And the Band Played On

Just how bad has crime become in Argentina? Just ask Congress: it’s been robbed. Three armed men walked right by security police and through a metal detector at the Congress building in Buenos Aires — which didn’t go off, since it was broken — and went straight to the lower house’s treasury, where workers were preparing to pay 500 employees with US$1.2 million in cash. They grabbed the money and escaped without having to fire a shot. “It does really seem ridiculous that a place like this, which should be guarded, can be held up,” admitted National security chief Enrique Mathov. “This was no ordinary band of criminals,” said the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, Rafael Pascual. “They had a lot of information about how Congress works.” (Reuters) ...Whereas in the U.S., Congress is an ordinary band of criminals.