.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Argentina: Now you CANT leave

As I read some of the latest developments in Argentina, I’m being reminded of the all-time classic scene from “A Bronx Tale”:


When Cristina Kirchner was reelected with 54% of the votes, that was as clear as a sign can get. You’re not welcomed any more. Even more important, the country isn’t the problem anymore, the problem is YOU. Most others have agreed on what they want their future to be like, you’re the one that thinks different. You’re the one that doesn’t fit, politically, economically and morally speaking. In a serious country you can tolerate a term or two of a president that you don’t agree with, but when the same authoritarian family has been in power for over a decade and people still vote that way, that’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back. The 54% of the country wants more totalitarianism, more corruption, more taxes, more inflation, less freedom, they want criminals to walk out of jail or not even set foot in one in the first place. They like the poverty, the socialized welfare state. That’s what the majority chose. I knew well that after the reelection things would be getting much worse. There’s no need to play nice anymore. Once they won they can show their true colors and that’s what they did within the first week. After the reelection, it was the “I have to ask you to leave” phase. The cards are on the table, this is how its going to be from now on. Fortunately I saw that balloon go up and left quickly. A few months later the “now you’s can’t leave” phase started, and today it has been made official.

Argentina now officially banned saving in USD currency. Its was already impossible to buy dollars, now its been made official. Remember what I said before, that with the stroke of a pen they can make things legal or illegal, suddenly moving the line of the law under your feet and leave you standing on the criminal side. This is the perfect example. As form now on, they can hunt you like a dog for saving in USD. Soon enough the USD accounts will be converted to dollars, and you wont be able to get dollars to leave. Buying a plane ticket to leave the damn place will be hard to say the least, and how exactly will you save money to start elsewhere if you cant legally save up dollars or buy them? This is the invisible iron curtain being lifted. First you don’t allow people taking their money out of the country. Then when they want to leave themselves, you don’t want that to happen either, because you’re left with unproductive, state sponsored welfare recipients that don’t produce anything and you cant steal from them, but they keep you in office. You need the hard working ox middle class to suck the blood from. When the ox makes a run for it, well, you have to find ways to stop that from happening.

Clarin and La Nacion newspaper show headlines of the official dollar ban, along with the new increase of electricity and heating, which have gone up 350% and up to 576%( yes, not a typo, 576%!) The price of stoves has gone up 50% as well. Keep in mind its winter right now in the southern hemisphere.

You can draw parallelisms from this to different moments in history and in different countries, ethnical, political or religious persecutions. You are first asked to leave, later you’re not allowed to do it. When it comes to bugging out and relocating, timing is everything. A day too late may make all the difference in the world.  I hope you never have to make that call yourself.

In a nutshell: The modern survivalist should understand and look for these signs, identify the time when you are indirectly “asked” to leave. If you don’t identify that moment, its just too late when the “now you cant leave” moment comes.

FerFAL

12 comments:

Maldek said...

If you are smart enough to save in a foreign currency, why would you want to keep said savings in your home country?

That's a contradiction in itself.
Those argentine people who did not learn from 10 years ago will simply have another chance to learn now. No one can say it came by surprise or overnight.

Same will happen in europe when the EUR breaks; who could have guessed they will say...

Anonymous said...

and credit cards will be next:
http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2012/07/02/argentines-latest-weapon-against-currency-controls-shopping-abroad/#axzz1zTlW4ksH

Anonymous said...

Is this where you try to have a few gold coins (or silver, or something of known value) to bribe the border guards and exit the country?

I've already heard rumblings of 'tougher border control', etc, from the EU countries...

Anonymous said...

Do you think the election of Hollande, along with social-left majorities in both houses of parliament, means that the "asked to leave" moment has arrived in France?

Frenchgirl said...

Hello and thank you for your very interesting blog.

I was just asking me a question, is it forbidden to buy only dollars or all foreign currencies.

Cause if you want to spare some cash swiss franc or norway crown are more reliable than dollars imao.

Anonymous said...

Can you point me to or discribe when the please leave moment was in Argentina
Thank you

Vincent Cate said...

4Really looks like you made the right choice in leaving.

Anonymous said...

You mentioned that the election was 'Won' with 54% of the votes...any chance this is just a corrupt election? These people want to continue to rule with an iron fist - and the easiest way to ensure this would be an 'election' in which they always win, no matter how bad they are running the country. Just wondering.

k said...

If the French government pulls a similar stunt now then the EU and the Euro will disappear in a blink of an eye. Another complication to such a stunt is the foreign departments, like French Guyana and New Calidonia. If they get cut off from government handouts, then they may declare independence or something just as damaging to French prestige.

k said...

Not only timing is important, but also location. If you are in such a country, being next to an sparsely guarded border would be adventageous.

k said...

The best I can tell from reading the Wikipedia article on the Argentine economic crisis the please leave time was between 1999 and 1 Dec 2001.

Crustyrusty said...

It will eventually get to the point where leaving won't do any good; everywhere else will be just as bad.