Women from Argentina

"Aristotle makes it clear that the slave can only obey or follow orders, but cannot reason his own syllogism. The master reasons and the slave does. For that reason, it is difficult to imagine the slave after working hours except as an animal: resting, eating, roaming around, copulating. But these are not human acts when performed by the after-hours slave since they are not acts that are the end of practical syllogisms and only these are open to the kind of evaluation that Aristotle offers when he talks of practical wisdom and moral virtue."

"Anger has been excluded from the dominant group's profile of subordinates. When one gets angry, according to Spelman, one regards the person whose conduct one assesses as one's equal. So, we can understand why anger has been excluded from the personality profile of the subordinate. In excluding anger from their personality profile, dominant groups exclude subordinates from the category of moral agents, since to be angry is to make oneself a judge and to express a standard against which one assesses the person's conduct, both of which are marks of a moral agent. In becoming angry, subordinates signal that they take themselves seriously; they believe they have the capacity as well as the right to be judges of those around them."

"I think TV series, games, and general media have changed the way we tell stories. But books will remain. Technology has changed all the others arts: painting, theater, dancing, cinema, music. But literature is an absolutely intimate process between the writer’s voice and the reader’s mind, it is something so natural and strong that the only thing that technology could change is its support, its format, for example, if we read from a book or from an e-reader. But that doesn’t change the heart of literature."

"I learned to write reading North American literature, I love your literature, but I have this feeling that if a country only reads its own literature, it will run out of oxygen."

"In the moment you decide to publish, you hand them off. But it’s interesting how certain stories have remained present—how some were published over and over in different languages, which meant they always seemed close by, and I would change little things here or there."

"Home belongs to the family. It’s not a place you chose, it’s more of an imposed space, arbitrary—a space whose rules you don’t entirely understand."

"It was an unforgettable performance. Argerich celebrated her 75th birthday in June this year, but that news doesn't seem to have reached her fingers. Her playing is still as dazzling, as frighteningly precise, as it has always been; her ability to spin gossamer threads of melody as matchless as ever. This was unmistakably and unashamedly Liszt in the grand manner, a bit old-fashioned and sometimes even a bit vulgar at times, but in this of all concertos, with Barenboim and the orchestra following each twist and turn, every little quickening and moment of expressive reflection, it seemed entirely appropriate"

"he took me in his arms without saying a word, not even holding me too tight but letting all the emotions of our new encounter overflow, telling me so much by merely holding me in his arms and kissing me slowly. I think he never had much faith in words, and there he was, as silent as ever, sending me messages in the form of caresses."

"My only real possession was a dream and they can't deprive me of my dreams just like that."

"Those worlds erroneously called primitive have such rich cosmologies."

"There are so many impediments and temptations to avoid writing. But self-censorship is never one of them."

"I suppose El Mañana is my ars poetica."

"Here’s a very short list of Latin women novelists I think should have been considered part of the Boom…Mexico: Elena Garro, Rosario Castellanos. Costa Rica: Carmen Naranjo. Brazil: Clarice Lispector. Uruguay: Armonía Somers. Chile: María Luisa Bombal. Argentina: Silvina Ocampo, Nora Lange, Elvira Orphée, and (why not?) my mother Luisa Mercedes Levinson who was a very original writer. If we can stretch it a little I would add Sara Gallardo."

"In these times there is no bigger liar than hegemonic journalism! So good fiction does a great job of teaching us how to read between the lines and explore the complexities and contradictions of language which are often manipulated."

"(What changes have you witnessed in Argentina in your lifetime?) Far too many. This is a roller coaster country, with good moments and very upsetting times like the current one, though the civic-military dictatorship was worse. But we have an incredible, almost miraculous capacity for recovery, which I hope will at some point still save us."

"(Do you think hard times fuel creativity?) Let me separate this question in two. No, I don’t think that hard times necessarily fuel creativity. Often it silences you. Freud knew that very well. I had this ongoing discussion with Joseph Brodsky at the New York Institute for the Humanities; he used to affirm that censorship is good for literature but bad for the writer. But at home it could be seriously bad not only for the writer (who finally takes responsibility for his or her words) but also for everyone around us, even innocent people who appeared in our phone books. And, on the other hand, I did write a lot during those terrible times. But I was one of the very few, and it all started before the military takeover."

