Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
battles gave the city's inhabitants confidence and an understanding of their self-reliance. It
was just a matter of time until they broke with Spain.
SMUGGLING IN BUENOS AIRES
It's not a coincidence that one of the most popular whiskeys served in Buenos Aires is called Old
Smuggler. The city's history of trading in contraband goes all the way back to its founding. Some ar-
gue that the culture of corruption, so pervasive in Argentina, is tolerated because the historical role of
smuggling in Buenos Aires led to a 'tradition' of rule-bending.
The Spanish empire kept tight regulations on its ports and only certain cities were allowed to trade
goods with other countries. Buenos Aires, originally on the periphery of the empire, was hard to mon-
itor and therefore not allowed to buy from or sell to other Europeans. Located at the mouth of the Río
de la Plata, the settlement was an ideal point of entry to the continent for traders. Buenos Aires mer-
chants turned to smuggling everything from textiles and precious metals to weapons and slaves. Por-
tuguese- manufactured goods flooded the city and made their way inland to present-day Bolivia,
Paraguay and even Peru.
Later, the British and high-seas pirates found a ready and willing trading partner in Buenos Aires
(and also introduced a taste for fine whiskeys). An increasing amount of wealth passed through the
city and much of the initial growth of Buenos Aires was fueled by the trade in contraband. As smug-
gling was an open game, without favored imperial merchants, it offered a chance for upward social
mobility and gave birth to a commercially oriented middle class.
