Travel Alert: Dollars Fetch A Premium In Black Markets Of Argentina, Venezuela

Tourists visiting Venezuela and Argentina from the U.S. and Europe often start their visits with little understanding of the situation. Celia Royce, who lives in Scotland and is visiting her son in Santiago, Chile, booked from the U.K. a five-day trip to Argentina in February. She didn’t learn about  Argentina’s currency controls, she says, until she was in Chile. “In the U.K., there’s no information at all in the tourist agencies. As a non-Spanish speaker, I’m afraid I might be ripped-off,’’ she said. She’s debating whether she should wait to change her dollars at the black-market rate when she arrives to Buenos Aires. More...