Christina Kirchners speech is a inspiration

[SaraSara]

Thanks for the sarcasm, but among Argentines the villa is known as El Bajo de Flores. And you won't get killed by the poor people living there, but by the Peruvian drug gangs who took over the villa. So, go ahead and enjoy those "awesome empanadas", but stay clear of the villa. That is, unless you are a Peruvian drug lord yourself.

I happen to know a lot about that particular villa because my cousin was a social worker there for over twenty years - she used to get in an out freely at first, then it got dangerous and she was escorted in and out by a group of her clients, all single mothers. About six years ago the Peruvian drug gangs moved in, took control of the villa, and declared it off limits to all social workers. The mothers were too afraid to disobey them, and now there's no one to help their children with homework and after school activities.

People fear "the poor" in those villas, but the truth is they are the worst victims of the criminals hiding there. My housekeeper grew up in La Cava, a famous San Isidro villa. She was able to get away after years of scrimping and saving, but her mother and sister still live there. They are lucky to live in a relatively "safe" area, half a block from Rolon, but they don't dare venture deeper into La Cava. That's where the criminals live, and the whole villa knows and fears them.

Criminals are not more than 20% of the villa population, but give everyone else a terribly bad name. Factories won't even consider workers with villa addresses, and no one will employ villeros in their homes. Many thought I was crazy to hire a former "villera", but during the past eleven years she's proven to be hard working, smart, loyal, and honest, albeit practically illiterate. With proper schooling, she could have been a schoolteacher or a shop manager. But she grew up in the villa, so she didn't have a chance.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

 

[dennisr]

If you are hurting for entertainment. Some things never change.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/778193e4-44d8-11de-82d6-00144feabdc0.html

 

[pauper]

Among Argentines the whole villa is known as El Bajo de Flores.

No, it's not, it's a zone of Flores and it's called Bajo Flores. The villa is known as 1-11-14, but the zone of Bajo Flores also includes standard residential blocks, government built housing and sporting facilities like the San Lorenzo stadium. There are social organisations working within the villa helping the children and they aso welcome volunteers though these are mainly foreigners.

 

[SaraSara]

The papers call the villa 1-11-14, but local people call it la villa del Bajo de Flores. or simply "el bajo de Flores". Everyone knows what they mean.

Do you personally know anyone who volunteers or works in the villa, or lives nearby? Or are you just getting your information from the papers?

I don't know how long you have been in BA, or where you come from, but my family is from Flores, and i've been familiar with the area since I was born.

 

[pauper]

I agree that the term Bajo Flores has become synonymous with the villa, but its still not correct. I know locals who live in Bajo Flores and not in the villa who use the term to describe what part of Flores they live in, I know people who have worked there, volunteered there, and have written books about there, and I usually go down there once every few weeks to shop at the market or at Korea town, I have just never heard it referred to as Bajo de Flores, apologies.

 

[ReemsterCARP]

Guys, it doesn't really matter what the exact name of the villa is.

The Kirchners aren't very different in terms of social/economic policy from the opposition. Since Menem's experiment nobody is talking about neoliberalism anymore (except for PRO). It's all about desarollo nacional y popular. A Latin-American version of social democracy spiced up with loads of corporatism and clientelism. So you can disagree about their economic policy: that's one thing that is _not_ going to change whenever an opposition candidate will take over in 2011.

In my opinion, the most important achievements of the Matrimonio K is bringing to court those that have committed human rights abuses during the Dirty War and the promulgation of the Matrimonio Gay. This _never_ wouldve happened with Macri & Friends in office.

The Kirchners have failed in every single other aspect. And thats quite an achievement because the prices of commodities (such as beef and soja) have never been higher than the past 10 years. For a state that is primarily dependent on export taxes the K's have a very sad track record: life in Argentina in 2010 is not better for the average Argentine than in 1995.

 

[SaraSara]

Pauper, I agree that the term is not technically correct, and it probably angers many nearby residents, but that's what I've always heard it called. Anyway, the name is not the issue - the villa is.

When did those people you know volunteer in the villa? My cousin said things changed very quickly, in less than a year. First a few regular Peruvian immigrants settled there, and the drug gangs arrived soon after.

 

[pauper]

Yes, there was previously a fairly small Paraguayan drug 'gang' there but they disappeared fairly quickly when the Peruvians arrived. Many of the Peruvians are ex Sendero Luminoso guerilla and so they have plenty of contacts when it comes to drugs, arms and money laundering. This is the closest thing BA has to the drug gang controlled slums of Brazil, Colombia etc... They are well established, well organised and well protected there. They are also keen to avoid too much police focus and so the retail end of the supply line tends to get pushed out at least to surrounding areas like Barrio Rivadavia (you will probably be turned away entering the villa as a stranger unescorted for this reason). Its these areas where users and people lower in the hierarchy frequent and live that tend to see more shootings etc.

 

[AlexfromLA]

Whats this, a little bit of sincerity and political maturity?

Guys, it doesn't really matter what the exact name of the villa is.

The Kirchners aren't very different in terms of social/economic policy from the opposition. Since Menem's experiment nobody is talking about neoliberalism anymore (except for PRO). It's all about desarollo nacional y popular. A Latin-American version of social democracy spiced up with loads of corporatism and clientelism. So you can disagree about their economic policy: that's one thing that is _not_ going to change whenever an opposition candidate will take over in 2011.

 

[dennisr]

I love Argentina, just cannot afford to buy anything. Talk about counter productive trade policy. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-...ing-probes-after-failure-to-end-oil-spat.html