A day in the life of Argentina

Silvia (in the brown coat) with her friends in Baradero.

To give a glimpse of a day in the life of Argentina, here are selections from September second's El Clarín newspaper:

• Only 3% of monies hidden outside the country have been declared [since the president called for all Argentines to declare any monies they may have sent outside the country for safe-keeping]
• A woman has been released from prison four years after receiving a life sentence for the death of her five-month-old twins. She was originally accused of having killed them in an Umbanda ritual [a cult]: the girls’ father was an Umbanda priest and their house was used as a temple. The case was reopened and it was decided that the girls’ death may have been accidental.
• The police detained an Argentine Olympic cycling champion who claims he was beaten by police while training with 70 other cyclists on a highway. It is illegal to cycle on the highway but he states that they have no other alternative, “We can’t ride on the frontage roads because our bikes will get stolen. Plus, we have to ride at 50 km/hr.”
• Food and beverages have seen the most inflation according to private sources [INDEC, the official keeper of statistics, has lost all credibility]. The price of vegetables has increased 12.4% in the past month. [The government fixed the price of bread two months ago.]
• Lots of articles about the proposed new media law, which would require radio stations to renew licensure every two years. Clarín states that this law is an attempt on the part of the president to restrain free speech and control the media in a Chavez-like fashion; also that it is directed primarily at media sources that oppose the government and particularly against The Clarín Group.
• Several articles about the tax on agricultural products, the farm protests and strikes that have been taking place on and off for the past year and a half, and the drought.
• England has announced a new governor for the Falkland Islands [which Argentina claims and calls “Las Malvinas”].
• A deficit in the Buenos Aires Province jeopardizes 10,000 feeding centers and school lunch programs for children.
• Argentina has the most expensive technology in all of Latin America: Argentines pay 48% more than Mexicans, 28% more than Peruvians, and 22% more than Chileans for the same products.
• .Lots and lots of articles about soccer!

Kids playing with machetes in Baradero. This house is a half-block from an Umbanda temple.