BUENOS AIRES, Argentina _ I have just traveled by plane for the first time since the new antiterrorist measures were imposed almost everywhere around the world and, sadly, I can confirm the truth: taking a plane trip is no longer a pleasure.

Flying nowadays on commercial airlines is akin to that terrible old water torture, in which drops continuously fall on a prisoner's head _ it either kills you, makes you insane or, at the very least, you end up losing your patience.

Since the discovery of a plan to simultaneously blow up 10 airplanes departing London for Washington, New York and Los Angeles, you can no longer carry any kind of liquid inside the cabin. It all depends, though, on where you board the plane and who searches you. There are still many holes in the security system.

A few day ago I boarded an American airline flight from Miami to Buenos Aires, and truth be told, the revision was very basic. They asked me whether I was carrying any cream, gel, spray or toothpaste, and I said no. They believed me, as they believed all the other passengers before and behind me.

We passed our carry-on bags through the X-ray machine and no one ever asked us anything else. But I still had doubts whether the team at the airport could actually detect dangerous liquids and substances. Besides, nobody was checking manually the luggage we were carrying. It was almost 9 p.m. and fewer agents were at the airport than during the day.

On the other hand, I did have to show my passport twice. Before the new rules, you only had to show it once, while entering the boarding area for your flight.

Things were very different when I returned from Buenos Aires to Miami. There, nobody believed a word we said. After the carry-on luggage passed through the X-ray machine, all the passengers' suitcases and briefcases were opened, no exceptions.

On the floor, next to the agents, you could see moisturizing creams, shampoos and piles of makeup and very expensive perfumes. Irritated, the passengers threw their personal items into the pile without understanding just why mascara, lipstick or eye drops could turn into a bomb.

"Why are you taking this away from me?" was the question everyone repeated.

And the agents, immutably replied: "These are the new rules."

When it was my turn for inspection, I was surprised when the female agent took away from me a tiny toothpaste and a little bottle of hand cream. I thought, after reading several reports, I could carry with me any item whose contents were less than 4 ounces. That was not the case. However, the agent allowed my liquid deodorant to pass. I didn't quite understand what orders she'd received. But I obeyed without protest.

"The more they check, the better I feel," I heard a passenger say. "It's about flying safe." I nodded in agreement.

By the way, all the forbidden items are sold in the posh duty free store at Buenos Aires' Ezeiza airport, which are later handed to the passengers at the door of the plane itself: wines and spirits, perfume, makeup. It's a good business, but this situation produces a lot of confusion among the pilots and flight attendants, who will never know whether these items were bought at the duty-free shops by someone who had a few dollars to spare or whether they were explosive substances smuggled aboard by a terrorist.

Everything seems dangerous. Even among experts on terrorism, there is no consensus at all on what to do. One needs only to surf the Web to realize how easy it is to make an explosive.

The problem is that terrorists are a step ahead of existing technology. Currently, the necessary equipment and detectors to identify all detonating substances simply don't exist. The people arrested in London, accused of terrorism, were planning to detonate their bombs through cell phones and cameras.

That's not all. I heard an expert on television suggesting terrorists may follow the example of drug dealers and swallow bombs (or worse) to later explode them during the flight. Terrorist mules! And we are certainly not prepared for that.

The alternative to this barbarism is to arrive at the airport three hours before your flight, check in all your suitcases and not be allowed to carry on any bags. A friend of mine told me, half jokingly, that there would come a time when all passengers would have to fly in uniforms or pajamas, slippers and with a transparent plastic bag for ID and money.

This is the era of bad airs.

P.S. However, I must say that one has a great time in Buenos Aires! If only for that reason, it is worth going through so many hassles.