Argentina’s Puerta 8: the barrio and the deadly cocaine

By DÉBORA REY
Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A dozen children stare as if hypnotized at the fire heating a pot of stew. Martín Benítez tosses spices into the pot and stirs with a wooden spoon. Women with containers to be filled come forward,  drawn by an aroma they haven’t smelled in a long time. The soup kitchen in Argentina’s capital was closed for eight months, but Benítez has reopened it after police cleared drug dealers from a site suspected as the source of adulterated cocaine that killed 24 people. Many residents of the neighborhood say they suspect the relative calm won’t last long.