"(Which other Argentine and Latin American writers do you appreciate? Or writers from farther afield?) Oh, the list is vast, a movable feast if we may say so. Cortázar is the one who is closest to my way of understanding the act of writing. And nearer to my heart. I admire Carlos Fuentes on the opposite extreme of the equation. That is why I wrote a book on both of them, Entrecruzamientos: Cortázar/Fuentes (Crossings: Cortázar/Fuentes). It is astonishing to discover how much they connect in their so different personalities. But if you ask me for a list, it can go from Clarice Lispector to Haruki Murakami, with innumerable names on the way."

"(How does Argentine feminism differ in its objectives and its methods to its American counterpart?) Well, feminism in the States was overpowering during the eighties, while it was quite isolated here. But now the scale has flipped, and it is important to point out that finally, here in Argentina, women’s struggles are intense and out in the open and that force is taking over the streets in a very courageous and powerful way, as you might have well experienced. What is absolutely fantastic here is the power of the women’s movement—the fight is very intense at this point. But we do have a history of courageous and combative women; think of the mothers and the abuelas of Plaza de Mayo. And now the young people are really joining in the demands; it is moving and very heartwarming."

"Writing cannot be taught, no, but stimulated, yes."

"I never felt I had anything to say. Just the curiosity to explore"

"I always am quite disturbed when American reviewers call my fiction surrealist. I consider it realist in excess. Latin American writers think of reality as having a wider span, that's all-we explore the shadow side of it. But the real difference has to do mostly with the origins of language. Spanish grammar is different from English grammar. This means that we have a different approach not only to the world, but to the word. At times it is something very subtle, a more daring immersion into the unknown. "Un día sorprendente," to give a very specific example, doesn't mean exactly the same as "un sorprendente dia." In English, you cannot even turn around a phrase or leave a dangling participle. Joyce needed to explode the English language to allow its occult meaning to emerge; Cortázar just plays around with Spanish words and grammar for the same purpose. Ours is a much more elastic grammar. English is onomatopoeic, beautifully strict, clear cut. Spanish, on the other hand, is more baroque and allows for ambiguity and metaphor. Does it have to do with the speaker's character, or is character, as we may surmise, a construction of language?"

"Borges has this wonderful phrase in a short story: "La falta de imaginación los movió a ser crueles" (the lack of imagination moved them to cruelty). Though cruelty with imagination can be the worst of all-just think of certain torturers in our respective countries. As a tool, imagination should only be used by writers, in their writing."

"(What do you think about the idea of women's language?) VALENZUELA: I openly fight for it. I think there is a different charge in the words-women come from the badlands of language. Women know a lot about ambivalence and ambiguity-which is why, I think, good, subtle political writing by women novelists is dismissed in Argentina. Women are expected to console, not disturb the readers."

"You cannot make a writer-it is an innate way of seeing the world, and a love of language, and a lifetime commitment."

"Fiction requires a vertical gaze-delving deeper into the non-facts, the unconscious, the realm of the imaginary. These are two very different ways of seeing the world. Fiction, for me at least, is the best way to say things. I can be much more clear-minded if I allow my imagination to take the lead-never loosing the reins, of course, but at full gallop. I also believe that, if you are fortunate, you can access the unconscious through fiction; in my case, elaborate ideas emerge in a very organized manner."

"Otherwise the division is clear. You inhabit another realm when you are writing a novel. It's like being in love-being "in novel." At times, the need is unbearable. During those periods, I don't want to write short stories. On the other hand, I might get a spark or an idea for a story; then I need a certain willpower to start pulling the thread, with the exact tension and patience so as to discover what lies behind the glimpse. Cortázar said that when the moment came he had to go to the typewriter and pull the story out of himself as if he were pulling out some kind of creepy creature, una alimaña. It sometimes feels like that."

"I believe fiction is a search shared with the reader."

