It’s Friday again!

And if you live in Buenos Aires, chances are you’re pissed off right now.

It’s been the worst week ever in this city. Dreadful weather. Nightmarish traffic. A seven-day, record-breaking subway strike, and on top of that Nick Carter is in town.

Oh, don’t worry, I had to google him too.

This is an insult to your porteño-centric view of the world. Buenos Aires ain’t the expat sanctuary it once used to be, is it? I mean Nick Carter, really?

What is this, a cruise for singles headed to Saint Kitts and Nevis, or any of those other Caribbean islands with the pretentious names?

And those kids from One Direction should take a hint and exploit their current fame as much as they can. Because one moment you’re selling thousands of seats for the Madison Square Garden and BAM! Ten years later your selling less than ten tickets for the Gran Rex Theater in Buenos Aires and people find out you’re in town thanks to this shitty column.

You’re welcome.

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This is what you need to know:

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  Buenos Aires this week, as seen through your window. (Photo/Wikipedia)

  Oh, boy. We’re never going to hear the end of this. In a controversial speech this week, the Queen of Diversity and also President of this country, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner finally put us all smug Europeans in a corner and called us for what we really are: a bunch of racist idiots. Oh, yes, she did. But let me give you some context information, because otherwise it sounds horrible:

• While opening a new school for the Qom indigenous community in the Chaco province so they’re distracted with something and finally stop bothering her, she started talking to Chaco governor Jorge Capitanich about how even though he looks indigenous his ancestors are actually from “xenophobic” Europe. As some in the audience squirmed in their seats, she doubled down by saying “What!? Europeans are all xenophobic!”. Half a second later she realized of her egregious fuck up and rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’m never going to hear the end of this tomorrow!” The bunch of seals applauding in the audience kind of agreed.

• After buying some time, she non-apologized by saying she had never said what she said two minutes earlier and clarified that she also comes from European ancestors, although “we must admit that there’s an important part of Europe that has a xenophobic component.” To prove her point, she mentioned the Inquisition. It’s like being in a history class! Only the teacher is drunk.

• My favorite part is when they start discussing Hugo Chávez’s ethnicity. “He’s kind of a half-breed, isn’t he? He’s half-indigenous and something else?”. Fortunately, Domestic Trade Secretary Guillermo Moreno was sitting in the audience and contributed by saying “Africa! Because he’s got curly hair!” Ha! Someone should give these people a reality show.

• But not all is lost with Cristina, because this week she finally had it with the press making up stories about her, and as she attended the opening ceremony of some new YPF technobabble technique used to increase hydrodesulfurization of gas in the country or some incomprehensible thing like that, she went on live television to denounce the many, many lies of your favorite newspapers Clarin and La Nación regarding YPF and said she wanted Congress to come up with a public ethics law, that forces journalists to say which companies are backing them financially so at least you know whose interests they are representing when they criticize her untarnished administration.

• This, of course, means I’m fucked. Because according to some of you, my loyal – yet dissident – readers, these are some of the people/organizations that include me on their payroll in order to “talk shit about this country in a column that no one reads”: the UCR, Mauricio Macri, the CIA, ExxonMobil, Hugo Chávez, the US Embassy in Buenos Aires, the Victory Front, Julian Assange, David Cameron, the Malvinas/Falklands islanders and also my mother, because I remember one reader wrote to say he wondered “how much money my parents were paying The Argentina Independent to let me write so much crap.” So yeah, I guess that includes my mom too. As you can see, I consider all your letters to be special and I keep them close to my heart.

• Moving on to what is probably the story of the week: a surfing cat!

• No, I’m kidding. This week, the city of Buenos Aires has become the epicenter of panic and despair as subway workers continue with an eight-day strike that has forced millions of people to walk, take cabs, ride bikes or – God forbid – take buses. Have you even tried to ride a bus during rush hour? Try it! It’s fun. You get yelled at by the bus driver, you get yelled at by old ladies, you get yelled at by people who are outside the bus and hate you because you’re inside the bus and you get poked and prodded by a lot of male genitalia (FYI: it doesn’t matter if you’re a guy).

• Meanwhile, in the dark caverns of the underworld (meaning, below the city, in the subway stations): THIS.

• Yeah, that’s right. Those are the subway workers on strike, screening a movie inside one of the cars. I can imagine them all giggling in their pajamas, throwing popcorn at each other and stuff, God bless them.

