To get a sense of how the recent chaos here has paralyzed government, consider the state of Argentina’s Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy Secretariat. “It’s like a fully equipped company deserted by management,” says Alfredo Di Salvo, the secretariat’s spokesman. “Nobody makes decisions. Nobody’s in charge…Meanwhile, most programs have been halted. And it’s also alarming because there are no properly functioning environmental safeguards in place, no regulatory activity.” The last two weeks of 2001 saw Argentina plunge into an unprecedented economic and political crisis: five presidents came and went, nearly 30 people died in street riots, and the country declared itself bankrupt and defaulted on its $130 billion foreign debt. New President Eduardo Duhalde, a neo-populist from the Peronist Party, now faces the... [Log in to read more]