"(How would you compare contemporary literary life in Argentina to literary life back then?) VALENZUELA: Literary life then was passionate. Literature was really alive; it was something to be taken into account, both in the media and the public sphere. Now we run with the times. Individualism is rampant among the writers, and the media pays much more attention to politicians, starlets and comedians-one and the same-than to intellectuals"

"(Having lived for many years outside of Argentina, what is your conception of home?) VALENZUELA: I lived for over three years in France, one in Normandy and then in Paris. Practically a year in Barcelona. And ten glorious years in New York, from where I moved back and forth to Mexico and, at least once a year, with trepidation, home to Buenos Aires. I don't miss anything anymore, neither people nor places. Many writers say that language is their real home. I am all for that notion. During the last military dictatorship it was said that the writers who had left the country would progressively distance themselves from their roots until one day they would no longer be Argentine writers. It was a way of dismissing those voices, the only ones capable of being critical and objective about the regime. I, for one, don't need my roots deep in the ground; I carry them with me-like the aerial roots of our local clavel del aire. Anyhow, you can never really return home. Buenos Aires has changed so much that is no longer my city. It is a good place to clam-in and write, and the mother tongue is crucial. One thing I discovered in coming back is the importance of your own intonations as background noise. I left New York when I started dreaming in English, talking to myself in English, thinking in English. The Argentine language is a home I don't want to lose."

"(Do you regret anything you've published?) A: There are so many writers who have burned or disclaimed their first books. Borges, for example. What a nuisance. I am very irreverent; I know no shame in that sense. It would mean some kind of censorship, wouldn't it? Of course, there are some books I like better than others-some books still surprise me now, as if someone else had written them. On the other hand, I often regret what I haven't written because I was too lazy or too cowardly. Writing takes real courage and commitment."

"For Luisa Valenzuela, it is erroneous to associate Latin American fiction with the French surrealist movement and with oneiric representations of reality. According to her, Latin American surrealist literature does not exist. "...although this fiction we are here concerned with is described as surrealistic or surrealist as usually happens with non-Latin American readers, it is absolutely realistic literature as you well know, but from another point of view, which could be semantic; for is this thing called reality always scoping explicable limitations or could it be philosophical or metaphysical even pataphysical? In the supplementary reality to the one we were taught to perceive, there is a cosmoginy, a world vision shared with native Americans; nothing must escape your notice but you must also learn to look again with your eyes at the very edge of what is visible. You must learn to look at the world twice." (Note in book: "From an unpublished text by Luisa Valenzuela")"

"When I was recently on a panel with Louisa Valenezuela in Seattle, she said something very wise: "Everything you write has its own time of day and its own appropriate length.""

"I am that woman who lives with eyes open"

"Tiemblo, como las luces Tiemblo sobre las aguas. Tiemblo como en los ojos Suelen temblar las lágrimas. Tiemblo como en las carnes Sabe temblar el alma."

"la luna me ha dicho Las tres viejas palabras: “Muerte, amor y misterio ...”"

"Sí, yo me muevo, vivo, me equivoco; Agua que corre y se entremezcla, siento El vértigo feroz del movimiento: Huelo las selvas, tierra nueva toco. Sí, yo me muevo, voy buscando acaso Soles, auroras, tempestad y olvido. ¿Qué haces allí misérrimo y pulido? Eres la piedra a cuyo lado paso."

"Unas veces mis versos han nacido Del ideal. Otras del corazón y de la angustia En tempestad. Otras de algunas sed como divina Que pide hablar. Pero otras muchas, hombres, los ha escrito Mi vanidad. Soy, como todos, una pobre mezcla De lo divino al fin y lo bestial."

"Alfonsina Storni, considered to be a subversive, a radical for Argentina's bourgeois...we see that Storni's poems both in image and meaning are more traditional than Gabriela Mistral's"

"Just a few years ago, one could easily identify the women in all of Latin America who stood out in literature. Names like Gabriela Mistral, Alfonsina Storni, Juana de Ibarború, Delmira Agustini, Claudia Lars, not to mention the greatest of them all, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz..."

"Alfonsina Storni of Argentina...wrote scathing feminist poems."

