Many of you are familiar with Charly Garcia, Fito Paez, Soda Estereo and other legends of Argentine rock. But Argentina has many lesser-known, independent bands worth checking out. Some of these bands – like The Tormentos (Surf Board/beach music) and Los Alamos – even have some songs in English. Los Alamos even has a young U.S. expat among its musicians.

Here is a list of five indie bands worth your time:

1)
Band: El Robot Bajo El Agua
Recommended CD: Solo Resta Sumar
Official Site

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Buy Online
Where To Buy In Person:
“Anthology” Santa Fe 1670, Local 7, Subsuelo
“Miles” Honduras 4912
“Compakta” Cerviño 3556
“Magimusica” Corrientes 1644

2)
Band: Fantasmagoria
Recommended CD: Abracadabra
Official Site
MySpace
Listen to a Song
Buy Online
Where To Buy In Person:
“Anthology” Santa Fe 1670, Local 7, Subsuelo
“Miles” Honduras 4912
“Compakta” Cerviño 3556
“Magimusica” Corrientes 1644

3)
Band: The Tormentos
Recommended CD: Grab Your Board
Official Site
MySpace
YouTube
Where To Buy In Person:
“Anthology” Santa Fe 1670, Local 7, Subsuelo
“Miles” Honduras 4912
“Compakta” Cerviño 3556
“Magimusica” Corrientes 1644

4)
Band: Los Alamos
Recommended CD: No Se Menciona La Soga En Casa Del Ahorcado
Official Site - Not working on last attempt
MySpace
YouTube
Buy Online
Where To Buy In Person:
“Anthology” Santa Fe 1670, Local 7, Subsuelo
“Miles” Honduras 4912
“Compakta” Cerviño 3556
“Magimusica” Corrientes 1644

5)
Band: Coiffer
Recommended CD: No Es
Official Site

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Buy Online
Where To Buy In Person:
“Anthology” Santa Fe 1670, Local 7, Subsuelo
“Miles” Honduras 4912
“Compakta” Cerviño 3556
“Magimusica” Corrientes 1644

Kudos to the great Uli Coronel for helping me to discover these bands. You can find out more about him on his blog here (in Spanish).

A recent Wall Street Journal story has brought back great memories of my first experiences in Argentina, and I just have to comment on the subject. The story discusses a local legend: 91-year-old Julio de Rizio, otherwise known as Dr. Tangalanga.

Tangalanga is a national treasure. He’s a crank-caller. But he’s nothing like your average crank-calling teenager. He’s an absolute master of the art. He artfully combines adolescent humor and vulgarity with the sophistication of an experienced comedian. He can brutally insult people over the phone – “¡Andá a la concha de tu madre, reverendo hijo de mil putas!” – but also manage to befriend the object of his verbal onslaught by the end of the conversation.

Tangalanga is unique and uniquely Argentine. He was unusually instrumental in my effort to dominate Spanish and master the subtleties of Argentine slang. I first heard Tangalanga in the Fall of 1995, when I came to Argentina to study Spanish. An Argentine friend, Fernando Pereira, introduced me to the good doctor and said I should learn Spanish by imitating Dr. Tangalanga’s calls. So I tried.

With help from Fernando and other friends, I made crank calls, in laughably bad Spanish, to unsuspecting Porteños. Together with my friends, we made dozens of calls over the period of several weeks. At first I hardly knew what I was saying, and I certainly had no idea what was being said to me on the other end of the phone. But the gimmick worked, and the idiomatic expressions and insults stuck in my mind, allowing me to learn slang in a way that I’d never forget. It was totally ridiculous, indecent and yet incredibly fun. I’ll never forget Tangalanga and how he made my friends and me laugh. Nor will I forget how his crank calls helped me to learn Spanish and gain a little insight into Argentine culture.

For anyone who is even moderately interested in Spanish (and who is not offended by vulgarity or a near total lack of respect for proper phone etiquette or even basic standards of decency), Tangalanga’s “work” is worth listening to or even – dare I say it – studying.

