"It's an act of justice."

I was always half waiting for it to happen, and now it has. But wow is the timing weird. Today, Argentina announced that, like Brazil and Chile, it will start charging "reciprocal" fees to tourists from countries who charge Argentines fees for entry visas. In other words, because the U.S. charges $131 for an Argentine to apply for a visa, every time an American comes to visit Argentina as a tourist, he or she will have to pay $131 at the airport to get, metaphorically, in the door. Australians and Canadians will be hit, as will visitors from countries from Vietnam to Bulgaria. What this means for the export community, I'm guessing, is that life we suddenly get a bit more expensive for people living here on tourist visas. I assume that every 90 days, upon leaving and returning, one will have to fork over another $131.

Sure glad I just got my DNI made permanent.

Today, the ever-quotable interior minister, Florencio Randazzo, referred to this as an "act of justice". Now, I don't care whether that's a true phrase or an overpoetic way of describing "money-making revenge", but the timing seems odd: amidst a global economic slowdown in, oh, everything, don't you think you'd want to do everything you could to not drive even one tourist away?

UPDATE: It seems that the fee will cover a 10-year "visa", and not be charged for each entry. Phew.