"At the turn of the century, a legendary group of women poets emerged, including Delmira Agustini, Alfonsina Storni, and Gabriela Mistral. Their work caused scandal and outrage but ultimately opened the way for other women to explore their experience in a woman's voice."

"Other poets wrote of the special connective qualities of sound...Alfonsina Storni finds in her own body "wells of sounds/... where the spoken word/and unspoken word/echo"..."

"I think no one really chooses their tastes or their modes of expression: One day a language appears, and finding a language is a lot like finding a home. When I discovered horror cinema and literature, I found my language — the one that allowed me to talk about the terrors I have known. My language was formed by Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights”; the stories of Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar and Stephen King; “Frankenstein”; “The Exorcist”; “Jaws” and “E.T.”; and later by “Twin Peaks”; rock and punk music; David Cronenberg; Clive Barker and fanzines."

"I grew up in a shadowy world where death was all around, but it was secret — disappearances have all the direct cruelty of sadism, as well as a particular aura of the sinister unknown."

"to a large extent, this is the fear that I summon and depict, a feeling of simultaneous imminence and abandonment that is difficult to describe to anyone who hasn’t experienced it."

"When I’m asked who I am, I say, “I am a Latin American.” The experience of being born and living in my country shaped me as a person — often a problematic one — and as a writer. I am a Latin American woman, which also implies a number of challenges: growing up without laws that allowed us to make decisions about our bodies (those laws exist now, but I am 50 years old) and fighting in a labor market that, in addition to being sexist, is scant and limited. Not only are jobs given to men because they are men, but because there is a lot of unemployment in general, and the chain breaks at its weakest link."

"I am a writer who works in her country, who never lived anywhere else, who maybe will one day, but whose life has transpired in a large American metropolis with all its intensity, its often joyful — and other times desperate — people, its power outages, its bodies in the streets, its beauty and its horror."

"It’s very difficult to write about Argentina using only realism. In the 50s and 60s there was a strong tradition of fantastical fiction here: Borges, Silvina Ocampo, Julio Cortázar. Then the whole region became politicised with the dictatorship [1976-1983], the consequences of the Cuban revolution and the intervention of America."

"I think what happened to people like me who grew up in the 80s and 90s is that slasher movies, Stephen King and Twin Peaks all got mixed with our reality, which was already full of the language of horror: the disappeared, the children of the dead, children of the lost generation…"

"I understand the [notion of] respect but I don’t want to be complicit in any kind of silence; to be timid about horrifying things is dangerous too. Maybe I turn up the volume to 11 because of the genre I like to work in, but the genre puts a light on the real horror that gets lost in [a phrase like] “political violence”."

"One issue is that we’re used to reading in translation and other countries aren’t. We know more about your history than you know about ours. There’s two ways to deal with that. Get angry at the inequality. Or try to explain what’s going on."

"Early childhood development is the best way to build our future, because today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders. We must guarantee that they are able to fulfil their potential"

"for all children in Argentina to have equal opportunities, regardless of where they are born or the circumstances they live in."

"Jill Biden is an incredible woman, who is always thinking of improving the future of the people in her community great contributions and was able to promote many positive changes from her vocation and commitment to education, her experience as a combatant's mother, her role in helping women prevent cancer and their participation for women's equality ."

"I am very grateful to have the opportunity to come to this country with Mauricio representing Argentina. It is an honor and a great responsibility that I take with great enthusiasm"

"We talked about our roles, our countries with so much history and ties in common, and also about what we live as women and as mothers of two girls. I felt very comfortable and the conversation flowed naturally"

"The ReefLine is a seven-mile underwater eco-sculpture park in Miami that’s free and open to the public. It serves as an artificial reef, which is needed right now for several reasons. One reason is coastal resiliency, but another is that we need something to serve as a marine sanctuary — there is a need for this type of underwater civic infrastructure to protect marine life after the reef heads previously in that area were smothered."

"The beauty of it is that it’s visible from the shore — it’s only 900 feet away — so people can see it too. This idea was born in my living room from a conversation with my cofounder, Colin Ford. He was telling me a story about how the city passed an ordinance in 2020 declaring that this was an area where an artificial reef can be deployed. We got to talking about doing really cool art there, an underwater sculpture park with the best artists of the world that could present an artistic solution for helping to address challenges associated with climate change."

