I had  to delete the original post last night. Something strange happened with the formatting and it became a long narrow column (as used in some mobile services, I think). Here’s the gist of it:

Cordoba, Argentina - daily

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La Voz del Interior, the local daily, ran a story on its crime and police section. In the city of Mendoza, western Argentina, a man (not identified in the report) told detectives that yesterday (for Wednesday July 23d.) he was stopped in his Renault 11 in the vicinity of the Military Hospital on Bulogne Sur Mer Avenue, in this city by a woman, about 45, who threatened him with a gun  got in his car and forced him to drive to a vacant lot.

The lady (sic) forced him to hand over all his money, then ordered him to drop his trousers or she would shoot. Once his pants were down she got on top of him and, with the gun pressed against his head, ordered him to satisfy her.

However,  he was so frightened that he could not get an erection. The furious woman pulled the trigger. Fortunately the gun misfired.

The man managed to escape and get home, where he told his family what had happened and then went to the Sixth Precinct and registered his report with the police.  The case was classed with ‘rape and attempted rape’ as well as robbery but was so unusual that it was derived to the Special District Attorney for Complex Crimes, Eduardo Martearena.

Denunció que una mujer quiso abusar de él (She tried to rape me, he said)

Q

Venezuela’s Mr Chavez ’s administration floats off political reefs that would tear the bottom out of much tougher and more serious governments (ships of state? ) Cristina Fernandez, Argentina’s President - the wife of her predecessor Nestor Kirchner - has a comfortable draft of agricultural produce between her policies and danger, with ample space to try out even the wackiest policies. Or not?

This report, from “The Economist”:

“Cristina in the Land of Make Believe”

Maybe there’s a tidy connection between Jorge Luis Borges, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel Garcia Marquez all from this part of the world and classed in the “Magical Realism” school of writing, and South American political culture with strong ingredients of Magic “Reality”. Room for at least one MFA thesis there.

They are favoured by their lands’ bounty and to a great extent, coincidence: they happen to have just the commodities (in large quantities, fuel and food) that the World needs most desperately - during their time in office. They can get away with a great deal of blunders and will try to do so for as long as they can.

Q