¡Viva la democracia!

Today was incredible. This is what I mean when I talk about the political engagement of Argentineans and how it makes my radical hippie heart happy:

Backing up: today (24 de marzo) marks the 34^th anniversary of the military coup that began the seven years of military dictatorship in 1976. It is a national holiday, known as Día de la Memoria, so nobody has class or work and there are massive demonstrations all over the city.

 

We met up as a group, with one of our program directors as a protective mother hen (with what she refers to as her "Argentina clock" that senses when things might get dicy), in the Plaza Congreso, which is where Parliament and the legislative power is located. The historic path to march for political demonstrations is from the Plaza Congreso to the Plaza de Mayo, the political heart of the city and the center of executive power with the Casa Rosada.

 

So, we marched. Sadly, we weren’t allowed to march in the street with the political parties and demonstrators, but we followed the crowd from Plaza Congreso to the Plaza de Mayo. The march was divided into blocks of different political parties (there were something like 35 parties here - though, granted, a lot of them are off-shoots of Peronism) and other political or social organizations walking in groups, each with their flags, floats, pamphlets, and slogans. People were singing, chanting, drumming, giving speeches, etc.

 

When we arrived at the Plaza de Mayo, it was madness – impossible to move, there were so many people. There was a stage with some speeches and later live music (we had left by then). Interestingly (for me), the tradition is that the center of Plaza de Mayo is filled with the "oficialistas," or the supporters of the current neo-Peronist government, and later  in the afternoon, all the dissident opposition political parties march from Plaza Congreso and symbolically "take" Plaza de Mayo from the partidos del oficialismo (this was right about the time Valeria, our director, told us we should leave). Although there was some tension, the uniting political factor of the day was that of remembrance, with everyone rallying behind slogans like "La memoria y justicia" and "Nunca más."

 

I love seeing political passions in such a raw state. I'm thinking we should hit the streets.