MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Outraged Argentine government summons US Ambassador

US State Department travel advice to Argentina-bound citizens has caused outrage among Argentine authorities and resulted in the summons of the US Ambassador Earl Wayne to the Foreign Ministry last night so that Argentina could communicate its “displeasure” over the report.

Flash kidnappings, road accidents, muggings and street protests are all reasons to be careful in Argentina, according to Washington. In the report meant for tourists and business people and issued on Monday by the State Department, the US warns travellers to Argentina of the precarious situation in the country, which it describes as a "middle-income country which suffered a severe economic crisis in 2001-2002." In the report Washington points to problems faced by those who regularly take domestic flights, among which it mentions "strikes, overbooking and technical problems at airports which sometimes result in the delay or in the loss of a connecting flight." On the economic front the State Department notes the significant "recovery" after the crisis but adds that at the same time street crime has been up. "Beware of thieves, pickpockets and conmen in the street," tourists are warned, on the street but also in hotel lobbies and at the ports where cruise ships dock. At the Triple Frontier US citizens should be on the lookout for "extremist groups who finance terrorism," a claim Argentina has refuted in the past As for flash kidnappings, the report states that they "keep occurring." "Normally the victim is taken to withdraw money from an ATM, after which they are released unharmed." Travelling in the subway can also be dangerous, the document says, warning passengers to be wary of pickpockets and to take care in case of interruptions or strikes. Buenos Aires Herald