Buenos Aires as part of "the problem", since there are hundreds of people reading this blog everyday, figuring out what a great place Buenos Aires is.

I don't think it really makes sense to try and keep it a secret though. If you look around the world at the type of people who usually emigrate, the vast majority are economically distressed people at the bottom of the society's social ladder. The well-off are not usually anxious to leave a country that's allowed them to do well. This is why you'll see countries with reactionary anti-immigrant politics as they attempt to keep out the "foreign hordes" of uneducated people who flock to a country in search of better opportunity.

Why We're Coming

What's happening here in Buenos Aires is a different animal, however. You have a lot of unskilled immigrants coming here, sure, but you also have a lot of successful and well-off people who are coming here. They're doing this not because they want to be paid more (because that won't happen), but because they like the lifestyle and the culture. I really disagree a lot with what the Argentine in the Washington Post article said about how people are coming here just for the cheap living. That is certainly a part of the equation, but by no means the main reason. If we all wanted cheap living, we could all just move to Bombay. The reason people are here is because of the culture, not in spite of it.

Argentines have nothing to fear from the expats who are coming here. Although perhaps this will be obvious to most readers of this blog, I will point out that immigration and emigration flows have long been used by historians and economists as a barometer of a country's performance and success. When a country has large inflows of people, it means it is doing something right. When there are large outflows of people, you know that things have gotten so bad that people have to leave. The fact that there are so many people from the U.S. and Europe who are flocking here is something that Argentines can be proud of.

Washington Post: Expats Migrating South For Low Stress and Cheap Food

The Washington Post just published a recent article called Expatriate Games, about the flood of expatriates from the U.S. and elsewhere who are heading to Buenos Aires for the low-stress lifestyle and the cheap food.

Low Stress?

Usually one wouldn't think of moving to a city with 10 million people as a way to escape a high stress lifestyle. I would think about moving to a beach somewhere. I think what happens after moving here, however, is that people discover there is more of a work/life balance here than in places like New York. The only people I hear about working 16 hour days are other American expatriates who moved here.

The Most Popular Leader of the Americas: Nestor Kirchner

Mexican polling firm Mitofsky puts Kirchner's approval rating at 87%, the highest approval rating of any leader in all of the Americas, north or south. I think it is safe to say that, barring a very major scandal, Kirchner is going to be re-elected in a landslide.

Expats can expect the 1:3 dollar-peso exchange rate to continue for at least the next half decade while the government attempts to re-industrialize the country. The low peso exchange rate not only favors an export-driven economy, but it also stimulates tourism, and makes it harder for importers to undercut local producers.

What's The World's Most Valuable Passport?

According to a study by Henley & Partners, citizens of Finland, Denmark, and the United States have the world's most valuable passports. They can travel to 130 countries without a visa. The worst passport you can have is from Afghanistan, whose citizens can travel to just 12 countries without obtaining a visa. Wow!

Argentina ranks fairly high on the list, with an Argentine passport giving you the ability to travel to 101 countries visa-free. Argentina beats out most of Latin America, such as Brazil, Uruguay, and Mexico as well as much of Eastern Europe, such as the Czech Republic, Romania, and Slovakia. Only Western European passports and a few OECD countries such as Australia and Canada allow visa-free travel to more countries than Argentina.

This is another reason why I'm going to apply for my Argentine citizenship after I've lived here for 5 years. An Argentine passport actually lets you go to a few places visa-free that you can't go to as a U.S. citizen, such as Brazil. With the number of enemies that the U.S. is making in the world, I wouldn't be surprised if a few more countries decided to retaliate by making U.S. citizens apply for a visa. With only a few exceptions, Argentina has pretty good relationships with the rest of the world. I wouldn't be surprised if I found myself being able to travel to some places as an Argentine citizen easier than as an American citizen.

Teaching English is NOT a Viable Way For Expats to Earn a Living

I just read a post on another expat blog that I wanted to point out to all the readers here. It talks about the author's experience trying to earn an income by teaching English here. I was shocked at the low salaries they are paying. The fact is, the best English schools were paying $15 pesos per hour (less than U.S. minimum wage!). It would be very difficult to live on that here.

This just goes to highlight the advice given by ApartmentsBA from about a week ago... have a plan before moving here or expect trouble. The author of this blog is now looking to start a business here (a much better idea).

With The Recent Election, Italy Becomes The Most Expat-Friendly Country

Allow me to give a big pat on the back to Italy, which, with its recently-introduced election rules for expatriates, is becoming the most expat-friendly country on the planet.

Italy's next election will include the 3.5 million Italians living abroad. However, this is nothing new. Lots of countries, including the United States, allow their expatriates to vote. However, Italy is going much further and creating 18 seats in congress specifically for expatriates. So, instead of lumping the expatriates in with their previous home districts, expats will be divided into new geographical regions such as "Europe" or "South America" and will be electing representatives who will serve their region.

WOW! This is a fantastic idea! Big kudos go out to Italy for finally devising a system to include expatriate Italians in the political process. We just had a post on how some U.S. expatriates are feeling disconnected from their home country and don't follow what's going on there. I think that would change significantly if there were U.S. congressional districts & 2 senators that represented the interests of U.S. citizens living abroad.

The fact is, it makes no sense whatsoever to lump expats in with their previous districts. The local decisions being made there do not effect us at all. However, having our own representatives that serve the expatriate community would be a great way for expats to feel represented by our government. We'd have someone on our side when we get poor service by our embassy abroad, when the congress tries to change the tax rules for expats, or when our government is going on international adventures in the countries that we live in. Right now we have no real representation because we're split across 400+ districts. But if you could put us all together, we'd have someone who could look out for us. For the sake of all expats, everywhere, let's hope Italy's idea catches on.

