"These two horrible guys got into my car, one with a gun, and he put the gun against my back, and the other one told this guy: Why don't we let [her] get out?" An argument ensued and in the confusion, Ibarra jumped from the car and ran. "They took my car with everything."
A year later she was robbed of her purse at gunpoint on the same corner. Four months later, she was leaving an audition when she discovered someone had broken into her car and stolen her radio.
_____Outlook_____
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Argentina, Shortchanged: Former World Bank economist Joseph Stiglitz explains why the once-prosperous country is in economic meltdown: because it followed the advice of the International Monetary Fund.
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_____News from Argentina_____
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Uruguay to Inaugurate Leftist President (Associated Press, Mar 1, 2005)
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Argentina Completes Debt Restructuring (Associated Press, Feb 25, 2005)
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Nadal Ousts Third Seed Canas in Acapulco (Reuters, Feb 25, 2005)
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Calleri, Puerta Gain Mexican Open Semis (Associated Press, Feb 25, 2005)
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Stomach Injury Sidelines Gaudio (Associated Press, Feb 24, 2005)
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More News from Argentina
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"Our country is worse every day," said Ibarra, who like many people here says she no longer hails taxis in the street because she is afraid that the driver will be a kidnapper waiting to pounce. "The people don't have enough money and people don't think before they act. They are more desperate," she said.
"In the last two years things have changed a lot. I used to think that nothing can happen to me, but now I know that this is not true. I used to walk a lot, but now I don't anymore. Because nowadays anything can happen," Ibarra said.
Argentina was among the world's 10 richest countries at the turn of the last century. A succession of military dictatorships and corrupt civilian governments ate away at the country's productivity and development, but Argentina remained Latin America's richest country. Its standard of living rivaled that of many European nations, and it was seemingly insulated from the poverty and yawning chasm between rich and poor that characterize countries such as Brazil and Mexico.
Argentina undertook a free-market restructuring in the early and mid-1990s, but was then swept by the global financial crisis that began in East Asia in 1997. It sank into recession and has not fully recovered. Profligate public spending, financed with debt, led Argentina to default on loan repayments to international lenders and forced it to devalue its currency in 2001. Nearly one-quarter of the workforce is now unemployed.
"We've never seen the numbers of very poor people on the streets like we're seeing now," said Miguel Gil, a police officer here for 30 years and now the director of Magnum Security. "The criminals today are fearless."
Argentines have adapted accordingly.
"I am always taking precautions," said Di Dio, the retired secretary, who now works part time in sales. "I am afraid in stores, buses and subways. Also when I leave the bank. Now it is very common in a bank to see a woman put her hands in her bra and take money out. Before, this would have been really embarrassing, but it is necessary now. Ten or 15 years ago, we were never afraid to be in the streets."
The change is profound for a population known for its love of culture, theater and dance, dining out with friends and late nights on the town.
"We are becoming more isolated," said Fernando Fabregues, a psychiatrist here.
"People really feel insecure outside their homes and so they are going out less and less, and Argentines are by nature very outgoing, affectionate people. We have all of these lovely houses now covered up with iron bars on their windows," Fabregues said. "We never had that before in Argentina. We were very open. These are really very sad times we're living in."
Special correspondent Brian Byrnes contributed to this report.
