Tears for Argentina

Inca Trail Peru - photo by JoAnn Sturman

Scott Sturman
fliesinyoureyes.com

With its plentiful natural resources and well educated work force Argentina, the 8th largest country in the world, should be a picture of stability and prosperity. Argentina is a European society in South America and home to 41 million people of mostly Italian and Spanish descent. Yet due to poor governance the country has bounded from one economic crisis to another with periods of rampant inflation and labor turmoil. The future value the peso, the nation’s currency, is so unsettled that banks will not issue credit cards or underwrite long term mortgages. Owning property or illegally sequestering dollars or Euros abroad is the only safe way to save.

Health care and education are the largest obligations of the government. Both are free and without restriction, and one of the reasons Argentinians joke about the number of unemployed engineers driving cabs in Buenos Aires. As in most countries which offer national health care, the system is tiered with affluent citizens opting for the private option. Less wealthy citizens with political clout such as union workers enjoy preferred benefits. The majority of the people have no choice but to use the national health system, which statistically delivers a mediocre product and remains the avenue of last resort. When citizens have the opportunity to access private care, they elect to do so despite increased cost and personal sacrifices necessary to pay for it.

Ask any Argentinian to name the two gravest problems facing the nation, and corruption and inflation top the list. Graft pervades every level of society, and prevents the country from performing at its potential level of efficiency. There is a general sense of ennui and most are resigned to the fact that it is inevitable and unsolvable. Whatever money remains loses it value at 20% per annum due to expansionist fiscal and monetary policy.

Unions wield enormous power in this country where 92% of the population lives in urban areas. Constant strikes to gain concessions hinder commerce. A good example is Aerolinea Argentina, an incompetently operated private company that is now under government control. It remains one of the worst airlines in the world, requiring huge subsidies and frequently grounded due to work slow downs and bogus excuses to keep the airplanes on the tarmac. When making plans to visit Argentina, seasoned travelers try to book with the world class Chilean airline, LAN, rather than their third world-like competitor.

Despite these nuisances, Argentina is a fascinating and safe place to visit, and unlike much of Latin America sanitation standards are sufficient to preclude the necessity of drinking bottled water. From breath taking Iguazu Falls in the north, to vibrant and fun Buenos Aires, and finally to the splendid national parks in the extreme south, it is a breathtaking country, where visitors are unaware of the turmoil brewing beneath the surface. Our cab driver in Buenos Aires summed up his country’s idiosyncrasies:

“Look at all these young people having fun. You’d never know unemployment in their age group is close to 20%. I’ve lived through five cycles; I’ve been a millionaire and a pauper, and now I’m a sixty year old man driving a cab. The government says inflation is 12%, but I know it’s twice that. Too many crooked politicians buying favors and stealing our money, but somehow we survive. I just hope the tourists keep coming until we discover oil in Patagonia.”