WSJ Story
Tangalanga on YouTube
Tangalanga’s Official Site
The WSJ story quotes Argentine philosopher Alejandro Rozitchner (a great friend who also is almost totally responsible for the founding of The Argentine Post). You can see his site (in Spanish) here. Kudos to both Alejandro and Ian Mount for highlighting the Tangalanga story and bringing it to the attention of all of you who are interested in all things Argentine. Check out Ian’s site here.

Buenos Aires is a great city, but even its appeal can wear thin after enough time. If you’d like a little getaway without having to go too far, Barrancas de Alvear is a great option. It’s a restaurant located on the Rio de la Plata about 25 minutes north of Buenos Aires.

The restaurant has a long front lawn, palm trees, a few benches and a wonderful view of the river. There is even enough free space to play Frisbee or toss around an American football. If you get there early in the morning, as I did today, you can sit there and listen uninterruptedly to birds chirping and waves crashing against the coastline. It’s a perfect antidote to the noise of downtown Buenos Aires. For an hour or so this morning, I actually felt as if I were on vacation. Off in the distance, you may even be able to see sailboats moving up and down the river. You can also see the Buenos Aires skyline, by day or night.

The restaurant, located at Alvear & El Rio, is open from 10am to 2am during the week and even later on the weekends. It is a parillia, pub and tea house all wrapped into one. You can sit inside or out, and you can do so for as long as you like. Want to have a nice lunch and while grabbing a little sun? This is a nice place to do it.

Not too far down the road is Peru Beach, where you can scale a climbing wall, rent a kayak, go windsurfing, play roller hockey, take a Pilates class or simply people-watch. Peru Beach offers classes in all these activities. It also offers outdoor food and drink, though the caliber of the comida is about what you’d expect from a kitchen located right next to a hockey arena. If you want to mingle with local singles, this is not a bad place to be. Just be sure to lay off the Philadelphia Cream Cheese and hit the gym before you go shirtless here.

You can get to either place by taking the train from Retiro to Martinez, and then by grabbing a taxi. Or, if you’re the sporty type, you can get there by walking, running or cycling straight from the Martinez train station (which is on Alvear) all the way down to the river. Alternatively, you can simply drive north on Libertador until you get to Alvear. There, turn right and head down the hill to the river. The Barrancas restaurant entry is just a few meters left from the corner of Alvear & El Rio. To get to Peru Beach, turn left (or north) on El Rio and keep going until you hit Peru.

Barrancas de Alvear
4792-4262
Alvear & El Rio
www.barrancasdealvear.com.ar (was not working when I tried it)

Peru Beach
4793-5986
4793-8762

http://www.peru-beach.com.ar/

Click on image for an animated history of New York’s subway development

With all the recent talk about expanding the subway system in Buenos Aires, it may be instructive to take a look at how the system compares with its counterpart in another great cosmopolitan center, New York City.

Mauricio Macri, who becomes the new mayor of Buenos Aires December 9, has proposed to build 27 kilometers (16.7 miles) in new subway lines. Macri, who coincidentally met with NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg last week in Manhattan, also has pledged to increase the frequency of times that trains pass through each station everyday.

The two systems are roughly the same age. Argentina’s was completed in 1913 while New York’s was established a bit earlier in 1904. Buenos Aires was the 13th city in the world to get its own subway system, according to Metrovias. But while both emerged in the early part of the 20th century, development of the two systems since then has been markedly different.

Argentina’s left-lane system (designed by – who else? – the Brits) runs 42.7 kilometers (26.5 miles) while New York’s spans a whopping 595.5 kilometers (370 miles). This, according to Metrobits.

Argentina’s “subte” has 63 stations while New York’s has 468. Argentina’s has six lines; New York’s has 27. In the summertime, New York’s subway has air conditioning while Argentina’s has the climate-control button set permanently on “sweat like a pig.” Around 5 million passengers ride New York’s subway everyday while about 1. 3 million do so in Buenos Aires. Argentina’s system has limited hours while New York’s runs 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

WiFi In Subway & Subte Stations

Buenos Aires beat New York to the punch, however, by being the first to install WiFi in its stations. At least the B, C, D & E lines in Buenos Aires provide free and unrestricted wireless Internet access. I used my iPhone this week to test the service on the D line and it worked perfectly, allowing me to download email and surf the web. The service works in stations themselves but not inside the tunnels. Buenos Aires was the fist city in the Americas and the second city in the world to install WiFi in its subway stations, according to La Nacion. New York City is only now about to install WiFi in its subway stations, according to Newsday.

