Will and his flat mates were two floors below.

When the superintendent of 1947 Aráoz street and three members of her family were taken hostage on the sixth floor of that building early in the morning, Will Aquino was in the right place at the right time to document the unravelling events online by default —as his apartment two floors down was used as a base by an armed police team while they prepared for the rescue operation.

Micro-blogging site Twitter — where users have just 140 characters to express themselves and “follow” other users (US singer Britney Spears has the most followers, topping in excess of five million yesterday afternoon) — was an ideal way for him to recount by-the-second action to his followers eager to find out how the operation was progressing.

The first “tweet” from @AquinoWill, as the US events organiser is known on the site, was self-explanatory: “HOLY SHIT! There are 3 people that took a family hostage 2 floors above my place! Shots were fired earlier. SHIT IS GOING DOWN.” In fact, there were four hostage-takers aged between 19 and 25 who had entered the building under the illusion that the superintendent was storing a large sum of cash in her home.

@AquinoWill originally posted messages on social networking website Facebook, but moved to the micro-blogging site as it was a more efficient way to record events, calling the former “too hectic.” Short, sharp bursts of commentary documenting every movement took journalism to a different level, however, it probably served equally as a distraction during a unique yet tense situation in which he was inadvertently involved.

Although specific information doesn’t always appear in the Twitter monologue, “the cops [who] set up shop in my apt” were in fact the Federal Police Special Operations’ Group (GEOF), armed with machine-guns and the “latest technology with meter long antennae.”

Despite the gravity of the situation which lasted around six hours, @AquinoWill tried to maintain a sense of humour. When @sorrelmw asked how he and his two flatmates were, @AquinoWill replied: “We are ok, id like to think the now 15 or so guys with semi automatic weapons in my living room got my back haha.”

Privvy to all aspects of the drawn-out operation, AquinoWill was “listening to everything going on upstairs via walkie talkie. Sounds like all of the guys are talking about giving up except one”, but the hostage situation started reaching its conclusion when @AquinoWill posted an “UPDATE. Masks are going on, guns in hand. We were just asked to go to our rooms.”

Just 15 minutes later at 3.57pm, the four armed men, who had previous records for similar situations, gave themselves up and were arrested. Referring to his flatmates, @AquinoWill’s final post stated: “@jpgninja @miguelsalas are safe and the bad guys are in police custody.”

First published in the Buenos Aires Herald on August 16, 2010.

Will Aquino will also be talking to me about his experience on BA live, on Urbana 89.5FM, on Thursday, August 19, 2010.

I was fascinated to find out what his impression of Buenos Aires would be in such a short space of time so I sent him off with BA live’s very own Chance Miller Tourist Guide Guy, as I am on 12-hour days at the moment working at the Herald and a book publisher, sometimes simultaneously, plus I’ve done the tourist trail before. Several times.

They whizzed around La Boca, San Telmo, Plaza de Mayo, Recoleta cemetary, you name it, Dirk saw it. And Chance was extremely thorough, too. So what were Dirk’s burning questions about BA? “Why are there so many tractor shops?” and “why is there so much dog crap on the streets?” I endeavoured to answer both on the spot, not very well, but I did the best I could.

Dirk was a great house guest and seemed to enjoy whatever I had up my sleeve. We ate a kilo of baby beef between us at La Brigada one night, fat bastards that we are, checked out a one-off electro tango show being filmed for DVD courtesy of Tranxgo, went to an appalling house party at which partner-in-crime Hugo blocked the loo then flooded the bathroom and the cops were called (but not because of Loogate), and went to the closing of trash art gallery Appetite in San Telmo, where manager Maria kindly donated some 3D glasses to our intrepid traveller. And it is those very spectacles he is sporting in this photo of The Adventures of Dirk, Hugo and Sorrel.

Sorrel Moseley-Williams
Presenter
(Buenos Aires Herald, Time Out)

BA live airs on Thursdays at 9pm on Urbana 89.5 FM. You can also subscribe to the Podcast or listen to the show online by clicking here. First published on August 16.

While global consumption may be on standby, Argentine spenders decided to put their credit cards where their mouths are over the past few months, thanks to the World Cup and Father’s Day. Demand for flat screen television sets outstripped supply at the start of June, while it is safe to assume that sales of men’s underwear and blank CDs also soared that month.

So it’s of little surprise that Buenos Aires lives to see another catwalk fight with BAF Week‘s Spring/Summer 2011 collections.

