Looting breaks out in Argentina - note the looting occurred not in a poor slum but one of Argentina'a affluent ski towns ! The looting has spread from not just ski resort Bariloche , but to Rosario , Campana , Santa Fe , Entre Rios and Chaco .....

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-21/looting-breaks-out-argentina

Looting Breaks Out In Argentina

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/21/2012 09:40 -0500

If you were wondering why the Argentinian leadership were unwilling to pay off a few 'annoying' hedge funds with a few billion dollars (and were pissed about losing one yacht), then perhaps this report from the BBCwill enlighten. Argentina authorities have sent hundreds of troops to the southern city of Bariloche after a spate of looting. Critically, Bariloche is not some shanty-town, it is one of the nation's most popular ski resorts and 'relatively' affluent. The following clip sums up the dangerous situation the nation finds itself in, despite the government's assurances that this is a"false picture of social and political collapse."Looks real to us?

Click image for link to clip (not embeddable)

Via BBC:

 

Argentine authorities have sent hundreds of troops to the southern city of Bariloche after a spate of looting.

At least three supermarkets in the popular ski resort were targeted, causing panic among local residents and tourists.

Dozens of people, many with their faces covered, broke into the supermarkets stealing electronics, toys and clothes.

The government blamed small criminal gangs but local authorities pinned the attacks onanarchist organisations.

Governor Alberto Weretilneck called for federal troops to restore order in Rio Negro, in the country's Patagonia region.

"With this type of action, these groups have been trying to paint a false picture of social and political collapse," the provincial authorities said in a statement.

The attacks took place in San Carlos de Bariloche, an Andean resort popular with tourists from other South American countries.

Local police said other shops and depots on the outskirts of the town were also targeted by looters. All shops closed after the thefts.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has been in constant communication with the province's governor, according to her spokesman Juan Manuel Abal Medina.

He said the Bariloche attacks were linked to the sabotage of power lines earlier on Thursday in the neighbouring province of Neuquen.

and........

http://www.argentinaindependent.com/currentaffairs/newsfromargentina/two-deaths-reported-as-looting-spreads-to-several-cities/

Two Deaths Reported as Looting Spreads to Several Cities

by Lucas Radicella, 21 December 2012.

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A man and a 36-year-old woman have reportedly been killed in a confrontation between rioters and police in Rosario following the looting of supermarkets and shops.

Looting has so far been reported in Rosario, Bariloche, Campana, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Chaco. Yesterday’s looting of two supermarkets in Bariloche are believed to be the spark that triggered the uprisings in the other Argentine cities.

Yesterday morning in Bariloche, a group of organised looters with their faces covered by ski masks and scarves attacked the Chango Más supermarket, stealing mainly clothes and electronics. After an initial retreat due to the arrival of police forces more looters returned to the scene and trashed the supermarket as well as a number of vehicles parked in its vicinity. By this time the local police were overwhelmed and responded with teargas and rubber bullets.

The security secretary, Sergio Berni, was then sent from Buenos Aires yesterday with 400 gendarmes in an attempt to pacify the area and prevent the lootings to spread to other locations across the country. An objective they have fallen short of, as in the last 24 hours a number of violent rioting and looting have been reported.

The on-going conflict has already taken a political turn as questions have been raised about the origin of the rioting. Oscar Borchichi, private secretary of Bariloche Mayor Omar Goye told Radio Mitre: “I want to make it very clear that this has nothing to do with the social situation. There are no doubts that this was orchestrated, it was kindled by some political force.”

So far the lootings have spared the capital although attacks were reported near Campana in Buenos Aires province, roughly 80 kilometres from the city. There, dozens of people attacked a supermarket last night, on national Route No9 according to InfoCampana. Claudio Rodriguez, the secretary of the Campana cabinet, announced today that “there are over 100 [people] detained” in relation to the looting.

and......

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/119979/govt-moyano-crossfire-over-lootings

Gov't, Moyano crossfire over lootings

National Cabinet Chief Abal Medina.

Dissident CGT leader Hugo Moyano assured today that the Government staged the lootings to appear as victims as he held a press conference to dissmiss accusations that he was the mastermind of the violent episodes registered in Bariloche, Rosario and Northern Greater Buenos Aires Areas of Campana and San Fernando.

"What surprises us the most is how Government officials attack and discredit those who represent workers. We teamsters are victims, not masterminds. We have no doubts whatsoever that the Government is venid these incidents to victimize themselves,” he added.

"The Goverment created the conditions for the lootings, not workers."

Earlier today, Cabinet Chief Juan Manuel Abal Medina said  supermarket lootings in several cities across the country were linked to anti-government union leaders Hugo Moyano, Pablo Micheli and Luis Barrionuevo.

"In Campana, there is someone linked to the Teamsters union," he stressed during a ceremony at the Government House. "Violent people do not rest and seek to keep on putting a spoke in the wheel," he added

Security Secretary sergio Berni also referred to the violent lootings registered in several supermarkets saying they were carried out by "vandals, criminals, and were organized."