But Argentina’s subway costs just 70 centavos (about US 22 cents) while New York’s costs US $2 dollars. That ratio will change January 1, however, when local transportation costs rise by up to 30%. Then the cost of riding the subway here will jump to 90 centavos (US 28.5 cents). However, the cash saved by traveling in Buenos Aires is partially offset by having to put up with the God-awful, screeching, death-rattle noise produced when train wheels brush up against inhospitable tracks. And while Argentina’s network is cheaper, in NY you get to ride with Elvis.

The inspiration for this post was a similar one by Matías Maciel on his blog Entretanto. Matías is an Argentine journalist in NYC. His blog, though in Spanish, is well worth visiting.

This post is a continuation of the previous one dealing with anti-American sentiment in Argentina. In a later post I’ll address the nature and history of anti-American attitudes in Argentina. Here I’ll look at more statistical data related to anti-American views. The data come from the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Survey. The survey interviewed 45,239 people in 47 nations, including 800 face-to-face interviews with Argentines. The survey was carried out in both rural and urban areas in April of this year.

Argentina, of course, is not alone in its distaste for America. The survey showed the U.S. to be highly unpopular in many parts of the world, with people in many countries voicing high levels of distrust for U.S. President George W. Bush.

“Global distrust of American leadership is reflected in increasing disapproval of the cornerstones of U.S. foreign policy. Not only is there worldwide support for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, but there also is considerable opposition to U.S. and NATO operations in Afghanistan. Western European publics are at best divided about keeping troops there. In nearly every predominantly Muslim country, overwhelming majorities want U.S. and NATO troops withdrawn from Afghanistan as soon as possible. In addition, global support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism ebbs ever lower. And the United States is the nation blamed most often for hurting the world’s environment, at a time of rising global concern about environmental issues.”

Interestingly, however, the survey indicated that distrust runs high for almost all major powers, not just the U.S.

“There is little evidence that discontent with the major nations of the world and their leaders is resulting in greater confidence in those who have challenged the global status quo. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez inspires little public confidence, even in Latin America, and huge majorities in most countries also say they have little or no confidence in Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to do the right thing regarding world affairs.”

Meanwhile, people in almost all countries are growing increasingly concerned about pollution and environmental degradation. Such concern has grown rapidly in Argentina. In 2002 about 28% of Argentines said environmental problems posed the “top threat” to the world. By 2007 that figure had risen 25 points to 53%, a faster increase than in any other country except Brazil, where it rose 29 points. To the extent that the U.S. is widely seen as the world’s leading polluter, this partly explains why Argentines don’t like U.S. policies, particularly President Bush’s environmental policies.

The survey indicates that while Argentines are vociferously anti-American in many categories, their opposition to the U.S. is surpassed by discontent in Turkey, Pakistan and France in at least some key categories. Around 67% of Argentines said they “most disliked American ideas about democracy” while 81% of Turks, 76% of French and 72% of Pakistanis also said this. Another 67% of Argentines said they “most disliked American ways of doing business” while 83% of Turks and 75% of French agreed.

Latin American anti-Americanism

The U.S. has lost a lot of support in Latin America, not just in Argentina:

“The image of the United States has eroded since 2002 in all six Latin American countries for which trends are available. The decline has been especially steep in Venezuela (26 points), Argentina (18 points), and Bolivia (15 points). Nonetheless, majorities in four of the seven Latin American nations included in the survey – including Venezuela (56%) – have a positive opinion of the U.S. Both Brazilians (44% favorable, 51% unfavorable) and Bolivians (42% favorable, 52% unfavorable) are somewhat more likely to have a negative opinion of the U.S. than a positive one. Five years ago, majorities in both nations felt favorably toward the U.S. Meanwhile, negative views of the U.S. in Argentina, which were clearly evident five years ago, have only intensified. Indeed, the balance of opinion toward the U.S. among Argentines (16% favorable, 72% unfavorable) is worse than in any country surveyed outside the Middle East.” (emphasis my own)

America versus Americans

Do Argentines distinguish between the U.S. government and American people? The answer is yes, but even here the results are not too encouraging. When asked to “rate the U.S. and its people,” only 16% of Argentines said they had a favorable view of the U.S. government. Only slightly more than that, 26%, said they favorably viewed the America people. Ouch! Those percentages are lower than in all countries except Turkey, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories.

