Dagmar Corales
San Fernando, Argentina
June 24, 2008

After about 100 days of stoic resistance to Argentine President Cristina de Kirchner, the roads are open and the supermarkets and all other convenience stores have something to sell again. More than enough, really.
Those evil road blockers—the-big-bad-wolf-land-owners and small farmers—finally gave in to a healthy dialogue with Cristina’s Government and opened up all of the roads all over the country.

Trucks can drive freely all over the country, which means the local produce can reach again their supermarket-kingdom-of-heaven.
This weird situation surely made for strange friendships—the big truck driver’s strongmen all of a sudden were supporting the Government and against the country road blockers, because they wanted to keep on working.
And all of this because of little innocent soy beans who were supposed to be taxed out of existence… Now the Government and the Four Big Shots representing the different groups of farm-owners will have their debates over what kind of tax will be applied when and where and what will happen to the tax-money. Well, now they’re talking and that’s what they’re supposed to do.

One has to recommend the people of Buenos Aires, the “Porteños”.
In the last couple of years, Argentines, but especially citizens of Buenos Aires, survived tribulations of Biblical proportions—the Big Banks closed on them and left them with zero and that’s where the “cacerolazos” were born.
How does a “cacerolazo” work? Simple. Take any pot and any spoon or other kitchen item. Hit the streets. Join the rest of the ones, who are out there to make some noise. Usually nobody gets hurt. It has become a family affair—kids have a smaller pot and a smaller spoon, according to size.
Since then, the people of the city of Buenos Aires have survived incredible shortages of basic food items for various reasons—but all man made. The streets, avenues and roads are in an awful shape and every time there is a strong rain storm, usually the same parts of the city get flooded. The sewage system needs a major and profound update—every City Government promises, but nobody delivers. On the news are always the same images of normal people wading knee-deep in water and shop-owners loosing all of their merchandise. Once, in a news program they pinpointed down the actual “Chief of the Autonomous Government of the City of Buenos Aires”, Mauricio Macri, (that’s the Mayor, but it sure sounds fancier…) with the images of the flooding and the general question: “Are you the one to deliver us from all evil or do we have to wait for another one?” We’ll see after the next rain storm…

Argentine’s President by now is simply “Cristina”, officially she would be Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, but there are already more than enough “Fernandez” in different parts of the Government and the ex President and husband Nestor Kirchner is still taking on a big part in Argentina’s politics, being the head of the Peronist party and all. Imagine Hillary would be the U.S. President and Bill the boss of the whole Democratic Party… that’s pretty much what we have right now right here. But isn’t that a little bit what we envision in our futuristic world of the inter-connected Chong Il Guk to come—a couple leading a nation?
Ay Cristina, apart from looking fantastic with fifty-six and making a smashing impression ever fashionable and on high heels, one needs to have a little bit more to be a good “Mother of the Nation”—try diplomacy for example. Exchange the high heels for a pair of moccasins. Walk a thousand steps around the country side, pet some cows, lift up a dirty-faced country baby…

Well, to come back to the by now “dialogue” between the farm-owners and the Government… if you think a “Tent Mission” is just for Pentecostal Bible-wielding Evangelists, you haven’t heard the latest yet. Here, in front of the Congress Building, the Government supporters were putting up a big tent to do their lobbying—and the independent City of Buenos Aires Government wants to close them down. How’s that again? Who’s supporting whom and what?

If you don’t understand anything---ah, don’t worry! Nobody really understands anything, that’s the good part of it. As a matter of fact, once the fastest-speaking humorist Argentina has, Enrique Pinti, explained this like that: In Argentina, the rich people are Leftists and the poor people are on the Right.
Right now, the “Tent Mission Resistance” are the ones supporting the Government. Hey, wait a second, I haven’t told you about the taxi drivers ganging up and blocking the streets of Buenos Aires yet…