Starting on Wednesday August 11, with a high-street emphasis from Desiderata, Juana de Arco and Wanama, yesterday had a more haute couture feel with shows from Marcelo Senra, Kostüme (see photo from S/S 2009) and Hermanos Estebecorena.

But designers aren’t participating without a helping hand. Twelve months ago, design duo Kostüme, who showed yesterday evening, started a dialogue with Brazil’s Santana Textiles, a company that produces 100 million metres of denim a year and has four factories in Brazil and one in Chaco province. The end result? A collection free from financial worry or scrimping on material.

The textile firm invested 100,000 pesos into Emiliano Blanco and Camila Milessi’s Kostüme company to take them a model’s step closer to their ultimate goal: “To have the freedom to design the clothes we want and be able to take them to the public,” according to Milessi, who spoke to the Herald yesterday. “We get to do exactly what we want, which is brilliant.

“The key, not only for us but for Argentine design, has been linking up with a firm that wants original ideas and wants us to produce them,” she added. “These kinds of growth plans are common in Brazil and looking ahead to next year is normal. But in Argentina it’s difficult to talk long term: taxes might change, a bank might shut down, anything could happen. But this security gives us the freedom to be creative.”

From the investor’s point of view, the gesture is about supporting the local industry, according to Belén Baldelomar, marketing and communication coordinator for Santana Textiles. “Supporting some players in the design sector is fundamental for the growth of fashion in Argentine,” she said. The firm, which only set up camp in Argentina two years ago, already has a 25 percent market share, and previously invested in designers such as Elus in Brazil. In Kostüme’s case, the 100,000 pesos for this collection is split between marketing, publicity, material and manpower. The men and women’s wear brand, which also exports to Japan, is the first Argentine designer the textile firm has invested in, and this debut collection, based on styling from the Iggy Pop track Search & Destroy, is step one in Santana backing local designers.

Hermanos Estebecorena, who showed at the original BAF many moons ago and closed last night’s events, also export but to the US and Spain. With an on-off relationship exporting to the US, things are very much on again following some company pruning, while high levels of unemployment in Spain are surely having a knock-on effect with regards to consumers purchasing the brothers’ wares. Alejo Estebecorena spoke to the Herald about how exporting was faring.

“Although we’ve never had our own store in the US, we’ve always had a presence in a few department stores. We had a break for a few years as it was difficult to get paid, believe it or not, but we recently started to export again,” he said. The brothers decided to concentrate on designing rather than being businessmen and downsized in terms of structure, workshops and production. “We’re now a smaller firm which has always produced in Argentina, but we’ve decided to try and have a presence abroad. We’re giving the US the importance deserves again.”

One issue that is also affecting local designers is that of textile imports. “Argentina has been locking down imports so the only option is to produce here,” he added. “It’s been affecting materials coming into the country. Still, we’ve only ever used what is available to us and never worried too much about thread count, so it hasn’t affected us too much.”

And with regards to Spain, similarly to the US the menswear designers sell to department stores in Madrid and Barcelona among other cities. “It’s been very difficult, and recently Spain’s economic problems have been affecting us a lot. We’ve stopped growing there. We were seeing between 20 and 30 percent growth but that has stopped. Now we have to maintain that. It’s all psychological there. If the Spaniards are down, everything bursts,” said Estebecorena.

According to Marcia Günter, spokesperson for La Rural, which hosts BAF Week, last season, which took place in February, received around 40,000 visitors over the three day-stint. At 20 pesos a ticket, that totalled 800,000 pesos, and this season entry costs 25 pesos. With visitor numbers visibly up Thursday from the first day although Günter could not confirm exact figures, who knows how the tills will end up by close of play this evening.

Estebecorena added that he and brother they will benefit from participating in BAF in terms of sales, so Buenos Aires’ fashion clearly still has some kick in it.

First published in the Buenos Aires Herald on August 13, 2010.

Demonstrators ahead of the 13-hour Congressional vote

Gay tourism conference opens today July 21, 2010

Gay tourism to Argentina seen booming July 22, 2010

Behind closed doors, the President expanded on the same-sex marriage law July 23, 2010

A week before Limbo begins, he has time for a cooling beer on a sticky afternoon to explain his baby. Isella says: “Limbo is a compilation of all the artists I’ve been working with, but I was wondering what unites the whole thing? It’s hard to define because it isn’t a jazz or rock festival, the music is experimental and not very mainstream but the way we’re organising is also very independent. I think it’s like being bringing people to a lab, and it’s original because we’re presenting it like it’s a frame.”

