reflectification

Yeah, before the economic crash the Argentine Peso mirrored the value of the US dollar, but not anymore. The rough exchange now is something close to three pesos to the dollar.

Thought I would try to offer a better tranlation of what Cope had to say since he made some interesting points. " Argentina isn't a developed or underdeveloped country. It's a country on the "rails of development." It's been offered countless opportunities throughout it's history to convert itself into a powerful nation, but never took advantage of those... The current politicians aren't any more than a reflection of those during the Nineteenth Century (the same goes for the society). Geo-economically speaking, it's not very efficient either... It has a third of it's population in just one city witch is overflowing with deficiencies on all sides. Let's not talk about poverty because we'll never stop. Like all countries, it has it's good side and it's bad side. The Argentine society has a very strong culture, which is especially notable in the interior. In the Federal Capitol it's not as noticeable because globalization has eaten away at it, although some still remains. If I had to name the most important problems of my country they are: The politicians and the organization of the nation, which are deplorable... A good administration and better distribution can only be achieved by the politicians (which they are there for), but I don't believe it's going to happen, simply because I have history to guide me and I don't see how it would be able to change. Still, I don't lose hope... " Hope this helps.

A few quick points. First of all, the terms first, second and third world are now defunct as they refer to affiliations during the cold war. The first world was the United Sates and its affiliated countries, the second world the Soviet Union and its affiliated countries, and the third world was all the other nonaligned countries. These usually were poorer so the term third world was often used as a synonym for developing countries, which is really the proper term to be using here. Also, I live in Santiago, Chile and have recently spent a month in Buenos Aires. There's certainly poverty in both countries, especially Argentina, but neither are nearly so underdeveloped as as most North Americans seem to think. The reasons that these countries have so much poverty are diverse and I won't get into them here. It's important to keep in mind that while it's not quite as bad there's a lot of poverty too in the United States, where I'm originally from. Especially in regards to Chile, my opinion is that it's definitely a developed country but with a really bad distribution of wealth, though this seems to be improving. The case is similar in Argentina although more complicated, for reasons I won't get into here. Really enjoyed that photo essay posted previously. I took a lot of photos when I was in Buenos Aires and anyone who is curious is welcome to view the slideshow on my flickr site here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/reflectification/sets/72157594481554883/show/ Hope this clears some things up.