Fw: Argentina Is A Nation Destroyed

["Nello Margiotta" <animarg@tin.it>]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=11929326&method=full&;
siteid=50143

The Mirror (Britain)
June 6, 2002

ARGENTINA IS A NATION DESTROYED
No money, no jobs, more disease, more crime, 1,000s
desperate to leave..welcome to the disaster zone of
once-proud Argentina

>From Andy Lines In Buenos Aires


IN sweltering heat, people feverishly barter their
services for food.

A woman offered to cut a man's hair in return for some
oranges and apples.

Across the room, a nurse took the blood pressure of an
elderly woman in exchange for a bag of carrots and
potatoes.

A dentist arranged to extract a youngster's tooth
after negotiating for some clothes. Another man sat
quietly offering 25 toilet rolls in return for bread.

For these poverty stricken unemployed men and women,
it was a chance to survive another week without any
money.

Most of them have young children to feed and clothe
and this was the only way they could do it.

It could have been a scene from one of the poorest
areas of Africa. But these incredible, primitive
scenes were taking place yesterday in one of the most
exclusive suburbs of Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Many of the people at the "truque" - bartering centre
- were once wealthy businessmen. But now they live in
a country in crisis.

In 1998, 12,000 fans flew to support their team in the
World Cup Finals in France. For this World Cup, just
694 flew to Japan.

Tens of thousands of people are trying to leave the
country and start their lives again in Spain, Italy or
the US.

Poverty levels are so serious that children are dying
again from tuberculosis, a disease not seen for more
than 20 years.

Shanty towns are springing up across the country,
including one just half a mile from Buenos Aires city
centre.

These "truques" are taking place all over Argentina as
survival becomes more and more difficult. At this one,
the people queuing to take part are not illiterate or
uneducated. Many have university degrees and a couple
were millionaires before the country's economy went
into meltdown.

Ulises Oriani, who with his wife Gladys runs the
bartering centre, the largest in Buenos Aires, looked
around the hall and estimated that 90 per cent of them
had lost their jobs in the crisis.

He used to be a wealthy businessman, importing and
exporting vegetables. But he took out a loan in
dollars and when the exchange rate changed he went
bankrupt.

"I lost my house, everything," he said. "Now our sons
want to leave the country - there's no future for them
here.

"This bartering system is the only way for many people
to survive. You wouldn't believe some of the people
who come here. We have a wealthy businessman whose
factory used to make 1,500 pairs of shoes a day. Now,
he brings some shoes to exchange for food.

"We have all different types of people offering their
services to swap for food - builders, dentists,
nurses, teachers.

"There is one principle rule - no money changes hands.
The system works well and has become very popular."

People either barter directly or are given credit
notes to exchange with participants.

As she cut the hair of several men, Sixta Solis
explained: "This makes a big difference to me. I can
get food in return for cutting hair. It would be very
difficult without it. I can get spaghetti, sugar and
fruit."

Lilian Pizarro used to own a leather factory. It went
bust and now she makes home-made liquor to try to get
food.

The well-educated, elegant lady said: "I never thought
I would be in a place like this but the problems in
this country are very bad. This system is like
something that happened 500 years ago, but it seems to
work now."

Nurse Susana Ayala took blood pressure and tested the
blood of a diabetic pensioner in exchange for some
home-made cakes. The man, sitting sadly with 25 toilet
rolls, was desperate for bread in return.

Despite the temperature of 95F, people started queuing
three hours before the doors opened. Security guards
stemmed waves of men and women trying to get in.

Official unemployment figures touch 20 per cent, but
in reality they are much higher.

There are violent protests every day. Banks and shops
are attacked and looted.

One elderly investor was told by his bank manager that
he could not withdraw his life savings. He went back
with a hand grenade and threatened to blow up the
building.

A Korean immigrant couple committed suicide after
their shop was ransacked. More than 30 people have
been shot dead in riots across the country. The house
of a member of Congress was burned down. The windows
of the parliament building have been smashed by
stone-throwing demonstrators.

Outside the presidential palace, there are daily
demos. Seven people were shot dead as they tried to
storm the building.

The middle classes organise daily protests, banging
pots and pans, often outside the homes of senior
Cabinet Ministers.

As I walked around this city, once so beautiful it was
called the Paris of the South, it was tragic to see
what was happening.

A giant Harrods store lies empty. Further down the
road, a Lloyds Bank branch has huge aluminium sheets
welded over the windows.

At 7am, queues start forming outside the banks as
people wait to withdraw money. A smartly dressed
middle-aged man asks if I could spare a few pesos.
Another harasses me to change dollars on the black
market.

The black market in foreign currency has gone crazy.
Three weeks ago one peso was equal to one dollar. Now
it is officially one peso to 1.4 dollars and on the
streets it is two pesos for one dollar.

It has been a cataclysmic fall. President Eduardo
Duhalde said the country was just a step away from
anarchy: "Argentina is on the edge of a bloodbath.
This time-bomb will explode if we don't carefully
dismantle it." And he warned: "Class war may not be
far off."

Politicians know they are deep in trouble if football,
the nation's favourite sport, is hit.

The clubs are £280million in debt and selling all
their players - and the players are striking because
they have not been paid. Last week, Duhalde called in
all the chairmen of the top clubs to try to resolve
the problems.

The "Barras bravas" football hooligans have been on
the rampage. Duhalde is being asked to pay the
£5million it costs each season to police the games.

In November, Jorge Solis, manager of the Dada bar in
downtown Buenos Aires, was not paid - the bar did not
take enough money, so the owner simply could not
afford to. He shrugged and said: "What am I supposed
to do? There are no other jobs, so I have to stay."

Most people are angry and bitter. Writer Marcos
Aguinis said: "Argentines feel great disappointment
and sadness. Expectations have always been great. We
couldn't accept we could fail. Success seemed
assured."

Jorge Ochoa de Eguileor, a sociology professor at
Buenos Aires University, said: "Argentina was one of
the richest countries in the world. It created a false
pride, that we were superior to the rest of Latin
America."

Businessman Oskar Gonzalez, 32, is planning to move to
Spain and join the "brain drain" of young talent to
Europe or the US.

"Everyone is trying to leave the country and I do not
blame them," he said. "It is very bad now, but trust
me, it's going to get worse. I cannot see how it will
end.

"How did this happen? We should be one of the most
successful countries in the world and now we are
bankrupt. People here have worked all their lives and
now many have been left with nothing."

He summed up the feeling across the nation: "So many
are going, it reminds me of the saying, 'Will the last
person leaving the country please turn off the
light'."