People look for ‘treasure’ with dollars buried in dump in Argentina

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Bills of US$ 100 (R$ 541) that flew through the air, which were buried under piles of garbage or hidden in an old discarded wardrobe. For days, several versions of a hidden treasure have rocked the city of Las Parejas, in central Argentina.

More than $75,000 is reported to have been found in an open-air dump, when an employee working on the site with an excavator unexpectedly tripped over furniture where it was hidden.

Federico Báez, one of the neighbors who found some of the money last week, thinks there must still be more money buried.

In recent days the authorities have closed access to the dump.

“A colleague got out of the truck and saw a $100 bill on the floor, all pressed. It caught our attention because it was spotless. We each started to take a part. It was like a game to see who would get the most bills. We had collected US$ 10,000 among the six of us. Then another boy came and found $25,000, he was luckier. I think there must be a lot more buried,” Báez told AFP.

In Las Parejas, it is said that the money must have belonged to a lady who died recently, leaving no children. It is believed in the city that she hid it in the false bottom of a closet, which went to the trash after the new residents of the house got rid of the old furniture.

​In Argentina, subject to high inflation for decades, it is common for people to save in dollars and keep them in cash in their own homes, due to the distrust that banks generate in them.

The city’s mayor, Horacio Compagnucci, refers to the episode as “green madness”.

“I am convinced that all this green madness occurs because what you find are dollar bills. In a context in which the country is not doing well economically, the word dollar is on everyone’s lips,” he told AFP.

Since 2019, increasingly restrictive exchange controls have been in place in Argentina. Currently, the maximum amount authorized to buy foreign currency for hoarding purposes is US$ 200 (R$ 1,082) per month.

The unusual discovery of Las Parejas also served to generate memes, among which President Alberto Fernández and Vice President Cristina Kirchner are seen digging the dump.

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