"That’s an amazing question. I am not a scientist, and have always been a patron to the arts. Art is such a universal language – and emotional – while science can be very cerebral. Art makes science broader, and it also tells a more compelling story. It makes it sexier; it makes it fun. All of a sudden, a very complicated problem that feels inaccessible becomes more accessible and understandable without such a strong need for an explanation."

"I started using the power of art as a tool for a change on topics that are very important and urgent. But that wasn’t enough."

"As a curator and as an artist, I want to see how art can actually be the artifact. In the ReefLine’s case, the artwork itself is doing the work — and not just by raising awareness, but by performing what needs to be done. That is something I find very special, and something that is rare. I think that’s what makes the ReefLine so unique — it’s the combination of art, tech and science."

"I think one of the biggest barriers people have in caring for our environment is that it can feel so big – and you don’t know what to do, even though we know there’s so much to be done, and we all have to take action. I find a paradox in an era where we are all so connected through technology, yet we don’t have a common plan for how to save our Mother Earth. I think about that a lot, and hopefully the art helps bring people together towards that goal."

"If we do a good job and tell the story properly, people really bond with it. If you can tap into the public sentiment with a good story, further explanation can add but it isn’t necessary. That is the type of art that I try to create: It’s high art but it’s super pop too, something a grandmother and her grandson can both “get” and enjoy. If it’s too conceptual, people can get lost, so I try to use art that is immersive, participatory, accessible, equalitarian — something that everybody can connect too. Otherwise, we add a layer of complexity to something that is already complex."

"Growing up on a ranch in Argentina, I was lucky — nature was all around us and always such an inspiration. Nature is such a master and teacher. In that way, Florida is so blessed. Nature weaves across the state — nature is very strong here."

"As I continued to grow up and became conscious, I found a purpose in being a connection, a bridge between us and our civic responsibilities and nature, showing how we can all do something about it."

"In the Corridor itself, I go on walks and am in awe of the amount of wildlife that’s there. It really feels wild. On walks, I watch for whatever appears there and feel that energy."

"What the organizations supporting the Florida Wildlife Corridor have been able to achieve is so impressive and important. I really take my hat off to them to see how much they have managed to protect, and how to lead by example — and to show that it’s doable. A 501(c)3 can’t do it alone: We all need to come together to protect the Corridor, and it’s a mix of government, corporate and individuals. This convergence of what they’ve been able to bring together is the scale and pace that we all need."

"I think that the Florida Wildlife Corridor is our sister above ground, with the ReefLine being underwater. The Wildlife Corridor is the green veins that will keep our planet and its environment connected. These are the types of projects that ground us."

"Sometimes things happen You ship the wrong wine, or the label was scuffed. The people I work with in Argentina care so much. I say, ‘Let’s figure out how it happened and not let it happen again. Then we have to move on.’ It’s the perspective you get from being a doctor. Was a small child hurt? No"

"“We make sure everyone is thinking about it all the time.”"

"I am from a fourth-generation Italian family. My great-grandfather, Nicola Catena, came from the Marche to Argentina with the very specific desire to plant vineyards and make his own wine because his father and grandfather made wine in Italy. I was born in Mendoza and my father had started working with his father when I was born. But my father wasn’t sure if he wanted to be a professor of economics and try and save the Argentine economy (which I’m glad he didn’t as that would’ve been quite difficult!), or if he wanted to work with his father and the winery."

"Victoria Has your family been involved in wine for a long time?"

"I grew up going to the winery with my father and grandfather; I remember that winemaking was a man’s world. My father always equally encouraged myself, my sister, and my brother to study hard and there were no greater expectations for boys over girls, which was rare. At that time in Argentina the idea was that if you were a man, you needed a good job that paid a lot of money, and if you were a woman, you needed a good husband. And it’s not that long ago! But my father had great expectations. In the end my grandfather was more likely to take my brother to the vineyard and I would take care of the dogs. That was my ‘side-door’ into the winery, to hang out with my grandfather. But the winemaking was reserved for the men, and in my generation that was my brother."

