Roundup: Life in the Zona Norte; Tax-Dodgers Busted...in Argentina?!

Tax evasion central: The Santa Bárbara "Country"

Perhaps echoing piquetero rock star Luis D'Elía's visceral hatred of the rich palefaces in the northern suburbs--or, actually, probably just doing there jobs--the head tax collector of Buenos Aires province, Santiago Montoya, and the mayor of Tigre, Sergio Massa, have used satellite imagery to bust tax-evaders in the zona norte gated "country" communities of Santa Calalina and Santa Bárbara. Their catch? 690 undeclared buildings, accounting for 188,000 sq. mt. of space, with an estimated debt of 6.3 million pesos.

Ruta 9 Pile-up

Further north on Ruta 9, near San Pedro, a multi-car-and-truck pileup--caused by low visibility from fog and smoke from burning grassland--claimed four lives and left 30 injured. It wasn't all bad for the folks north of here though: Argentina will open the bidding for a $650 million project to modernize the zona norte's dilapidated ex-San Martín train line this week. Not everybody's pleased, however. The Spanish daily El País published a tough front-page editorial today denouncing Cristina's dwindling image and her attempts to crack down on criticism of her government in the media.