A Chasm of Misery

Chasm of Misery Latin America's rich and poor have become separate, wary societies. Unless leaders bridge the gap, the countries risk violent upheaval

At the gold-and-white portals of the opulent high-rise at 2095 Libertador Avenue in Buenos Aires, men with pistols bulging under their open vests flank the doorway. Before anyone is allowed into the building, the guards check via walkie-talkie with the building's most prominent resident: Argentina's new Ambassador-at-Large, Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat. She is the country's richest woman, with an estimated net worth of more than $1 billion. "I hate bodyguards," she apologizes, as she escorts a visitor into the elegance of her Louis XVI salon in a duplex apartment on the uppermost floors. "I hired them only after some people tried...

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