A MEETING OF TWO MINDS. The advantage of holding Limbo every Thursday, Friday and Saturday across a whole month means the artists and venues receive much-needed exposure, as Isella explains.

“During the course of a year venues suffer from poor audience numbers, places close down, the artists also suffer in trying to book shows and bring people in, but the interesting thing with Limbo is that we’re giving it a frame and bringing artists together who wouldn’t normally appear on the same bill. The independent music scene in Argentina is huge, with a lot of exciting things going on. For example, there’s a guy called Mono Fontana, an amazing keyboard player and composer who played for Spinetta from the very beginning who’s very well-known on the jazz scene. At the same time there’s a guy called Mariano Otero and he’s got the biggest and brightest big band here, which is playing really exciting modern jazz. You know what, these two guys never met and I was like ‘how come they don’t know each other?’ We’re all on the same scene, we’re all friends together so they’re going to meet and play on stage for the first time. Mariano, who’s an acoustic double bass player, was so excited by all this that he said ‘I’m going to do all the things I can’t throughout the year — I’m going to experiment.’ So he’s decided to play his cello and also sing for a change. He’s never been exposed to a place where he could use his voice, something he does really well and loves to do. So why not?”

Although Limbo focuses on independent music, Isella hopes his musician friends do have the opportunity to become more mainstream at times — but not a higher cost for their audiences. Admission to Ultra, Cafe Vinilo and the Thelonious Club is a maximum of $25 which is reasonable when artists such as techno folk musician Gaby Kerpel, Puente Celeste’s Santiago Vázquez and Guillermo Klein from Los Guachos are coming together. And as Isella says, if you spend $20 on cinema tickets you’ll probably then spend another $15 on a drink. “It’s just 20 bucks!” he laughs. “But seriously, I really want to take everyone to a different level but not so that tickets cost a mainstream price. No one wants to pay such a high price and we don’t want that either, being artists and producers of such events. I’m involved with most of the artists in different ways, perhaps I played keyboards with someone I produced or I digitally released their album. But it’s not about me, because at the end of the day I’m just curating this and I want it to be valuable. What gets us musicians happy is playing live so I’m really excited about all this!”

Although he won’t reveal who he is most looking forward to seeing — “oh it’s too hard, because they’re all my friends!” — Isella does say that the Vázquez-Kerpel combo tomorrow evening will be interesting “as they search to discover the new Argentine folk. It’s folk with a different vision — they are friends who have never collaborated so, wow man, I am excited about that!”

YOU CAN FEEL IT COMING. If you feel a rumbling beneath your feet, that may be because electro-folk band Tremor, led by Leonardo Martinelli, is starting the ceremony this evening. Main man Martinelli explains their roots and what they’re about. “I started the Tremor project around 10 years ago but the first album only came out in 2004. I then met Camilo (Carabajal, who plays bombo legüero) and Gerardo (Farez, who plays keyboards and melodica) two years later and we’ve been playing ever since.”

Camilo adds: “Apart from us three playing live on stage, we have a VJ as well as sound and lighting technicians. Other people are hard at work as well as us!”

What is an unusual coincidence with regards to this trio is that they are all drummers, so when they originally met, “we had a connection, not only with regards to being percussionists but we also all the play bombo legüero,” says Camilo. “We’re all passionate about rhythms but what is funny is that we all have other musical collaborations going on in which we play drums, but none of us does in Tremor!” says Leo.

Knocking back coffees on a miserable cloudy Monday behind the National Library in Recoleta, the trio laugh and joke their way through the interview. Their connection is obvious so it seems likely this dynamic will transmit to their live show. Although Leo and Camilo do most of the talking, Gerardo is in sync with them, given the guffaws he produces.

Leo explains “Tremor is a super independent project which I started out doing on my own — I used to do everything, such as write and send out press releases — but over the years other people have joined the team, for example, we work with the VJ Matapixels. I call what we do electronic music really but with folk elements to it, such as the instruments we play, but we don’t write folklore songs.” This last phrase Leo and Camilo say in unison. “This musical search is about taking parts of folk out of context. It’s transitory and we like to try and take these old familiar elements and see what else we can do with them. We can give them a whole new meaning.”

