A poster in Argentina urges citizens not to hoard money.

Argentina is facing problems keeping enough small coins in circulation, and the shortage causes problems for citizens trying to do everything from riding the bus to laundry.

Benjamin Gedan is a Fulbright research scholar living in Montevideo and studying the Uruguayan media. He writes at his blog, “Small State,” about how the change shortage has impacted daily life in Argentina.

In a land without coins, drama in every transaction

I didn’t cause this crisis, but I sure didn’t help fix it.

Packing up my Montevideo apartment last week, I noticed that I’d accumulated a handful of Argentine monedas (coins). At least four one-peso coins, and that’s not counting the one I held onto for a few months this winter before giving it as a welcome gift to my friend Pedro, an Argentine expat who was visiting relatives in Buenos Aires.

Normally, a few local coins might seem like a harmless souvenir. But among the many shortcomings of the Argentine government, it turns out, is an inability to keep enough coins in circulation, helping to slow an economy already careening toward another financial crisis. The sheer bizarre hilarity of what Slate magazine has called “the world’s most annoying economic crisis” is subjecting the Kirchner administration to a stream of ridicule unusual even for an Argentine leader.

“Each daily transaction from shopping at the supermarket to riding a bus involves careful planning, literally down to the last cent,” Time magazine wrote in November. Small shops give candy instead of change. Big supermarkets round off the difference in their favor.

The cause of the coin crisis is not clear, or, as Slate put it, “no one can say what’s causing this absurd situation.” Some blame a “black market of hoarders” who sell coins in bulk to retailers, according to Time. That sounds plausible to me; among the coin-sellers operating in Buenos Aires are businesses owned by the same bus companies that refuse to accept bills, tokens or electronic fare cards from riders. Others, however, blame the Argentine government for not minting enough coins to meet demand and for failing to crack down on the illegal sale of metal currency.

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The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user remi de nimega under a Creative Commons license.

Benjamin Gedan is a Fulbright research scholar living in Montevideo and studying the Uruguayan media. He writes at his blog, “Small State,” about one Uruguayan mall’s attempt to recreate a “white Christmas.”

Christmas in the southern hemisphere

“Esos son días de mucho comercio” (”These are big shopping days”), my taxi driver in Mendoza, Argentina, told me on the way to the bus station last Tuesday, explaining the large weekday crowds on San Martín, Sarmiento and Las Heras. The same was true this morning at the Villa Biarritz feria in Montevideo, Uruguay, where navigating past the clothing stalls to reach the fruit and vegetable stands was practically an Olympic event.

But aside from all the retail activity, it’s hard to remember that it’s Christmas time here in South America, what with everyone always heading for the beach. It turns out, it’s not just we Northern Hemisphere types that associate Christmas with winter. At the Punta Carretas mall in Montevideo, the Christmas display is dominated by polar bears, and during the twice-daily music show (highlighted by the Spanglish hit “Feliz Navidad”), fake snow drifts down from the ceiling.

Here’s a brief video I recorded showing Uruguayans’ only opportunity to experience a “white Christmas”:

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President Tabaré Vázquez vetoed a bill that would have legalized abortion in Uruguay. Photo: Presidencia de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay

President Tabaré Vázquez used his veto pen to stop a bill that would have legalized abortion in Uruguay, keeping the procedure illegal.

Uruguay has been secular for much of its history, unlike many other Latin American nations. The bill had passed in the Uruguayan House and Senate, but parliament did not gain the three-fifths support necessary to override Vázquez ’s veto. The president, a doctor, cited “the reality of the existence of human life in the gestation period” in his explanation for the veto.

Benjamin Gedan is a Fulbright research scholar living in Montevideo and studying the Uruguayan media. He writes at his blog, “Small State,” about the ongoing Uruguayan abortion debate.

In secular Uruguay, abortion still a criminal act

At first glance, the decision by Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez to veto legislation legalizing abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is surprising. After all, the president’s own party, the Frente Amplio, promoted the legislation in both the House and Senate. The very fact that abortion is illegal in Uruguay, by far the most secular country in Latin America, seems out of place. For example, in Mexico, where the Catholic Church is far more influential, the capital city legalized abortion in April 2007.

But what seems clear is that Uruguayans are far more comfortable skipping out on church on Sunday than accepting abortion. A recent poll by Interconsult found that only 57 percent of Uruguayans support the legalization of abortion, the BBC reported.

In a statement, Vázquez framed his objections in secular terms: “Los derechos son la ética de la democracia, la vida de todos es el bien primero por el que deben velar los gobiernos democráticos” (”Legal rights are the ethics of democracy, and human life is the primary object that democratic governments should value”). But as my Fulbright colleague and guest-blogger Todd Martinez has observed, Uruguayans, though hardly churchgoers, are not exactly atheists either. Read Todd’s take on the abortion debate here.

I’ve heard that Vázquez may ultimately come out in favor of a referendum on the abortion issue, or simply leave the issue to the next president. If the Frente Amplio wins the presidency for the second time and keeps control of Congress, Uruguay may very well end up with an abortion law that matches its global image. For now, however, women who have an abortion and the doctors who help them still face prison, and abortion is only allowed in cases of rape or if the life of the mother is in danger.

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The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.