There comes that magic moment when you realise that the government of the country in which you live no longer gives a damn about even pretending to hide their crimes, their corruption, their shameless looting of the public treasury. Argentina, the home of my heart, has reached such a moment.
But, of course, it is all complicado (complicated), so let me try to give you the short version -
The government of Argentina decided in November of 2017 that all gas supply contracts between producers and distributors would be in dollars. On July 23rd of 2018, Minister of Energy Javier Iguacel was asked on TV why this was done. He flatly denied that it was done at all, insisting all contracts are in pesos. This was a lie.
Now, with its budgets being dictated by the IMF as a condition of the recent extravagant loans, the Macri government has decided it doesn't want to pay the money required under these dollarised contracts. So it has decided to shift the burden of this, a total of 10 Billion Pesos or 250 Million US Dollars, to the consumers.
These payments will be added to everyone's gas bills starting in January, in 24 installments, WITH INTEREST. How much interest, you ask? Well, the prime rate is at 72%, so at least that much if not more. No, that's not a typo, I said 72%, as in Seventy Two Percent.
If you've done the quick math and concluded that doesn't work, you're right. It's a loan-shark rate. It's usury. You can never pay it off, only make the vig, month after month after month, for the rest of your life.
The picture at the top of this article is an obscure corner of the Bosque Viejo, around the backside of the Hipódromo, or horse-racing track. If walking in this area in early morning, one will often see a few muchachas con manija ("girls with a handle") which are transvestite prostitutes. I have no idea whether they're working late or starting early.