Although raised in Buenos Aires, the trio has roots originating from different parts of Argentina, which explains what has led them to these sounds. “My family is from Santiago del Estero, the home of chacarera, and although I’ve was brought up here and also lived in Germany, it ‘s really great to participate in the folklore tradition,” says Camilo.

Tremor, and the sounds the band creates, has certainly taken a transitory path. “The project changes as time goes by,” says Leo, “and the other guys’ influences is important too. The first album was more folklore andino influenced by the north of the country. When Camilo joined, Tremor took on a more chacarera, malambo feeling. I always had that idea but with his collaboration we could go more deeply into it.” On hearing his name, the bombo legüero player adds: “And we’re experimenting more and more.”

And that’s what Limbo is about: new alternatives offered up by passionate musicians taken out of their regular context, and tonight it’s electro-folk band Tremor who welcomes you into Fer Isella’s musical lab.

First published in the Buenos Aires Herald, August 2009

You might also like to read a review of Zuker´s band Poncho

Diamond DA42 which used biofuel at the 2010 ILA Berlin Air Show

Recent developments mean that biodiesel, wind, water and ethanol, the latter which in some cases comes from pig manure, will increasingly be fuelling homes and vehicles.

Although biofuels currently supply just one percent of all energy to the domestic market, according to St. James, legislation will require them to provide eight percent by 2016. In addition, the government recently upped the blend of biodiesel with regular diesel from five percent to seven, an important move in a world increasingly reluctant to be fossil fuel-dependent.

The fifth-largest biofuel provider in the world after Germany, the US, France and Brazil, Argentina has two main sources: biodiesel and bioethanol. Sugarcane, grown in the north of Argentina, is the feedstock for the nine companies which produce ethanol in Argentina, while soy oil is the basis for the country’s 19 biodiesel-producing firms, excluding one which converts used cooking oil into the finished product.

Indeed, one enterprising pig farm in Buenos Aires province lucratively converts pig manure into biogas in order to self-power.

Overfeeding. “At the moment, Argentina has more feedstock than it knows what to do with,” St. James told the Herald. “The Chinese aren’t buying our soy oil any more, and so we suddenly have a glut which isn’t finding its overseas market, plus (Planning Minister) De Vido is finding a good application for that extra soy oil. That also means we no longer have to import diesel fuel from Venezuela which is particularly toxic and high in sulphur — so we’re producing our own biodiesel fuel which is cleaner, biodegradable and keeps the money in the country. There’s a lot of upside and very little downside.”

Biodiesel has progressed more than ethanol in terms of quantity produced and margins made, converting 2.6 million tons a year into US$2.1 billion — although 65 percent is exported, mostly to Europe, which has a surplus of biofuel plants but not enough feedstock.

Up to seven. Following a resolution to Law 26,093 in March this year, oil companies now mix diesel fuel with five percent of biodiesel (B5), which obviously led to an increase in demand to the domestic market. But on June 30, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner instructed her Energy Secretary Daniel Cameron to hike that blend up to seven percent (B7) next month, with the intention of eventually reaching 10 percent (B10).

“Biodiesel really is Argentina’s shining star,” added St.James. “The aim is to reach B10 levels by year-end. That really is a big deal and would make Argentina the country with the highest biodiesel mandate in the world by a long shot, if it isn’t already with the B7 resolution.”

And following last week’s green light with regards to the construction of three renewable energy plants to bring the total to 22, which will provide a total of 895 megawatts (MW), 110.4MW will eventually come from biofuels — no mean feat for an industry which only came into existence in May 2006 thanks to the Argentine Biofuels Law 26,093.

However, 500MW will come from wind farms, which is set to become the country’s second-largest renewable energy source, said St. James. “One of the unexpected winners from that deal was thermal energy — good old-fashioned generators that will work on biofuel which have fewer greenhouse emissions instead of diesel fuel.”

Back in 2008, this fledgling market saw US$12 billion of investments in Latin America, according to the AREC, although US$10 billion — went to Brazil’s ethanol plants.

“The other four countries that rank above Argentina all have access to financing, venture capital and legislation,” said St. James. “Here in Argentina we have none of that, but we still rank fifth in the world in terms of production. Just imagine what we could do if we did have access to financing and banks!”

Bean plant. Argentina’s biofuels industry received a further boost last week when local biodiesel producer Renova confirmed it is to invest US$350 million in a new plant located in Timbúes, Santa Fe province, which will process soya beans.