Argentine Views on American Exports

In one fascinating aspect of the survey, Argentines revealed themselves to be only moderately positive about American cultural and scientific exports. About 50% said they had positive views of U.S. movies, music and TV shows. Another 51% thought positively about U.S. science and technological developments. I must admit, this latter data has left me a bit dumbfounded.

The U.S. is not a popular country these days. Across the world, surveys show anti-American sentiment to be both pervasive and, evidently, increasingly profound. Reasons for this are myriad. Critics cite America’s arrogant foreign policy, its heavy-handed and excessively partial negotiating tactics, its lack of patience and unwillingness to listen to opposing views, and, of course, the Iraq war.

Visiting scholars and tourists also complain about rude treatment received at U.S. Embassies and immigration booths upon arrival at U.S. airports. Meanwhile, thousands of people eager to travel to the U.S. are denied visas everyday through thick glass windows that separate them from consular-section officials. The process can be humiliating, leaving applicants feeling belittled, disrespected and even unvalued as human beings.

You might think the U.S. would be most unpopular in places traditionally considered hostile to American policy – Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, etc. But according to a poll by The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and WorldPublicOpinion.org, Argentina leads the list of countries that distrust the U.S. and its role in world affairs. Consider this gem of a paragraph:

“Majorities in all 15 of the publics polled about the United States’ role in the world reject the idea that ‘as the sole remaining superpower, the US should continue to be the preeminent world leader in solving international problems.’ However majorities in only two publics (Argentina and the Palestinian territories) say that the United States ‘should withdraw from most efforts to solve international problems.’”

Technically, at least, the Palestinian territories are not yet a country. That makes Argentina, the world’s staunchest opponent of U.S. involvement in global affairs. The survey, which was released earlier this year, is unusually comprehensive. “Participating research centers interviewed nearly 22,000 people in China, India, the United States, Russia, Indonesia, France, Thailand, Ukraine, Poland, Iran, Mexico, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Argentina, Peru, Armenia and Israel, plus the Palestinian territories,” according to authors of the study, which can be found here and here.

Here are a few more gems from the survey:

■ Argentines are among the most negative about US leadership in the world. Very large majorities do not trust the United States and want it to reduce its military presence overseas.
■ Argentina is one of only two countries (the other is the Palestinian territories) where a majority (55%) believes that “the US should withdraw from most efforts to solve international problems.”
■ An overwhelming majority (84%) does not trust the United States to act responsibly in the world, including 69% who do not trust it at all, more than any other public polled.
■ Three-fourths (75%)—the largest majority among 12 countries polled—say that the United States should reduce the number of military bases it has overseas. In Argentina, a solid 75% said the U.S. should have fewer military bases overseas. That percentage is higher than in any other nation polled. It was followed by the Palestinian territory, where 70% held this view.
■ 62% of Argentines agree that “the US is playing the role of world policeman more than it should be.”

Only 1% of Argentines polled said “the U.S. should continue to be the preeminent world leader in solving international problems.” That percentage is lower than in any other country surveyed, except for France and Ukraine, where just 3% agreed.

Another remarkable quote from the study:

“In 10 out of 15 countries, the most common view is that the United States cannot be trusted to ‘act responsibly in the world.’ Respondents were allowed to choose whether the United States could be trusted ‘a great deal,’ ‘somewhat,’ ‘not very much’ or ‘not at all.’ Two Latin American countries show the least trust in the United States. An overwhelming 84 percent of Argentines answer that they have little confidence in the United States, including 69 percent who think the United States cannot be trusted at all. Eight in ten Peruvians (80%) also think the US cannot be trusted (23% not at all).”

