Our devalued peso comes as no surprise. In this so called “won decade”, so much more has been devalued in Argentina. So much! Public education has been devalued. Public Health and Security. Our trust and confidence have been devalued. Our hopes and expectations have been devalued. Our everyday life. Values, such as respect, civilized exchange of ideas, open-mindedness and tolerance to listen to other people’s points of views. The crack this Government has purposely opened in the midst of our society, is a deep wound that will take time to heal and will leave a hideous and unnecesary scar. They have sown antagonism, hatred, prejudice, animosity, bitterness. Their total lack of self-criticism and denial to accept their many mistakes, plus their constant improvisation policies, have lead to this state of affairs. A leopard can’t change its spots. Borrowing one of García Márquez’ well-known titles, this political “fin de siècle” is undoubtedly the Chronicle of a Death Foretold. In the face of all this, I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way to survive in Argentina is by developing a strong sense of humour. There are funny events galore every single day. Like this sudden war against the poor old tomato, Ibsen’s new “Enemy of the People”, it seems. Or the crusade against air-conditioners and freezers, for causing huge blackouts. And then certain politicians putting up a sort of stand-up & improv show, contradicting one another publicly about certain government measures, showing an unbelievable lack of communication or coherence (they remind me of Pimpinela’s bickering songs). I mean, if we’re not able to take all this madness and chaos with a pinch of humour (like that spoonful of sugar that helped the medicine go down), we’d better pack right now and move to Uruguay or Chile, two neighbours who appear to be much more sensible, predictable and normal than us. The risk is, we might get bored pretty soon.