The Argentine government is like an umpire that doesn't wear a cup -- it fails to protect its patrimony.

Before Argentina suffered an economic crisis in 2001, the area to the Northwest of Buenos Aires now known as Palermo Soho was a rather smoggy, run-down industrial area abounding in factories and inexpensive housing. It was only accidentally frequented by tourists, and even the average porteno who wasn't employed or living in the area found little reason to visit.

Valeria Simon, the owner of a clothing store selling original designs made by her brother, Paul Simon, remembers when the Plazaleta Cortazar, or the more commonly known, "Plaza Serrano," was nothing more than an empty roundabout. Towards the end of 2001 when she and her brother were no longer able to pay rent in the small space where they had their store, they joined an alliance of artisans and began selling their hand-made goods on the Plaza.

As more vendors began selling increasingly outlandish getups and baubles -- anything from chunky crocodile skin cuffs to wide-eyed fluorescent colored sock puppets -- the Plaza became the fulcrum of Buenos Aires fashion and a instant cultural oasis. Rents soared as restaurants, bars, cafes, and shops began opening in the area surrounding the plaza and a spate of shoppers -- tourists and locals -- began invading the area on the weekends...