For some Argentines, even use of the term “American” causes offense. “We are all Americans,” many will protest. As an “American” in Argentina I try to avoid using the term. And when I do, I mean no harm. But the oft-used “North American” – or norteamericano – is often too inexact to be useful, as it includes Canada, Mexico and even Greenland, which belongs to Denmark. Moreover, it’s hard to find another adjective that describes U.S. citizens in a way that is both concise and aesthetically pleasing. In Spanish, the term “estadounidense” sometimes works, but it’s a bit of a mouthful and has no English translation, except for: American and possibly Yankee. The latter is often used in Argentina, both benignly and pejoratively. For an in-depth look at the word “America,” its origins and controversial usage, click here.

The Buenos Aires Herald religiously replaces all non-quoted references to “America” or “Americans” with “US” or “US citizens,” etc. The Herald’s policy is well-intended but bows excessively to the dictates of political correctness, ignoring the more subtle dictums of style. This often makes for unnecessarily awkward reading.

So why is Argentina, evidently, so anti-American? First, it’s important to distinguish between sentiments toward the U.S. government and feelings for Americans themselves. After all, it’s certainly possible to dislike President George Bush and his policies while caring a great deal for average American citizens. Most Argentines I know cannot stand the U.S. government. (Actually, most Americans I know don’t like the U.S. government.) But rarely has this translated into demonstrations of distaste for me as an American citizen.

Argentina is in many ways an ally of Europe and the US? Under President Carlos Menem, Argentina even sent troops to the First Persian Gulf War and got Argentina to become an honorary member of NATO. Moreover, Argentines devour US cultural exports, moving in massive numbers to see Hollywood films and attend concerts by US musicians. They buy American cars, trucks, video games, iPods, computers and, inexplicably, seem to like McDonald’s even more than do Americans. This leads to a bit of a paradox, one that is not easy to explain. How is it that Argentines appear to be so sympathetic to American culture while so vehemently opposed to America’s role in world affairs? The opposition to U.S. policy is not new and it easily predates, though to perhaps less vigorous degree, the Iraq war.

I will attempt to shed light on this issue in a future post. I’ll end this one with a link to a local TV show I was on last year. The topic of the show: “Is The United States an Agent of Evil in the World?” Quite a question, no? If I were on the show again today, I would be far more critical of the Bush administration, U.S. involvement in Iraq and overall U.S. policy, but I would be just as supportive of the generally positive role the U.S. has played in global economic, social and political development.

A baby born in Argentina today can expect to live 74.8 years, according to a new 2007-2008 Human Development Report released Tuesday by the United Nations. That statistic, along with a host of other indicators, led the UN to rank Argentina 38th among countries in terms of economic, health and social development.

The report said 97.2% of Argentines are literate. In this category, Argentina ranks 27th. In others, such as cellphone and Internet usage, Argentina ranks 38th. About 570 out of every 1,000 Argentines have a cell phone. This figure more than doubles the number of fixed-line telephones in the country. Another 177 out of every 1,000 people use the Internet. These last two statistics are likely underestimates since they come from data collected in 2005. Two years of rapid economic growth since then likely boosted access to technological products.

Meanwhile, GDP per capita in Argentina is US $14,280, ranking the country 47th in the world.

In many categories Iceland takes the cake, making it the world’s most developed nation, according to the UN. Here is a breakdown of a few interesting categories, including data for the top 20 countries and Argentina.

NOTE: The UN lists countries in each category according to the country’s overall ranking. Where possible I included the category rank for Argentina. To see the data for yourself, click on the link at the bottom of this post.

