Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Riots and Protests...part of daily life in BA.

So, I don't know how much of this news is reaching the US, but for the past 14 days now, the farmers of Argentina have been on strike. The city is suffering from a huge lack of meat, dairy, vegetable, and grain products. They are saying that there doesn't seem to be an end in sight at this point because Christina, the president of Argentina, is refusing to give in to the demands of the very powerful farmers. Until a resolution has been reached, we all have to conserve on our meat and dairy intake here in the city and hope for some sort of end to this strike.

Last night, there was a major protest by the citizens of the city. They were marching from all corners of the downtown neighborhoods to the central plaza, Plaza de Mayo, to protest in front of the Casa Rosada (the government house). There were thousands of people thronging the streets with pots and pans and making a racket you wouldn't believe! I guess an all-out riot happened in the Plaza de Mayo and some people got hurt. As an American, this was quite the site to see because nothing of this sort would happen in the States. But in Buenos Aires, protests are not uncommon at all. In fact, they happen on a weekly basis in the Plaza de Mayo.

So, I'll keep you posted on the latest. At least, that which I can understand!

Ciao Ciao!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did I ever tell you about my friend Luis who's going to medical school in Chile? He would recount fondly how the students would regularly protest and shut his university down...

alarson said...

Yeah, I think you did! South America is definitely known for their rioting and public protesting.