New York Times: Working Abroad Helps Your Career

The New York Times had a great article on Saturday about how many young people are now working abroad after graduating before starting their careers back home. Last May I found myself in the same exact situation. I didn't feel like going to work for one of the many corporations that were recruiting at my university. So, I set off to Argentina. Apparently, and according to this article, this sentiment is shared by 35,000 other young Americans.

Interestingly enough, this doesn't seem to have any negative effect on one's career. On the contrary, the article mentions that many companies are looking for people who've traveled, lived, and worked abroad. In fact, "Foreign experience demonstrates entrepreneurship, resourcefulness and independence, according to recruiters." Of course, I'd have to agree with them. Living abroad gives you a perspective on the world that you wouldn't have otherwise.

So, I'm going to contradict my post from yesterday -- just do it! Of course, it is a lot easier for someone who's college-aged to pack-up and leave the world behind than someone who has a family to support and an on-going career. Just make sure you have enough money for a plane ticket back home and parents who can bail you out if things don't work out.

And if you're the parent, then you better be reading my post from yesterday about planning well before moving. Because there's no safety net for you folks. My own parents have quite the libertarian streak, so I made sure to plan well before coming here. I'd give them a 50% chance of telling me to go and collect cartón until I could afford my own plane ticket back. If you have parents like me, then maybe its not such a good idea unless you already have work lined up.

Shame on U.S. Democrats

Allow me to stand-up on my soapbox for a minute and wag my finger at U.S. Congressional Democrats for threatening to block the Dubai Ports World deal. I get sick to my stomach at this blatant and obvious xenophobia coming from my own country. What makes it worse is that they know there will be no security implications by this deal whatsoever -- it is a cheap trick designed to stir up racial hatred and score cheap political points.

Expatriates living in Argentina see it happen here all the time when the politicians go ranting and raving about the IMF or the World Bank or foreign-owned utilities, about how foreigners are all evil and out to destroy the country, blah, blah, blah. The fact is, it is a cheap political trick that appeals to the very worst in our nature.

I'm ashamed at this behavior coming from the party I typically vote for. I have to say that I'm glad Bush is willing to stand-up to this kind of xenophobia, even though it is costing him points politically. This is probably one of the only times you'll ever see me saying Bush is doing the right thing, but I'm not such a partisan that I won't call bullshit when I see it.

I think that, as expatriates, we all have the obligation to try and discourage xenophobia, especially when we see it coming from our own country.

What are you running away from?

Check out this recent AP article, titled Run away to South America. The author mentions that most of the single expatriates she met in a Chile language school "came here to escape something." Doing a Google search on the phrase "move to South America" brings up the website called Escape Artist, which provides "resources for Americans fleeing America."

What I Was Escaping From...

I wasn't running from any one thing in particular, but rather an idea of what my life would become if I stayed in the United States. My life was quickly headed towards the bland and uninteresting existence that awaits most college gradates. I had just finished college and reached a turning point - I could focus 100% on my small business and try to seriously grow it, or take a job at one of the many large corporations recruiting out of the university. I watched as all my peers took jobs at Fortune 500s, moving to various places around the country that all seemed boring to me doing jobs that all seemed boring as well.

I decided I would focus on my own business and give it my all. That would require coming to Argentina, as my office, employees, and business partners were all here. More than that, though, it would be something challenging. I would be a fish out of water, forced to adapt to a new language, culture, and way of doing things.

I think I had just seen the movie About Schmidt and, despite being just 25 at the time, I had the very real fear of waking up in another 35 years at some corporate office having wasted my life and never done anything exciting. So, I made the decision to come here. Perhaps it wasn't the safe or conservative thing to do, but it felt right.

The Results

In the end, it ended up costing me a lot, and I don't just mean monetarily. In addition to selling everything I owned, I lost a 5-year relationship, the opportunity to easily visit with friends & family, and certainly all my built-in understanding about how society and things work. Things that I took for granted back in the U.S. have to be learned all over again here.

Still, I'm glad I did it. While I'm still adjusting here (hasn't even been a full year yet), I'm doing much better than when I first arrived. I'm learning about how things work and starting to understand the culture better. I don't see myself leaving anytime soon. In fact, I just signed a two year lease on an apartment.

I'd very much like to hear from the rest of the readers out there. Why did you or are you planning to come to Argentina? Are you running from something?

U.S. Immigration Crackdown Targets Argentine Model

President Bush made it clear in his State of the Union speech that immigration enforcement would be a new priority for the year 2006. Since his approval ratings are down and the public has rejected his 2005 agenda for Social Security, it appears he's latched onto that tried and true method of whipping up popular support -- BLAME THE IMMIGRANTS!

Setting the Right Priorities

And who is the government targeting for deportation? Murders, sex offenders, welfare recipients, muslim radicals? You'd think they'd all be fair game for deportation.

Nope, INS has decided in its infinite wisdom to deport Argentine model and former Playboy Playmate Dora Noemi Kerchen, who has lived in Miami for the last 5 years. In fact, she already had her visa application in the system and was awaiting approval. Let me add to the chorus by asking, what the hell were they thinking? Why don't they start with the undesirables before deporting self-sufficient models who are obviously no drain on the government. Talk about stupid.

As expected, a number of companies that she works with have already filed the paperwork for her visa petition to bring her back to the United States. So the net result of all this will be to seriously disrupt the life of someone who was clearly no threat to the country and not a drain on government resources. In the end she'll be back in Miami after the paperwork goes through. In the meantime, they wasted time deporting her instead of some criminal. Such a waste.