OVERALL RANKING:

1 Iceland
2 Norway
3 Australia
4 Canada
5 Ireland
6 Sweden
7 Switzerland
8 Japan
9 Netherlands
10 France
11 Finland
12 United States
13 Spain
14 Denmark
15 Austria
16 United Kingdom
17 Belgium
18 Luxembourg
19 New Zealand
20 Italy
38 Argentina

LIFE EXPECTANCY:

1 Iceland 81.5
2 Norway 79.8
3 Australia 80.9
4 Canada 80.3
5 Ireland 78.4
6 Sweden 80.5
7 Switzerland 81.3
8 Japan 82.3
9 Netherlands 79.2
10 France 80.2
11 Finland 78.9
12 United States 77.9
13 Spain 80.5
14 Denmark 77.9
15 Austria 79.4
16 United Kingdom 79.0
17 Belgium 78.8
18 Luxembourg 78.4
19 New Zealand 79.8
20 Italy 80.3
50 Argentina 74.8

INTERNET USERS (per 1,000 people) *Data from 2005:

1 Iceland 869
2 Norway 735
3 Australia 698
4 Canada 520
5 Ireland 276
6 Sweden 764
7 Switzerland 498
8 Japan 668
9 Netherlands 739
10 France 430
11 Finland 534
12 United States 630
13 Spain 348
14 Denmark 527
15 Austria 486
16 United Kingdom 473
17 Belgium 458
18 Luxembourg 690
19 New Zealand 672
20 Italy 478
38 Argentina 177

ADULT LITERACY RATE:

1 Iceland 99
2 Norway 99
3 Australia 99
4 Canada 99
5 Ireland 99
6 Sweden 99
7 Switzerland 99
8 Japan 99
9 Netherlands 99
10 France 99
11 Finland 99
12 United States 99
13 Spain 99
14 Denmark 99
15 Austria 99
16 United Kingdom 99
17 Belgium 99
18 Luxembourg 99
19 New Zealand 99
20 Italy 98.4
27 Argentina 97.2

GDP PER CAPITA (purchasing power parity measured dollars)

1 Iceland 36,510
2 Norway 41,420
3 Australia 31,794
4 Canada 33,375
5 Ireland 38,505
6 Sweden 32,525
7 Switzerland 35,633
8 Japan 31,267
9 Netherlands 32,684
10 France 30,386
11 Finland 32,153
12 United States 41,890
13 Spain 27,169
14 Denmark 33,973
15 Austria 33,700
16 United Kingdom 33,238
17 Belgium 32,119
18 Luxembourg 60,228
19 New Zealand 24,996
20 Italy 28,529
47 Argentina 14,280

This just in: Argentine women like sex more than women in other countries. ¡Viva La Argentina! Who cares about Argentina’s economic growth, its inflation or even its newly-elected female president when there are more interesting things to talk about – things like sex. The topic of conversation now is not consumer price inflation but rather the inflated sexual appetites of Argentine women. Nobody is going to complain about this kind of inflation, at least not here in this space.

According to a new survey, Argentine women are more interested in sex than are women in any other country surveyed. Women here said sex is their favorite earthly pleasure, according to the poll, which was conducted by Datos Claros Research Opinion. Argentines said sex is preferable to chocolate, shopping, a romantic dinner, ice cream and even a bouquet of flowers.

According to the study, which was paid for by the deodorant company Axe, 60.5% of Argentine women said sex was their preferred pleasure compared with 54% of respondents from women in other countries. Sex was followed closely by chocolate, shopping and a good meal. Overall, women in most countries surveyed said their preferred pleasure was chocolate.

The survey said Brazilian, Dutch and French women favor chocolate over sex, while Italians, Germans and Mexicans would prefer to go shopping before having sex. Perhaps the way to win over the heart of an Argentine woman would be to follow up a romantic dinner with sex in a chocolate store inside a shopping mall?

Like Argentines, Spanish women also said sex was their favorite pleasurable activity. Can we have a round of applause please for Latino Women?

The survey polled 3,571 women in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Holland, India, Mexico, the Philippines, the UK and U.S.

*Photo: Karina Jelinek, my old neighbor, and the object of many an Argentine’s passion, here in a admittedly cheesy photo with an old friend.

“The Client is King” is a popular business mantra that is pounded into the ears of managers across the U.S. during customer service seminars. Take care of your clients and they will take care of you, goes the thinking. The concept, even if not applicable under all circumstances, is a pretty good modus operandi for almost any business.

Treat your clients well – keep them happy – and they will keep coming back. It’s pretty hard to dispute the idea. After all, consider the alternative. How successful would a business be if it systematically treated its clients like scum?