"I honestly had no intention of going to work for the family winery. I studied medicine and I wanted to be a travelling doctor helping people all over the world, which I got to do somewhat. I did have a career as a doctor but always part-time because I was also working for the winery. When I was going to school, I didn’t think that people making wine were making a big difference in the world because, to me, those jobs were as a teacher, as a doctor – you had to be in service."

"But today I manage our winery which provides jobs that elevate Argentine wines, and we are helping our whole region with all the research that we do and share. Then there’s the joy that wine brings to people. I honestly think that I’m making a greater impact as a winemaker than as a doctor. Back then I thought I would drink the family’s wines rather than make them. However, the moment that I decided that I wanted to work with my father was when I started going to France with him because he wanted to check out the competition. I had studied French since I was quite young and in the wine world it can be quite useful. He invited me as his translator, and I fell in love with drinking wine. I still thought that I was going to be a doctor. Finally, my father asked me to go to this wine event, the New York Wine Experience. He said, ‘Laurita, nobody here speaks English, you have to go.’ So I managed to trade some shifts at the hospital and I showed up in New York where we were the only South American winery."

"I remember being in my booth and people walking by and seeing Argentina and just being ignored. Back then in the mid 1990s, it was all France and Italy and Spain. I saw my father’s dream of putting Argentina on the wine map as almost impossible! I called him and said, ‘Papa, I have to come and help you because you need so much help.’ Of course, my arrogance as a young person came through and my father was thrilled! I think he pretty much would’ve put me in charge of the winery right there and then."

"I like science and I like people. It’s a great profession because you have instant gratification. You also see a lot of suffering but you can make a big difference to people’s lives. Also, I did emergency medicine so you’ll have a parent that brings in a child who is hurt. The parent is terrified, the child is crying and within an hour I’ve fixed the child. I’ve fixed the parent. Everybody’s happy. It’s the most incredible feeling."

"Winemaking takes a lot more patience because you have to blend the wines before they make a really great wine and that’s 10 to 15 years. You also must research and study and wait for a while to see if the wines can age well. I loved medicine because it felt like I was making a difference all the time, every day, every minute that you’re working. I actually said to my father, ‘Papa, why didn’t you tell me wine was so great?’ Because it’s science and there’s people. He said that if he’d told me to go and work with him then I wouldn’t be working with him now. It was important that I came on my own. That’s something I’ve discussed with other family wineries. You should wait for people to come on their own."

"“As a businesswoman, I feel responsible for the people around me. I feel a great social responsibility for all I have been given, and I believe it’s my obligation to give it back.”"

"We have lived these last three years with more dynamism than the previous ones. My grandson and I built a factory that will produce 2,500,000 tones of cement per year. We invested 250 million dollars in this project. Alejandro Bengolea (Vice President of Loma Negra): We decided to build this factory in the year 1997. From 1997 until now, the investment projects and the plant cost nearly 450 million dollars. This will be the most modern plant of the entire Southern Cone. A.L. de F: On the other hand, this project includes a factory that we built in Ramallo in association with the Techint Group. This is a milling plant and its dimensions are smaller. It also has an information center for the constructors. We have clients of all sizes and also particular people that want to build their houses. This is also an experimentation center with trucks that go trough the entire country. We have some factories in Catamarca, two in Olavarría, and five in Barker. The company has also other ones in Zapala, San Juan and Paraná."

"Yes, we continued with our investment plans. This plant will be ready by March. This is a young country that needs infrastructure. The construction is the mother of all the industries and it also promotes a lot of work posts. This is also a large country. That is why we need transports. We have built this plant thinking about the future. Once the political reliability settles down, Argentina will be able to receive investments from all over the world because this is a peaceful country without any cataclysms."

"We have made a joint venture with ANCAP, an Uruguayan company that produces petrol and cement. This association is very convenient for us because we are going to manage this plant and also sell cement in Brazil or in Buenos Aires. A.B: On the other hand, we have some investment projects with ANCAP because we want to update the plants. We have also thought about exploiting the Uruguayan zone of the Treinta y tres orientales that has great beds of limestone. Then, we are thinking about expanding to the Brazilian South from there. Our alliance with ANCAP also has a regional expansion objective. On the other hand, we also have international expansion plans."