To add icing on the cake, EADS, Airbus’ owner and Europe’s main plane builder, undertook a test flight using a 100 percent microalgae-based biofuel made by Argentina’s Biocombustibles del Chubut.

A first for biofuels, a Diamond DA42 took off from the Berlin ILA air show last month, and was a flight two years in the planning, according to Marcelo Machín, president of the Chubut-based producer.

An important development in an environment increasingly hostile towards fossil fuels, algae can be produced in sufficiently large quantities without competing with food production for fertile land or potable water. St. James said: “A global race is on to find the right strain of microalgae which produce a lot of oil. Biofuels need a vegetable oil to be produced and if you squish seaweed, plenty of algae oil comes out.

“But the challenge is how to grow it quickly. Seaweed needs carbon dioxide and sun so it would grow perfectly next to an old, contaminating cement plant. These little gunky critters double in size in 24 hours, which is why it has caused so much excitement — you have an instant and tremendous feedstock.”

And Dr. Jean Botti, chief technical officer at EADS, added: “This opens up the feasibility of carbon-neutral flights. Third-generation biofuels are more than just a replacement for fossil petroleum — they push the possibilities of future propulsion.”
The Puerto Madryn-based factory is set to receive a sister plant in Sao Paulo which would produce and refine microalgae oil and EADS is hoping to attract 20 million euros worth of investment for it.

While former vice-chancellor Fernando Petrella says Argentina is ripe for investing in terms of biofuels, he is uncertain as to why Sao Paulo is the location for the new plant.

“Given that we are one of the world’s largest suppliers of green energies, this could be an integration point for Argentina to regain its position in the world and the G20. But it’s surprising to me why Biocombustibles del Chubut has chosen Sao Paulo over Argentina. People want to know more about this,” he said to the Herald.

Despite his uncertainty, the former vice-chancellor pointed to the investment opportunities in Argentina. “In spite of the problems this marvellous country has had — and there are three in my opinion, World War II, the Malvinas conflict and the 2001 crash — it is still able to do biofuel business which was to the tune of US$2.1 billion last year.”

St. James added: “This really is a moving industry. Last year Argentina produced and exported 1.2 million tons of biodiesel at a cost of a little under US$1,000 per ton. That makes it a billion-dollar industry. Argentina is always on the brink of an energy crisis. But now that the government is finally understanding the opportunities the biofuels industry is offering, those days may be over.”

Let there be light, and hot water…
There’s more to Misa Rumi, a village set at the immense height of 3710m on the Andean Puna in Jujuy, than meets the eye.
Home to around 50 families, Misa Rumi has been exclusively powered by solar energy since 1997, and is the only such place in the world. Over the years, the village’s solar technology has developed thanks to local NGO EcoAndina and it now houses an ecological activities centre. Paul Byrne, a freelance videojournalist based in Argentina, visited Misa Rumi six weeks ago with EcoAndina. He talked to the Herald about his experience.
“This is a developed solar village which has been functioning for several years. The villagers have solar ovens, solar tools and hot water heating which is necessary for such an extreme place — it can reach 30 degrees Celsius in the day but fall to minus 15 at night,” he says.
“The project has helped the local community who previously had no electricity and it’s now the only totally sustainable community in the world. EcoAndina trains up a member of the village to be in charge of the equipment, which in Misa Rumi’s case is Julián Martínez.
“It’s remarkable to see the first world meeting with this rural community. The Misa Rumi villagers used to live in a world of minimum conditions, but if you climb a bit higher up the mountain, you can see the solar panels shining off the peaks which is striking. It’s exciting to see modern technology in this tiny community.
“The only complaint the villagers have about it is that they want more technology!”

First published in the Buenos Aires Herald on July 9 2010.

Its second inauguration at the current Cerrito Street location was supposed to coincide with the 400th anniversary in 1892 of America’s discovery – but that wasn’t to be. Architect Francisco Tamburini and his team had a two-year deadline, and the cornerstone was laid on May 25, 1890, but Tamburini died a year later. His partner Victor Meano, the mastermind behind the domed Palacio del Congreso (Congress Palace), was his natural successor, but in 1904 he was murdered. His death, combined with that of Angelo Ferrari, the Italian businessman financing the project, meant that funds ran out almost immediately. And so Belgian Jules Dormal took on the white elephant, and made his mark on the interior with a definitive French style. The entrance steps come from white Carrara marble, the grand hall is made of Rosso Verona marble, the handrails are Portuguese marble, while the vitraux dome is the pièce de résistance. Only the best would do for this lady.