Of course, there are well run businesses in all countries and cultures. Some care more for their clients than do others. Some are even annoying and abusive. But disrespectful businesses tend to go out of business soon.

Even so, I think it’s fair to say that the client is king concept has not quite caught on yet here in Argentina. Examples abound – waiters who don’t say thank you or store attendants who talk on the phone while you wait impatiently to ask a question or make a purchase. These things can and do happen in any country. But one key area in which Argentina’s capitalistic system has yet to mature is made manifest when it comes to returning purchased items. Many stores make it a hassle to return items. Many even make it impossible to return items except within certain limited, and usually inconvenient, hours. Customer service has improved vastly since I first came to Argentina in 1995, but problems are still rampant.

I recently bought a gift bracelet from Tuareg, a jewelry store in the Alto Palermo Shopping Center. “What happens if my girlfriend doesn’t like it? Can she return it?” I asked. “Yes. She can return it, but only between Monday and Friday.”

Of course, this policy makes it hard for many working people to return goods (or gifts) they don’t like or need. Tuareg also only allows customers to exchange items for products of equal or greater value. This means that if you don’t like something you got from the store, you might actually have to pay more to exchange it for something you do like. Getting your money back is not an option. “You can exchange the item at any of our branches but none will give you your money back.” Tuareg’s policies are common at other retailers.

One exception to such lame practices, actually the only exception I know of, is Zara, the Spanish clothing company. Zara treats it clients like kings. To the best of my knowledge, Zara is the only retail business in Argentina that gives customers up to 30 days to exchange items for a full cash refund. No questions asked. No loopholes to jump through. They just give you your money back. Perhaps it seems silly to highlight something as seemingly mundane as Zara’s policy. After all, Zara’s approach to customer service is standard practice in the U.S. and other countries, where fierce market competition has fine-tuned business practices. But here in Argentina, Zara is a model to be emulated. It stands out as a company that respects its customers’ interests at a time when many other businesses do not.

Go to Zara’s website and you will find this quote: “The customer is at the center of our particular business model.” That might seem like little more than common sense, but common sense isn’t always all that common, is it?

Charly Garcia

Clarin, Argentina’s top-selling newspaper, has begun selling a collection of CDs and books about “Argentina’s 15 greatest rockers.” Every two weeks, between now and June, Clarin will sell a 20-song compilation CD and 144-page book that examines the music and history of each musician or band.

For those want to understand Argentine rock, this is a great way to get started.

My next post on local music will include a list of excellent independent bands, groups whose CDs you won’t find in Musimundo or other stores but whose music you ought to know.

The 15 greatest legends of Argentine rock, according to Clarin, are:

(RELEASE DATES INCLUDED)

1) Charly Garcia NOV 19
2) Babasónicos DEC 3
3) Luca Prodan/Sumo (includes songs in English, Spanish and Spanglish) DEC 17
4) Fito Páez DEC 31
5) Tanguito y el rock de La Cueva JAN 14
6) Dividos/Las Pelotas JAN 28
7) Andrés Calamaro FEB 11
8) Ratones Paranoicos FEB 25
9) Luis Alberto Spinetta MAR 10
10) Los Fabulosos Cadillacs/Los Auténticos Decadentes MAR 24
11) Pappo APRIL 7
12) Virus APRIL 21
13) León Gieco MAY 5
14) Ataque 77/Los Vialodres MAY 19
15) Soda Estereo JUN 2

Enjoy!

Argentina has about five times more traffic-related deaths per year than the U.S., as a percentage of cars on the road. Each year around 7,000 people die as a result of bad driving in Argentina. Last year, there were 1,080 deaths for every 1 million vehicles. This is according to Luchemos Por La Vida, a non-profit group that tries to improve road safety through education.

A relatively small percentage of Argentina’s traffic fatalities occur in the City of Buenos Aires (just over 3% last year). The rest take place in the provinces. Buenos Aires Province is by far the most dangerous. Last year it accounted for 3,062, or 40% of all traffic deaths.