"We are optimists because this is the first time that we are thinking about building a factory outside the country."

"I do not want to say it because this is a secret that only three people know."

"I cannot tell you this by now."

"It could be."

"We do not know it yet because we will be starting this project in one or two years from now. We have now to inaugurate this new plant that produces very well. We have just tested it. On the other hand, we want to maintain our personnel because we have almost a mythical relationship with them. We respect each other. This is not the first economic crisis that Argentina has suffered but, certainly, this is the worst one. A.B: This is the longest one and we suppose that the end of this crisis will not have such a tall peak as the Tequila had. One year after we got over this crisis, we sold 25% more. The end of this one would be more gradual with a development of 4 or 5 %. A. L. de F: The increase could be higher; perhaps it would reach the 8 or 10%. During the previous crisis, the country needed constructions. And again, the construction industry will play an important role in reducing the unemployment rate. The actual presidential secretary, Nicolás Gallo, created a General Infrastructure Plan that meant an important source of employment. A.B: This plan requires an investment of 25, 000 million dollars in a proportion of 5,000 million dollars per year. This was a very aggressive plan that covered the entire country and summed more than 150,000 work posts."

"The objective of the expansion plan is to complement a macroeconomic risk of an emerging country and a developed country. That is how we will be able to balance the incomes and the cash flow avoiding- in this way- the cycles that we have as an emergent economy. It is also necessary to increase the access to capital. The Loma Negra´s plants are operating in world class. The operational levels are the same or even better than the most advanced plants of the world. We use self-conducted equipment that compares us to the best practices. We know how to produce cement and we are adding services to that. We consider that the information technology is very important too. Our customers are able to consult their accounts, order and buy through their pages using the Lomanet technology."

"Petrol is a global factor... A.B: We have not thought about an expansion into the petrol sector, but into the cement industry, in order to add value to our operations. The cement quality will be smoothed in the future. That is why the difference is in the logistics and in the field of IT, matters that occupy the distribution channel. We are now seeing that the competence is not only between the big cementing groups but it also includes the distribution channels. That is why we are aiming to build a logistic network. We built a very important logistic network that is based on strategic alliances with transports. On the other hand, we count on intelligent software that is a leading case in Latin America because it operates with an advanced distribution system."

"I am still one of the principal industrial voices. I have lots of friends that belong to the actual administration and I was also very close to the politicians that belonged to the previous one. The ex president, Carlos Menem appreciated me a lot. It has been a long time since I know De la Rúa."

"We are now building four dining rooms for a school that is very near here. The children are staying all day at school. We have invested 5,600 million pesos on Education and this figure represents the 27% of the total budget. Then, other 29% are for Health and 31% go to non-profit organizations. We want to help the most humble people. The people that decide to feed poor and hungry children in their dining rooms usually use to enlarge their homes in order to be able to do it every day. I contribute with them because I think that these are the real non-profit organizations. There are newspapers that offer a free space in which these organizations can communicate its necessities and also their phone numbers if the readers want to help or contribute with them. We prefer to deliver the money directly. I gave 500,000 dollars to the United Nations when they were collecting for the hungry children from Bosnia. On the other hand, I bought lots of houses for the homeless people. Loma Negra employs people that fought in Malvinas. We also work with disabled people. We teach them how to do the work."

"The museum is under construction. My interest for the fine arts began in the year 1978. I started to bring culture and whenever I bought a painting I have always succeeded!"

"I would tell them to never lose their hopes and to love their fellow men. This is what my live is based on. NOTE: World Investment News Ltd cannot be held responsible for the content of unedited transcriptions."

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."

"To succeed, you need to believe in yourself and your abilities."

"Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible."

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today."

"Don't be afraid to take risks. Sometimes you have to step outside of your comfort zone to achieve greatness."

"The journey to success may not be easy, but it's always worth it in the end."

"Your dreams are worth fighting for. Never give up on what you truly want in life."