*Thieves Reveal Other Argentine Crimes? *Here's the story that raised my
suspicions
<http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20110114-314364/Thieves-steal-Argentine-presidents-travel-cash>.
Thieves on motorcycle held up an aide to President Cristina Kirchner
and fled with a bag-load of cash he was carrying for an upcoming
foreign trip, police told AFP on Thursday.
One of the assailants put a gun to the aide's head, then fled with
the bag that contained 68,000 dollars and 17,000 euros in cash,
local news media reported.
If that doesn't raise your suspicions, consider this: When President
Obama travels abroad, how much cash does he carry? Perhaps a little to
buy souvenirs in a market, but no more than that.
Nor would you expect anyone on his staff to carry large amounts of money
since they can pay for expenses with electronic fund transfers.
Argentina has had its little problems in recent years
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_debt_restructuring>, but there
is no reason to think that they can't use electronic fund transfers, too.
So, why did President Kirchner want to bring that much cash with her on
this trip?
I don't have the answer to that question, but I am comfortable saying
that the reason is far more likely to be illegitimate than legitimate.
She might, for instance, have wanted the cash for bribes to officials
in the Middle East. (You may not want to tell young children this, but
bribes are common in Middle East dealings.) And you can probably think
of half a dozen similar possibilities, without much effort.
(Kirchner survived an earlier cash scandal, when a suitcase
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maletinazo> full of money, apparently from
Hugo Chavez, showed up in Argentina.)
- 7:13 AM, 14 January 2011
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