Looming Gov't Crackdown On Unofficial $$ Exchange?

[Zorawar]

Hello, I am a US citizen in the process of retiring to Bs. As. In US at the moment, reading articles in the English-language BA Herald alluding darkly to imminent police sweeps of arbolitos and raids on blue dollar exchange cuevas -- just gov't puffery, or a real threat? Anyone in the City at the moment with on the ground info? Many thanks!

 

[DCexpatstudent]

randomly they will crack down on some places but there will always be a demand for dollars as long as thy are illegal, so shutting down a few is not the biggest deal just have back ups? though I do not know anyone personally where the place they exchange shut down

 

[nlaruccia]

Every time I walk by a cueva or arbolito I always see the police standing outside. Personally I think they're in cahoots..

 

[Sleuth]

Every time I walk by a cueva or arbolito I always see the police standing outside. Personally I think they're in cahoots..

The police don't shut down cuevas, AFIP does. The one I use in Belgrano was not letting people in one day this week, but I'm sure if I went back the next day it would have been. I just called my guy and he came to my apartment to do the exchange like always.

 

[ArielFabian]

With lack of oil to produce elctricity, Argentine corruption, vulture funds having companies in Argentina and controlling the economy, Top Gear, new laws for immigrants (just after Top Gear thing), agreements with China and Russia, etc.; I think with this scenario, the restrictions to buy foreign currency, restrictions for importations and power outages will continue increasing because of politics of this government and governments from other countries. The most affected will be the everyday citizen like me and expats that do not care about these things. The latest news show to where the wind blows. I think buying dollars is a real threat that will continue increasing. There are no dollars in the central bank so regardless of the future government the restrictions will be there and will be a threat to buy dollars.

 

[Pensador]

Having lived in Argentina for number of years and other locations in South America I would suggest taking a look at Uruguay. Argentina is an incredible country and you can visit all you want from Uruguay while enjoying legal dollar access among many other benefits. Residency is straight forward and fairly easy to obtain.

Major Perks

The power almost never goes out.

Medical is better. Something to consider seriously in the later years.

The coast starting at about Punta Del Este going to Brazil is pristine.

Political environment is better. You won’t find the same Anti-USA rhetoric.

Uruguayans are well educated and a significantly higher percentage of the population speaks English compared to Argentina.

Little perks

You won’t spend an hour in line that grocery store with just 3 people in front of you.

You can buy many products you won’t find in Argentina. Such as horse radish, good peanut butter, tartar sauce, decent pickles, guacamole, V8, A1 steak sauce, Arizona Ice Tea, Monterey Jack Cheese, Cheddar Cheese, I will end the list here but it’s a long one. None the less you will be hard pressed to find such a selection of 1[sup]st[/sup] world taste perks in Argentina.

Cons

It is more expensive but then again the infrastructure works. Like they say you get what you pay for.

 

[cbonanni]

Happens all the time.

 

[ghost]

"Cheddar Cheese"

That's it, I'm gone.

 

[lucha54]

With lack of oil to produce elctricity, Argentine corruption, vulture funds having companies in Argentina and controlling the economy, Top Gear, new laws for immigrants (just after Top Gear thing), agreements with China and Russia, etc.; I think with this scenario, the restrictions to buy foreign currency, restrictions for importations and power outages will continue increasing because of politics of this government and governments from other countries. The most affected will be the everyday citizen like me and expats that do not care about these things. The latest news show to where the wind blows. I think buying dollars is a real threat that will continue increasing. There are no dollars in the central bank so regardless of the future government the restrictions will be there and will be a threat to buy dollars.

They just did some loan deal with China. I think that's why the blue has gone down down down this week

 

[nkotb]

More importantly, they're manipulating financial markets (mainly contado con liqui operations) with carrots and sticks to artificially drive down the rate. This can only be temporary because the underlying supply and demand issues aren't going anywhere.