10Apr14
Today, all of Argentina went on el paro: strike.
We saw some signs on the train yesterday, but we didn’t fully grasp the scale of what would be happening today. Across the entire country for 24 hours, ports, trains, buses, airplanes and other modes of transportation stopped. Businesses and schools were closed, non-emergency health services shut down, and garbage sat out on the street uncollected.
Based on what we’ve read, the strike is to protest the economy under President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s government — specifically, rising inflation that’s reaching 30 percent.
While we both have an understanding of economics, we are definitely not economists. Here are articles that have helped us try to understand today’s strike and Argentina’s economy, from its history to its black market for dollars and euros.
- Argentina Hit By Nationwide Strike Over Inflation (NPR/Associated Press)
- Argentina: el paro que retó al gobierno de Cristina Fernández (BBC Mundo)
- Argentina’s economy: Creeping toward normality (The Economist)
- History of Argentina: ‘La crisis’ (Lonely Planet)
- The Cash Hustlers of Buenos Aires (Slate)
