The 10p cocaine byproduct turning Argentina’s slum children into the living dead

Because: This article is from 2010 but it came into my consciousness only this week. I have no firsthand experience with paco, though I am sure I have passed people using it before. What I’m more certain of is that I have seen many people high on paco, and many kids. It’s something in their eyes and how they carry themselves; they look crazed and desperate but intimidatingly confident, totally devoid of fear. I’m not trying to be dramatic when I say you can feel it in their presence, even if it’s just on a bus. The quote in this article about kids scrambling across roofs like rats? My heart aches.

Also, I commend The Guardian for its honest coverage of Buenos Aires’ villas, as its possibly the only mainstream media outlet where I’ve read about them. If you’ll recall the piece on the city’s barras bravas also was published on The Guardian.