And only the best have performed there. From Pavlova, Nureyev, and Nijinsky, The Three Tenors, Callas, and Te Kanawa, and Strauss, Honegger, and Stravinsky – the names who have walked up those marble steps to gaze up at the splendid dome, unable to utter a word, are a Who’s Who of music and dance.

The world’s finest opera house, along with Milan’s Teatro alla Scala and the Palais Garnier in Paris, the Colón has undergone surgery several times, yet never a full clean-up service. Extensions were added to flesh out workshops and rehearsal studios, but no operation has been as dramatic as this last one. The city government’s original ‘master plan’ in 2006 involved structural restoration, but Mayor Mauricio Macri decided on a facelift across the board to the tune of US$100 million – the most expensive heritage restoration in Argentina’s history – in order to improve both the building’s structure and to bring it up to date technologically. Not just a facelift, but an entire body lift.

Macri – who took charge of the master plan in early 2008 – and his predecessor Jorge Telerman have come under scrutiny, namely with regards to funding, which has been interrupted to say the least. Operations were supposed to be led without much song or dance, but Macri insisted on putting the project’s management out to tender. Any previous irregularities were pushed under the table, but bringing in a manager failed to pave a smooth path; the city mayor then dreamt up a special projects unit to oversee the master plan’s manager. This new body came under the Ministry of Urban Development’s remit, turning the Colón into a political weapon.

With restoration teams being shipped in and out at every town hall change, and the need to address winning bidders’ unrelated outstanding debts before they could start work, the refurbishment has taken far longer than expected. But this is just another blip in the Colón’s history – if her overhaul had gone smoothly, well, it just wouldn’t be the Colón, would it?

The Argentine National Symphony Orchestra brought matters to a close in October 2006, so it has taken the best part of four years of blood, sweat, and debts paid to reopen – although complementary buildings neighbouring the Colón won’t be completed until 2011. But the Colón has shed the scaffolding and bandages protecting her and is back, fresh-faced and wrinkle-free – and it was worth the wait.

The official gala inauguration took place on May 24 to the sounds of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (Act 3) and Puccini’s La Bohème (Act 2), with the latter officially opening the 2010 season. But a sneak preview of Beethoven’s Ninth on May 6 for everyone involved with the restoration had the mops and buckets out, because the tears of a full house were falling thick and fast. When Carlos Vieu stepped out to become the first conductor in four years to lead the Colón’s in-house orchestra, eyes glistening, he raised both hands to the ceiling mural, which was looking as fresh as the day it was unveiled in 1908. Then the real test began. How would she fare acoustically?

Perfectly, is the answer. Granted, the second row is not an ideal seating placement although perfect for witnessing the musicians’ raw emotions on such a momentous occasion in the Colón’s blemished history. When hair hit strings, when soprano Paula Almerares’ first note emerged, a rush of prickly energy soared upward within. A crystal-clear sound, as dazzling as the hundreds of bulbs working hard in the breathtaking chandelier, combined with an immaculate, if hindered, restoration, means the Teatro Colón is back once more.

First published in Oryx, the Qatar Airways inflight magazine, in June 2010

Enough about my financial crisis. Joking aside, state-run Canal 7 is running the show for the moment in order to bring digital TV to the people, and although Argentines have a particular skill for hooking up to other people’s electricity wires (just look up on the average street) and internet, it’s harder to tap into a satellite dish. Plus it costs upwards of $100 pesos a month, steep if you’re a primary school on around $800 pesos a month.

Even if you do sign up for an internet and TV package, these deals often only last three months.

However, despite all the fanfare of getting the million set-top boxes out in time for World Cup – and actually only 400,000 have been posted – really, they are a pre-election bribe.

CFK lost control of the Lower House in 2009′s mid-term elections, and Argentina’s history dictates that whenever that happens to a serving president that they never get to complete their term.

So she needs whatever help she can get. Farmers are still angry over the cap on beef exports, her VP Julio Cobos no longer supports her, she’s recently been involved in an overly public verbal battle with BA city mayor Macri over the Teatro Colón’s reopening, there’s not just been mist but full-blown fog over the proposed food import ban, affecting relations with Brazil, and that’s just been the past few weeks. Frankly, voters can’t wait to head to the ballot box next year.