Argentina’s traffic problems seem fairly mundane compared with related trouble in China and India, where drivers are even more aggressive. But compared with countries like the U.S. and Spain, Argentina’s troubles really standout. The U.S. had 198 deaths per million vehicles last year while Spain had just 148.

Spain has made remarkable progress in reducing the number of traffic-related deaths while Argentina has made almost none. In 1975, for example, 760 Spaniards died for every million vehicles on the road. That number has dropped annually to 148 last year. In Argentina, where the data go back only to 1989, the number of deaths has remained relatively steady, except for a peak of 1,450 deaths.

In addition to death, more than 120,000 people are left paralyzed or seriously injured every year because of car accidents. If you’re interested in the topic, check out a three minute “Traffic in Argentina” video I posted on Scooping Argentina.

UPDATE: A reader helpfully submitted a link to UN data that indicate Argentina’s traffic fatalities may be substantially lower than the figures presented by Luchemos Por La Vida. Here is the link. You’ll have to scroll around a bit and search. Please see the commentaries below for more about this.

Cristina Yesterday, Hillary Today

Campaign rallies often are not what they appear to be on TV. This is true not just in Argentina but in many countries. In many cases, in Argentina, candidates pay for “supporters” to be bused into rallies from far away places. These political “extras” often have no real interest in either the candidate or the election. They attend rallies in exchange for money and/or food. This has long been one of the worst kept secrets of Argentine politics.

Cristina Kirchner’s last campaign event before the election was a perfect example of this. The event took place in La Matanza, about 30 minutes from Capital Federal. It was a cold, rainy night, which probably discouraged some true supporters from showing up. Moreover, La Matanza isn’t exactly Palermo or Recoleta. It’s not the kind of place you’d want to be left alone on a dark night. But that didn’t prevent political operatives from busing in hundreds (perhaps thousands) of paid extras to make the event look like a popular gathering of patriotic partisans.

I covered the event as a journalist. I mixed in with the crowd and spoke to people who had come to see Cristina. Most of the people there paid little or no attention to Cristina or her speech. Some admitted to being paid for their attendance. A good number were drunk and, in some areas, the air reeked of marijuana. After Cristina’s speech, the crowd dispersed rapidly. Almost all spectators moved quickly back to the buses that had brought them, leaving behind a heap of trash, discarded banners and plastic bottles. Some people came just to collect the trash for recycling. “I get 90 centavos or one peso per kilo for the bottles,” said one woman. Few showed genuine enthusiasm for Cristina or the election.

Of course, none of this would surprise an experienced observer of local politics. And none of this necessarily indicates what kind of president Cristina will be. Some politicians are more popular than others and some elections are more engaging than others. This election was noticeably devoid of energy and enthusiasm. It was always a forgone conclusion that Cristina would win. So it shouldn’t be too surprising that Cristina’s last rally lacked the kind of support that an outside observer might expect during the last act of a presidential campaign.

Whatever the case, it would be a mistake to think Cristina is the only politician – or Argentina the only country – to use money and enticements to get extras to play the part of genuine political supporters. This happens around the world, including in “developed” countries and older democracies such as the U.S. Consider what happened last week with Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Hillary’s staff got college students to ask prepared questions at a rally. Campaign staffers offered to bus students to the rally and then gave some of them a choice of questions they could ask at the rally. The questions, obviously, had been pre-approved by Hillary’s team, thus improving the odds that Hillary would face no really tough, unexpected questions.

It would be unreasonable to say Hillary lacks popular support and is incapable of attracting sizable crowds of genuine supporters. She is a popular candidate who has a genuine following among millions of Democrats and others who are disenchanted with President Bush and the status-quo in Washington. But it would also be unreasonable to believe that Hillary and other U.S. politicians are above the kind of political pandering and staged campaign events that characterized Cristina’s last political rally. Both women’s campaigns have employed less-than-respectable tactics to make them look good.

Last week, Hillary’s campaign got caught staging a question-and-answer session at Grinnell College in Iowa. Watch the video here to see how the leading Democratic candidate in the world’s most powerful democracy stuck her finger in the eye of democratic dialog. Thought this kind of thing happened only in developing democracies like Argentina? Think again.