• Also, there’s this little campaign making the rounds on the social networks, calling on all citizens to respond to this week’s strike by refusing to pay to ride the subway next Monday. First of all, you’re delusional for thinking by Monday the subway will be working again. What kind of utopia do you think we’re living in? Mexico City? And second, let me know how that stunt goes for you when the cops start beating your head with a baton. Good luck!

• Because the city wasn’t enough of a mess this week, as thousands were forced to take the Mitre train line to go to work, the train obviously derailed. 31 people were injured in the crash. You knew it was going to happen.

• The train station in Retiro, one of the busiest ones during rush hour, was forced to shut down the Mitre line due to the crash. By Tuesday night, Buenos Aires was about to collectively kill itself.

• Another derailment took place on that same line one day later.

• Twice.

• And a day after that: this. How’s that for a late reaction, huh?

• Fun fact: Stay away from the Santojanni Hospital, that place is cursed. Seriously, if you go there because you have a headache chances are you’ll end up in a body bag after receiving multiple stab wounds. In the last year a man was stabbed and killed in the emergency room, two gangs of hooligans clashed in the hallways and now an angry mob completely trashed the place in response to an alleged malpractice case. Doctors in the city’s public hospitals went on a 24-hour strike to protest the lack of security staff in the premises, which of course amounted to absolutely nothing.

As the subte strike continues, passengers continue to experience long waits for buses that hardly seem to come, while commuters sit in traffic jams that extend for kilometres.

The strike has been on-going since 9 pm Friday, when subte workers stopped offering service on all six subte lines and the Premetro. An estimated 1 million people are said to have been affected.

Subte workers are demanding salary increases and better working conditions and since the conflict has still not been resolved, workers have threatened to continue the strike for another 24 hours.

Meanwhile, federal government officials have continued to criticise the city for the disruption and for its failure to come to an agreement with the Association of Subte Workers and Premetro (AGTSyP).

Starting at 2 pm today, there will be a meeting between representatives from the city, the national government, the subte union and Metrovías in the administrative court of Laura Barreiro.

Speaking to Radio Continental, one delegate from AGTSyP said, “Someone has to raise their hand and say ‘we take responsibility to solve the problem.’ If no one calls us, we continue with the strike tomorrow.”

The Deputy Secretary of the Trade Union of Subte and Premetro Workers (AGTSyP) has confirmed today that all of its members will strike starting this week in the face of stalled salary negotiations.

Néstor Segovia tweeted that the Ministry of Labour was not listening to the Subte and Premetro worker’s demands, “so let’s stop working,” he wrote. He also tweeted, “[Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio] Macri is not responding to our requests, so let’s stop.”

In an interview with Infobae, Segovia confirmed that the workers would quit the lines and resume a strike that was suspended in May. He claims that more force is needed in order to implement salary increases.

Segovia said the strikes would start, “today, tomorrow, or Monday,” according to Infobae.

The Union is asking for a 28% increase in wages as well as safer working conditions. This Wednesday marks the deadline for the “truce” agreed upon in May, which put the trains back in motion after ending a strike over multiple days. At the time the union accepted a payment to workers of between $900 and $1,200 and agreed to return to negotiations over a permanent salary increase.

The agreement, however, had been made on a transitional basis since both the national government and the city of Buenos Aires refused to pay Metrovías’ higher subsidies to compensate for wage increases. Both administrations are still discussing who is responsible for the payment.

Caught between the negotiators, Segovia claims the workers have no other option but to use more force in the form of a strike.

Just minutes after Segovia’s announcement, the minister of labour, Carlos Tomada, said the national government would not interfere in what, “is the problem of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires.”

After months of conflict, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced she would send the signed agreement for the federal-to-municipal Subte handover to Congress for ratification.

The national and Buenos Aires municipal governments signed the agreement last January. Last week, Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri suspended the agreement.

“We will submit to Congress a bill to ratify the document that was signed with the City of Buenos Aires,” said the president, who accused Macri of trying to “judicialize” the unresolved conflict between the two administrations.

The handover of the subway system has been rife with dischord.

There was a transit worker strike 29th February in response to the looming threat of federal police being removed from underground. During the strike, Macri announced the city would not assume management of the Subte.

Although Macri said 2nd March he was willing to continue negotiations, the federal government responded 5th March with a letter from Federal Planning Minister Julio de Vido, calling on Buenos Aires to “take responsibility for all its obligations.”

That night, Macri took the case to the courts, presenting a litigation to delay the transfer of additional funds or responsibilities.

