Surprising number of TPM readers with experience in Buenos Aires. Here’s MT:
I’m an American citizen originally from Argentina and I go back to Buenos Aires all the time. I have two things to say about Sanford’s excuse that make me think it’s total BS.
First, I want to point out an even simpler reason why Sanford probably didn’t “drive up the coastline”: driving in Buenos Aires is a nightmare. It’s about 2 steps better than driving in Cairo. People don’t follow traffic signs, they drive recklessly, they cram up tiny streets with multiple cars. When I visit I’m TERRIFIED to drive down there, and I live in Los Angeles, the driving capital of the US! I can only imagine what a driver from South Carolina (who probably doesn’t do most of his own driving) would experience. Sanford is trying to sell us on the idea of him cruising down an empty freeway, Buenos Aires on one side and the majestic (read: brown and gross) Rio de la Plata on the other. I’m imagining him stuck in a traffic jam on Av. Libertador, cramped in a tiny Peugeot and afraid for his life while taxi drivers yell at him to get out of the way.
Second, like Mexico, kidnapping is a huge problem in BA. People who look like they might be rich and important are targeted and held for ransom. A US governor would be CRAZY to run around BA without notifying the embassy or looking into at least a basic security option. With his American clothes and accent he would stick out like a sore thumb. If he did go down there by himself without notifying the embassy he’s a completely reckless idiot.