So reflecting on this matter, if I did qualify for a freebie, I’d take it. Without a shadow of a doubt. But only because my version of foreigner’s DNI means I can’t vote in the presidential election… and then I’d sell my set-top box on Mercardo Libre and splash out on a Maldon-salted Kobe steak…

See the <Herald, Friday, June 11, for more.

The new Aerolíneas branding

The upside is that it helps long-distance coach companies get back into the game. Aerolíneas has been subsidised by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s government since 2008 and coach firms have basically been priced out, reducing competition for Aerolíneas.

When I went to Bariloche in Patagonia in February 2010, a bus ticket cost around $600 (pesos) while a plane ticket cost $800. In order to save 40 hours of my valuable holiday time (I get 19 days a year and we’re talking a return trip), the plane was the obvious option.

Although coach firms receive an indirect gasoil subsidy, it’s nothing in comparison with the airline’s government subsidy. And a staggered 15% rise in the price of coach tickets in June and July is also taking place, closing the gap again. In 2008, a ticket to Pinamar, 360km from Buenos Aires, cost around $60 pesos. Two years on and it is setting me back closer to $100, one way.

Coach firms are anxious to see what happens next. They rode through a rough 2009 winter thanks to the affects of swine flu, have put up with stiff competition for the national airline, and are now waiting to see what happens this winter. “Bookings haven’t been great,” says Mariano from the coach company Vía Bariloche.

Long-distance coach travel is a totally viable option in Argentina if you have sufficient time on your hands. More comfortable than taking a long-haul flight (you can relax in a coche cama bed seat, meals and movies are served up, and there are regular stops for a leg stretch), plus you have the huge benefit of absorbing the countryside from ground level, rather than peeking through the clouds to glimpse a lake or a hill.

I had the choice, and I took a flight. But if I had time on my hands, I’d go by road without a doubt.

See the Herald, June 10, 2010 for the full story.

My festival colleague, Leandro from Veintitrés magazine, told me that the jazz fest had come at the perfect time for him: “It will take my mind off the pending World Cup. By the time I get back, there’ll only be three more days until it begins,” he said.

This is true. It’s Tuesday today, and it all starts on Friday. Four years ago, I ‘d just quit my job in publishing in London, had packed up and shipped seven tea crates to Argentina and was bumming around in Spain for several weeks while the WC was on. And what with all the jazz going on at the bottom of the world these past six days, I’d pretty much forgotten about South Africa. I know England is in it (I dug out my navy-blue, short-sleeved nylon T-shirt some weeks ago) and I know Argentina is in it thanks to the excessive amount of Maradona posters pasted into windows, shops and kiosks (he’s not actually playing in it, you know…).

But the World Cup hadn’t reached my radar, to be honest, even though 10 Argentine hooligans were deported back from Southgate, South Africa today. A few weeks ago, I’d invited football guru Hand of Dan in for a chat on BA live , but apart from that and sending my footie shirt to the launderette, that has been the full extent of my awareness and support, until this evening.

Clambering off a plane at Aeroparque to take the 45 bus in San Telmo, having had the pleasure of sitting next to a wee-stinking gentleman for the best part of 30 minutes, I rumbled my butterfly-imprinted suitcase down the broken streets up to my bottle-green front door and was about to stagger up two flights of stairs when I was welcomed with an a capella version of the TV theme music from a teenager neighbour in the ‘family hotel’ (read as high-class squat) three doors down. How did I know it was thus track? Because the TV is always on at work for breaking news, and if I didn’t at the very least recognise that, then a very poor (not in financial terms) journalist I would be.

And it was that little melody that reminded me of where I was exactly: in one of football’s most passionate countries, where the fans live, breathe, sweat and sleeptalk World Cup, from the granny selling my smokes in the corner kiosco to the kids kicking a battered ball about in the street to the die-hard gentlemen who will neglect their families and duties for the next few weeks. A country where everyone has an opinion. What a place to be to catch World Cup fever. Lucky little me.

On BA live, Hand of Dan reckoned he’s the only man in Argentina who believes Argentina will win (and I’ll upload his opinions from that show any moment now). Well, I reckon, and I have no inside information oddly enough, that I’m the only English woman in Argentina who reckons England will win. Sadly, I am actually too financially poor to have a flutter, but what I have decided to do is watch those Argentine hearts, frozen or otherwise, flutter madly over the next month or, with a handkerchief in hand to mop up my feverish brow.