By: The Bard of Patagonia, 2025.

I don’t know how au fait some of you are with Argentine politics and economics, but in December 2023 Argentina voted for a radical change in direction, handing a sweeping victory to Javier Milei, a liberal economist and firebrand, whose main election argument was his intention to attack public spending with a chainsaw. Now I am not getting into party politics in any way, this is not the role of these scribblings, but nobody can deny that he has been true to his word, and Argentina’s key macro-economic numbers have changed dramatically.

That of course has its effects, and he has vociferous opponents. Equally undeniable is that Argentina is a country which is dominated by politics. Every decision made is somehow seen in the light of a potential political statement. To ignore the effect of politics in Argentine life is to be simply ingenuous. Equally not to be dismissed are football, inevitably intertwined with politics, conspiracy theories, and if you’re of English descent, Maradona’s goal with his hand which was the ultimate political statement if ever there was one, and worthy of an extended article of its own.

Putting the macro to one side, there is an underbelly in the state system which will be far more complex to manage, because it is endemic to the system, embedded in years of clientelism, inertia and inefficiency. As always, a picture paints a thousand words, so let me tell you a personal story which demonstrates what really goes on.

For the first time in my life, I let my British Passport expire in 2023.  When I finally got around to renewing it I had it sent to my brother’s address. He put it together with some other personal documentation and sent it to me in Buenos Aires. Here was my first mistake. I should have asked him to send it by private courier, but I didn’t, basically because I was being tight. So, he very logically sent it registered and tracked via the Royal Mail.

After a month it had not arrived, and I asked him to check the tracking for me. He duly did and said it appeared to have reached the Correo Argentina (the Argentine Post Office) on November 4^th. Hmm. I know where this is going. On my walk I incorporated a stopover at my local branch, and I was informed of the local tracking number, and that the envelope was in Customs, which would eventually send me a telegram with further instructions. No, not via the app, a paper telegram. Memories of the 1970s…….

And the story goes on through miscommunications, customs payments, tax forms (on private documentation) and hours of wasted time and increasing paranoia and the day arrives that I am informed I need to present myself to the main customs area in the Retiro area, which is downtown Buenos Aires. For some unknown reason the tax declaration had arrived in my son’s name and so I asked him to accompany me.

Of course, the envelope was not there, and we went through further form filling, and I was told to come back the following week. I did and was told they had shut early. Undeterred I went back alone the next morning, and after going from pillar to post I was told to wait in the room, basically a large warehouse with chairs, and my name would be called.