Argentina Politics?

[BgMstr4u]

I am not that well plugged into the political scene in Argentina, but what I am reading leads me to ask those who are better informed...

 

Is the government (i.e., Kirchner and his wing of the Peronist movement) going in a fascist direction? Or more authoritarian?

 

And how is that affecting gay life and the escort scene? The real estate scene?

[arthur]

I was in Buenos Aires late-November/early December. The sex scene seemed pretty open. I spent time with two different escorts during my stay and had no problems establishing and maintaining contact. The real estate scene seems to offer opportunities especially since the Argentine peso was devalued. Sellers seem to want US dollars or Euros. I got the impression that many Spaniards are buying property in Argentina. I didn't get the impression that the current government is leaning in the direction of Facism or oppression. I did get the impression that many Argentines have little respect or admiration for their government.

ag

[+ Axiom2001]

My suggestion would be to email your queries to Roberto, a native of Argentina. His email address is either on page 1 or 2 of this forum. He might be willing to address the political component of your question. As for escorts there seemingly is NO problem. Consult the five websites which Roberto posted here a few weeks ago; it's the second time within a year that he has done this for us who are interested.

 

Also, try gayargentina.com website. The webmaster would more than likely respond; he has a blog at this site; he's also a lawyer (non-practicing) and is rather astute about the goings on in his country as well as its politics.

 

Last autumn (spring in South America), Will served as my guide on three occasions; he's slightly a maverick but would more than likely level with you. His email address is at his site.

 

(If I did not get the website correct-- it's in the archives from last summer's (North America) posting by me.)

[trilingual]

The current president (Kirchner) is controversial. It seems to be a love him/hate him kind of deal. He's climbed to the top of one wing of the Peronista movement and there's a battle royal in process for control of the entire party. (The other side is headed up by the ex-governor of Buenos Aires province, Duhalde.)

 

The Peronistas have always had more than a whiff of fascism about them, although it's been pretty much toned down in recent decades. Nobody in Argentina wants another dictatorship, and Kirchner himself suffered at the hands of the military dicatatorship.

 

That's a very nutshell description of the situation. It is having no effect whatsoever on the gay scene or the real estate market, as far as I can tell. Argentina has been climbing out of the bottom of the economic pit it fell into a few years ago and grew last year at a rate of 9%, following a previous year of similarly high growth. There are problems with the exchange rate, which is being artificially held at A$3.00 pesos to the dollar. This is starting to cause inflation to rise, so there's going to have to be some kind of readjustment sooner rather than later if they want to avoid falling back into the pit again.

 

Whatever you do, DO NOT INVEST IN LATIN AMERICAN REAL ESTATE expecting to make money. You're at the mercy of exchange rates and sometimes unorthodox economic policies. Only buy if you're committed to the long haul and you actually expect to use any place you buy as a second home. If you're buying a home, that's one thing. If you expect to get rich quick, that's another, and you may easily find yourself getting badly burned.