ya viene el 20
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December 20th is here, the anniversary of last year's fateful and tragic events that left Argentina with a series of 5 presidents in less than a month, a 3x devaluation of their currency's exchange rate, and more than 30 protesters dead. (See this week's revelations for more info.) The street is strangely quiet; school is cancelled and it feels like a holiday.
The aura of anticipation of what will happen on the 20th has been building for weeks, with protest posters everywhere and specials on TV. Early this week groups of 'piqueteros' (picketers) began marching from Jujuy, the north-westernmost province, and groups will arrive -- marching -- in Buenos Aires today from 20 provinces in total. For me, this day is a good part of the reason I came to Argentina, to see how a country pushed to its knees can respond. And so I've been looking forward to the protest like guys back home in Wisconsin look forward to the Superbowl.
Last night I went to the Plaza de Mayo (see last week's protest photos) at about 10. When I arrived someone was singing and the sound was echoing through all the sidestreets approaching the plaza, the streets quieter for being closed to traffic. The scene was tranquil but powerful, young people filling the plaza for a night of videos and music commemorating last year's events.
One short film featured the images of Bush Jr. and Argentina's president Duhalde, interspersed with photos of Argentina's protests and starving children. A computer-generated voice intoned ominously (in spanish & english) "IMF...assassin... Bush...assassin...". As the night went on more groups of 100-200 people arrived -- i saw picketers from the city's outskirts, and a random group of social psychology students -- all carrying banners and chanting.
I arrived home at 2am, and this morning I'm off again to see what happens today. Already this morning the picketer organization "Class-based Combative Current" (a pitiful translation, I know) blocked a bridge with about 1,000 marchers and now is on its way downtown, to converge at noon with another group. The TV news was quick to point out that the picketers' own security team carried, instead of the customary sticks, a barrier ribbon that surrounded the group, and that most of the police were similarly unarmed.
Tonight at 8 is the "marcha federal", the final meeting of all the national groups who have been marching. Last year the protest continued through the night & the next day. We'll keep you updated.
Later: One march down. I think this was supposed to be the small one, but I stood and watched herds of people go by for 20 minutes. This (3.5 mb) video shows the crowd a bit. Photos are on the numbers page.
antes era dream
despues tenés Mystery of the Blasting Bidet...
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