Notes from a Research Trip to Argentina (Dr. Joel Horowitz)

          On August 1, I returned to western New York after a month-long research trip to Buenos Aires.  The Argentina that I saw was in many ways different than the one that I had seen just two years ago on my sabbatical.  The change was not due to living in a different neighborhood of the city of Buenos Aires, since I lived just three blocks from where I had previously stayed. Something had changed. That something was clearly politics, economics, and the atmosphere created by the two. Employment levels remain high (it is difficult to say how high and what they mean since almost everyone will admit, except extraordinarily fervent supporters of the government, that official statistics are worthless), but inflation is also high, at least twenty percent. In peso terms, things are much more expensive than two years ago. 
          The government’s attempts to do something about inflation and the problems that it brings have so far at least had minimal positive impacts. It has used the tactics of the past which have always failed badly.  It has tried to coerce retailers into freezing prices and made obtaining dollars illegal or at least extraordinarily difficult.  The latter has produced a so called parallel market with an exchange rate that is very different than the official rate. (As of August 7, the official rate was 5.62 pesos per dollar and the parallel rate or “blue” market was 8.56).  The ones who are hurt the worst by this type of inflation are undoubtedly the poor.  The wealthier have ways to save or buy.  One reason why restaurants are jammed every night of the week, besides small kitchens (like in New York City), is that it is difficult to save, so if you have it, you might as well spend it.  One can eat extraordinarily well in Buenos Aires.

         Adding to the sense of unease produced by the economic problems has been a perception of a crime wave.  People are very afraid of crime.  How much is fear of crime and how much is real is more difficult to say.  At least in the city proper (which does not include its working class suburbs that surround it) murder rates by US standards are extraordinarily low.  One hears enough random tales of purse snatchings, stealing of smart phones etc. to think that the fears of this type of activity is real, but how it would compare to the US is more difficult to say. Above or perhaps below all this is a real political divide.  People either hate or love the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.  One hears stories of families where people have stopped talking to one another because of politics.  A friend of mine, whom I have known for decades, told me that he no longer sees friends he has had since elementary school since they want to talk about politics and then they get very upset when he disagrees.  The political atmosphere is particularly intense since the first round of congressional elections are Sunday August 11.  If the followers of Cristina do well, most people believe that she will have the constitution amended so that she can be re-elected.  She, however, has repeatedly said that she will not try to do so.  The polls are indicating that her followers will not do particularly well but it is a complex situation with many slates running and of course it is a national election. 

          Why are politics so heated?  In part, it has become so divided because Cristina (as almost everyone refers to her) has developed an extreme style of the traditional Argentine style that sees opposition as disloyal not only to the president but to the country.  She has used almost the full power of the government to back her positions.  She has surrounded herself with yes people and not surprisingly, after ten years of being in power, (four years for her late husband Nestor and now 6 years for Cristina) corruption appears almost everywhere among people close to the government.  Cristina tries to identify herself with Evita Perón and those close to her use every opportunity to display large pictures of Evita.  For example a rather small and nice exhibit about books about Evita has opened in the Biblioteca Nacional (national library). Weeks before the opening, giant pictures of Evita hung from the outside of the library.  The director is a fervent supporter of Cristina. (See accompanying photo).  Similarly Cristina has attempted to project an image of being very close to Pope Francis, including using photographs with the two of them together in campaign posters, although they had an extremely rocky relationship when he was cardinal of Buenos Aires. People who do not like the current government feel excluded and fear that they will feel the weight of the government on them.

Notes from the Annual Meeting of the Latin American Studies Association (Dr. Horowitz)

Between Thursday May 24 and Saturday May 26, I attended the XXX International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association in San Francisco.  This is a giant inter-disciplinary conference with thousands of attendees coming from around the world.  I spoke with participants who teach on three continents. Among the other attendees was Dr. Mary Rose Kubal from our Political Science Department, whom I did not see. She was not the most famous person to go to the conference.  The granting of a visa to attend the conference to Raúl Castro’s daughter, who is a vigorous supporter of gay rights, produced strong protests from elements in the Cuban-American community. While I did not see her either, her presence may help explain the armed guards that were scattered around the hotel where the conference was held.

The principal activity at these conferences is the many panels; the program lists 999.  The panels usually have presentations by three to five scholars on a specific subject with a commentary by another scholar.  This is usually followed by questions from the audience.  This allows attendees to hear some of the latest scholarship.  Some of the panels were excellent and several were, as they say, not ready for prime time.