The cost of an underground ticket will rise tomorrow from the current price of $1.10 pesos to $2.50 pesos. This means an increase of 127% from the present cost.

The rise in fares comes one day after the National Government transferred the underground service to the administration of Buenos Aires Mayor, Mauricio Macri.

City Economy Minister Néstor Grindetti announced that the decision to increase prices is to enable the government to continue to guarantee transportation service and to meet the rising operation costs due to inflation.

In an interview with Radio Mitre, Grindetti also said that there could be another rise in ticket prices. “If inflation continues, if soft drinks, gasoline, electricity continue to go up, so will the price of underground fares.”

Passengers who use the Monedero system or SUBE card will continue to pay the $1.10 fare until 12 January 2012.

If the fare machine is not working, the passengers will travel free.

According to Resolution 811 published yesterday in the official bulletin of the National Commission of the Regulation of Transportation, anyone travelling by city bus, train or subway will not be charged if the SUBE machine is not functioning.

The measure was taken after city residents complained about the inconvenience of waiting for buses only to find that they couldn’t get on them because they didn’t have coins.

Argentina Economy Minister Amado Boudou and Planning Minister Julio de Vido announced in a press briefing yesterday that the government intends to impose a 100% lift on subsidies that currently benefit a number of public sectors.

Groups that will be affected include electricity, gas, and water companies, as well as banks, insurance and financial firms, casinos, international airports, mining and petrol businesses, and mobile phone companies within national jurisdiction.

The initiative is intended to reduce public spending. It is estimated that the cut will save 600 million pesos (140 million dollars) a year.

Officials stated that the lift does not mean that there will be a rise in tariffs on services.

A new commission will be set up to decide who will receive future appropriations.

Additionally, it was announced that the government will transfer administration of the subway system to the City of Buenos Aires. The mayor of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri, responded by saying, “Without subsidies, the cost of a subway ticket would be between $3.30 and $3.40”. A meeting between the mayor and de Vido along with members of his cabinet is scheduled for tomorrow to discuss the move.

De Vido said, “Since 2003, the national government has invested 1,700 million pesos, and in 2010 gave out 706 million pesos in subsidies”.

Some economists say, however, that the cuts are insignificant because they affect only about 1% of current public spending on subsidies. Moreover, government subsidies paid directly to consumers will continue.

After the devastating financial crisis in 2001, the government began subsidising utilities to help the economy recover. Since then, the country has enjoyed nearly a decade of strong growth, thereby making the subsidies harder to justify.

Many businesses have opposed the government aid, saying that it has clouded the economic picture and made competition and future development difficult.

Subte workers at Constitución station on Line C this morning allowed free passage for all from 7am as part of union action.

The protest, headed by Néstor Segovia, of the subte workers union, lasted throughout rush hour at the busy junction where the subte meets the overland trains coming in from the suburbs, finishing at 10am.

The union plans further similar action for the rest of the week and didn’t rule out the possibility of taking their protests further and striking. The subte workers are in conflict with the UTA, the only officially recognised railway workers’ union, and want independence and official recognition from the union.

Claudio Dellecarbonara emphasized that today’s protests represented the start of a week of protests to tie in with the arrival of a delegation from the International Workers’ Organization.

Two people died in Mexico City subway yesterday when a man called out by the police started to shoot on the crowd. The aggressor, identified as Luis Felipe Hernandez Castillo, 38, is now under arrest. He was originally blamed for writing a legend on the subway’s walls. The incident resulted in two death, a policeman and a passenger, and eight people injured including the attacker.

It was 5:14pm when the police saw Mr Hernandez Castillo deteriorating the wall of Balderas Station, one of the busiest metro stations in the Mexican capital. The police tried to immobilise the man for nine seconds before he managed to take out his weapon and started using it.

When hearing the shots, many commuters started running and some tried to get on to the train. However, Cervantes Barrera did not fear the situation. He attempted to control the attacker and was just about to disarm him. After eleven seconds of struggle, Hernandez Castillo managed to shoot the courageous man in the head.

The armed man then took the control of the situation for nine minutes. Witnesses relate that he was shouting insults against the government and other religious messages.

A few seconds after, the aggressor entered in one of the carriages of the train and started to aim at people on the platform. Policemen finally managed to immobilise the man when he tried to reach the rucksack he lost while confronting passenger Barrera.

The public security secretary of the Federal District of Mexico, Manuel Mondragón, said he will reinforce the vigilance on public transport in Mexico City