Dear friends, Argentina is a chaos but fortunately we are all ok, and the police gases don´t taste so bad after all. Much worse is the taste of having been robbed by the banks and the government. You may beleive it or not, actually all payments in cash are prohibited, and the checks you may receive, once in your bank, disappear in a black hole. You may withdraw up to $ 250 per week, but cheks don´t get credited and your balance is zero for very long weeks.

My account at Fibertel was cancelled for lack of payment, but I really will not pay anything until after all elementary expenses at home and health-related are covered ! The chain of payments is totally broken, nobody produces, sells or buys. Yesterday it was finally announced that the peso is devaluated to 1.40 per dollar (it was 1 to 1) but this is only the beginning, because nobody knows what is the real value of our currency.

I am writing from my partners' office, and will not have a private e-mail for some days more. You may reach me at home at (your code for abroad)(5411) 4639 - 9429 at night, or at rmaestre@multigranos.com.ar

It´s useless to say how complicated is to live here these days. I don´t even have a place to sing because musical organizations are broken and suspended their work. Fortunately this country is so large and so rich, that nobody in the world will ever put it to its knees. For those who know my son Mariano, he is OK too, and more concerned for the rest of the family than for himself.

I keep you all in my heart, and I'm really grateful for all your concern. Hopefully I´ll be back soon !

Un abrazo a todos, as always - Andrés