Dr. Horowitz in front of the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Goodbye Buenos Aires (Dr. Joel Horowitz)

I left Buenos Aires on October 31 and arrived the following day in Buffalo. What struck me immediately besides the change in weather—going from spring to fall—and a fall that is about as cold as winter in Buenos Aires, was the quiet. There is no noise on my street or, when there is, it is sporadic. Buenos Aires is like all big cities noisy, but, even more than most, there is constant noise and bustle. The only time my street seemed quiet was in the early morning hours. There is also, with the exception of the early morning, seemingly always lots of people going somewhere or doing something, even if it is drinking coffee in a café. I would guess that in a three block radius of the apartment where I stayed there were almost as many cafes as in all of western New York. It was an area with a very large number. (I could see five cafes from my balcony). Nevertheless it says something about life in Buenos Aires. People’s social life is often in public places and eating and drinking well is important. It is also a society in which, because of a history of numerous periods of high inflation, believes that money might as well be spent.

What could have been an exciting event, the presidential elections of Sunday October 23, turned out to be a non-event. Elections are always held on Sundays and voting is a requirement. The weeks before the election there was no real excitement. There were ads on television but not a lot of posters or people handing out fliers. I only received two fliers during my time there. (Not because I look any different than Argentines—I was asked countless times for directions. If I knew the answer, people always looked embarrassed to be getting directions from a foreigner but until I spoke and my accent was displayed I looked and dressed no differently than many others.) The reason for the lack of interest was that everyone was sure that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner would easily win reelection. They were correct. While she won with roughly 54 percent of the vote, she had a 36 percent margin over her closest opponent. The opposition was deeply split and there were many candidates. None of the opposition candidates articulated very clear positions.

Greetings from the far South (Dr. Joel Horowitz)

Argentina is a changing country. When I was here in the mid-1970s, the military was not only repressive, killing some 30,000 people, but was decidedly socially conservative as well. Certainly one of its targets was people who were different. Argentine has fairly recently passed a law legalizing gay marriage. One day this week the newspapers had a story about a captain and a coronel who had gotten married (both male). The military spokesman said something about obeying the laws of the land and made it appear to be no big deal and it was not.

One way in which the country has not changed is that it is still a country of book stores. There are numerous small book stores around and this afternoon (Saturday)I went to a giant one which had been converted from a large movie theater with a ceiling mural and boxes etc. It is full of books and had a fair number of CDs. I, of course, spent too much money but money on books is rarely wasted. By the way the music that was being played was the Beatles which added a certain air of incongruity. I do remember the place from when it showed movies and it was magnificent but given the economics of movies it was probably doomed. Most of the old theaters have closed and been replaced by multiplexes in other parts of the city.

One place in which the poverty in the country can be seen is on the formerly elegant shopping street of Florida. It is now mostly a tourist trap and far from elegant, though there are expensive stores. It is a walking street (no cars permitted) where the inhabitants of Buenos Aires used to walk to be seen. Clearly that is no longer the case. The middle of the street is full of venders selling all sorts of trinkets from blankets laid out on the pavement. This is a clear sign of true poverty.

The large number of small stores, while very nice, is also a sign of lack of wealth. For example the large number of places selling fruits and vegetables in my neighborhood has to mean that the profit margin is thin. Yet there is a wonderful sense of pride involved. Today I was in what has become my store (the owner seems already to recognize me but perhaps it is my accent), and I asked for some pears, the son told me that they were not yet ripe and would the day after tomorrow be okay. It was.

Blogging from Argentina (Dr. Joel Horowitz)

I left Olean on Thursday September 1 and arrived the next morning in Buenos Aires after changing planes in Atlanta. All flights to Buenos Aires seem to go over night which is not fun unless you have the rare ability to be able to sleep soundly on airplanes. I lack that ability.

The apartment which I am renting is in a newly fashionable sector of the city which is absolutely bustling. I am living on what the Argentines say is the sixth floor but which we call the seventh (they along with most European countries do not count the ground floor). It is a highly modern apartment. I have internet connection and a microwave etc. Unlike most US cities the ground floors of many buildings have stores—ranging from food stores of many types to all sorts of different stores. One can eat unbelievably well in Argentina as great pasta, fruits, vegetables and meats are easily available. Within a couple of block radius of where I live, there are several small supermarkets (some of which are part of international chains) as well as many individual stores. Most interesting are the self-service stores, as they are called, which are owned by Chinese immigrants and sell everything except fruits and vegetables. Frequently these are sold in the front of the store by Bolivian immigrants and are a separate business. How exactly that works I am not sure.