In the words of my history professor, "if you're bored, come to south america." Well at first he said Argentina but then looked at the Mexican girls in the class and was like ya, ok Mexico too...
If you weren't already aware, Nestor Kirchner died yesterday (Wednesday the 27th) of a heart attack. I'm not sure what everyone knows about Argentine politics and what not but just to be safe I'll assume nothing, so I don't leave anyone confused. Nestor is the husband of the current president Cristina and was himself president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007.
Before coming here I knew that Cristina was the president but I didn't know much else than that. What she stood for, what the Argentine people thought of her, how she'd come to be president, what she'd done/planned to do for the country...were all a mystery and for the most part still are unfortunately. But today I've learned more about Nestor and the answer to some of those questions.
I feel like there's sooo much to tell you guys to help explain the situation. But it's taken me months to find out for myself and several classes on Latin American subjects just to learn a bit so I know I won't be able to convey it all properly. And I'm really trying to get my own thoughts straight right now on the whole matter. I just got home ten minutes ago from Plaza de Mayo so to be honest I'm a bit emotionally drained; I wanted to get it all out while it's all fresh in my mind...I'll explain that journey in a moment though.
Let's back up a bit. What do you know about Evita and Juan Peron? I've spoken a bit about them already I believe, like when I visited the cemetary where Evita's body is supposed to be. But to recap on the part that applies to today's happenings: Peron was a president for the workers and according to my history professor, these were the best economic times Argentina's seen (we're talking about the 19040/50s). Yesterday a workers union was quoted to have said that after Evita and Peron, Nestor gave the most for the workers of Argentina. Grafiti I read said along the same things, "Because of Nestor my family works" etc.
Apart from what he has done for the workers of Argentina, he also fought to ease the minds of Argentines who had lived through the Dirty War. Professor Pomposo (my history professor) was telling our class today, that in a public, televised event, Nestor had the painting of the dictator Videla (the one responsible for the kidnapping, torture, and disappearance of thousands of people) taken down from a wall in el Colegio Militar. He wanted to let the Argentine people know that they would never have to endure the things they had twenty years before. He then showed us a picture of the event from a newspaper (which I bought today on my way home) and I was greatly impressed by Nestors act and all the things surrounding it. At this point Profe. Pomposo had to leave the room because he was beginning to cry. One of his friends was one of the many "disappeared" or "desaparecido." So of course, to see a president do something like that and make a statement such as that, had to have been a very powerful thing. Can you imagine? I have the hardest time wrapping my head around all of these things sometimes. First, living under a dictator. I just sent my mom and Chris all my choices for the upcoming elections so they can fill out my ballot for me. It makes me appreciate our political freedoms that much more. Then, the daily terror. At any moment you or someone you love could disappear forever, presumably to be tortured and killed, yet you will never know for sure what happened to them.
And quick sidenote, speaking of political freedoms: In my spanish class the other day it came up that one of my American classmates had sent a letter to their senator and how he had responded to the letter so my Profe asked if that was a common thing in America. Because in Argentina there aren't addresses or ways to get ahold of elected governors, etc. You vote for them and then they get to decide how they want to vote and don't consult the citizens, at the same time she was saying many Argentines don't pay attention anyway.
I was very much moved in my history class today and Profe. Pomposo urged us to go to the Plaza de Mayo if we could because there are thousands gathered, waitng to pay their last respects to Nestor. And I figured I would go, be apart of this moment and observe the reaction of the people. It was packed, as I expected, but because the people were lining up to go into the Casa Rosada the plaza was all gated off. So I walked down the street toward 9 de Julio (the street that the Obelisco is on) to see the line, hear the chanting, and read the banners. While I was walking down the street a news guy asked me if I wanted to blow a kiss into the camera, which I felt was an inappropriate thing to do so I said no. There were hotdog vendors and porta potties because if you wanted to get into the Casa Rosada, you were going to be waiting for a while. The line went on until 9 de Julio and then continued on down but I turned back. There were a ton of signs from worker unions in support of Nestor, telling Cristina to be strong, that she had their support.
I had previously asked Mati, one of the guys I met during my weekend in Carilo, what he thought about Peron. He said he didn't like Peron and Peronismo (the political party that stands for everything that Peron stood for and believed in, although there are TONS of variations of Peronismo by people wanting to use the influence Peron's name holds) and said that he didn't like the Krichner's as well. This tends to be the view of wealthy Argentines, I've discovered for myself and through my classes). This I haven't quite come to understand yet. Sooo more research will be involved to understand the opposition to Peronism. Because I tend to think, if you champoined the working man, you're a good guy right? I guess to the working man, but not everyone...
Very enlightening day. Very interesting. Lots to think about. I'd love to hear your opinions on any of this.
Oh but to return to the first thing I said in this post. Because my profe is usually an easy going guy he did start to joke a bit towards the end of class to lighten the mood. We were talking about the huge economic depression in 2001ish and how 25% of Argentines were unemployed at one point, etc. Then I don't know how exactly we got to this point but he looked at one of the Austrian guys and was like when you're at home in Austria and you're bored because the transportation system always functions, you know that the Euro is worth so much today and it will be the same tomorrow, and a bunch of other things that go on here, come to Argentina. Ah, now I remember how we got to that point. He was asking us if we had been well recieved here, had a nice time while we were here studying, he said that we were always welcome. Anyway, while all of this was in jest and the class was laughing, of course there's truth to these things and the frustration that comes along, I imagine, in living in an unstable place. Another thing that has me baffeled are indeed all of these uncertainties. Like that protest of public transportation workers that happened where a man was killed, and the next day we don't know if the public transportation will be working. There was a strike of waste workers and for a week the trash piled up on the streets. They're small things but they are daily things that you are just never certain about.
Besos. Buenas noches.
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