The last two days in Argentina have been out of the ordinary, to say the least. On the morning of Wednesday, October 27th, the day of the national census on which all businesses were required to stay closed and people were encouraged to stay home in order to be counted, porteños were greeted not only by census enumerators knocking on their doors, but also by the tragic news that Nestor Kirchner, ex-president and husband of Argentina's current president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, had passed away in the early hours. After suffering a heart attack while visiting his family's summer home in the southern province of Santa Cruz, the province of his birth, he died around 9am with his wife by his side.
So while the streets of Buenos Aires remained eerily quiet and empty of life, but that of census workers, in the morning and afternoon, the day was truly defined by a much more profound event. I studied a great deal of Argentine political history in university, from the May Revolution to the birth of Peronism and the founding of the Justicialist Party, through the Dirty War to democratization and contemporary politics. Still, I don't think I fully understood Argentina's political culture until last night, when I followed the tens of thousands to the Plaza de Mayo and walked in front of the Casa Rosada to pay my respects.
There is no way that this occurrence and collective experience of the Argentine people can even start to be put into US terms. It’s not a JFK moment, where we all mourned the tragic passing of such a relatively young man for the family he left behind. There is a general feeling that Argentina has lost its father figure. The man who led and could continue to lead the nation towards salvation has passed away. Understanding this sentiment is crucial to understanding Argentine populism, a central tenant of the nation’s political culture. As the masses had invested their faith in Peron and Evita in the 1940s and 1950s, the Kirchners became the new shepherds for a new generation. While they subordinated their will to that of the pueblo, they also became the paternalistic defenders of the masses, sitting at the head of the nation’s metaphorical dining room table.
The nature of Nestor's legacy is a divisive topic. For businessmen and those who advocate a more unbridled freemarket capitalism and neoliberal reform, his government's meddling in "places that it did not belong" resulted in disdain and opposition. Those with wealth are often of the opinion that the Kirchners have bought their way to power through dubious government spending and "handouts", and redistributive measures that amount to nothing more than pandering. I'm more inclined, however, to describe Nestor in a very positive light, arguing that he was the first president since redemocratization in 1983 to stand up against the Washington Consensus, a strict neoliberal policy prescription by the IMF and World Bank that seemed to wreak havoc on the Argentine economy, not to mention many other Latin American nations, and worst of all placed strict limitations on government spending, leaving Argentina's poor, the "descamisados" as Evita would say, to fend on their own, hopelessly unemployed in the villa miserias, Argentina's version of Brazil's favelas. Peronism is interesting in that it is made up a variety of groups, ranging from a very right-wing to socialist, leftist factions. The Kirchners are on the left-wing of the Peronist political spectrum - in 2008 Nestor proposed that his Justicialist Party join the Socialist International.
Furthermore, Nestor Kirchner has been a leading figure in the fight for more Latin American unity, something that I deem crucial in increasing the rate of economic development in the region. He also helped to cool tension between Hugo Chavez's Venezuela and Álvaro Uribe and Juan Manuel Santos's Columbia and it is for these reasons that there has been an outburst of tributes to the Pingüino, a nickname given to Nestor because of his upbringing in the far south of Argentina, from heads of state throughout Latin America. All evening dignitaries from around the continent have been arriving to say goodbye to their colleague and give their condolences to Cristina. Hugo Chavez, who shared a warm relationship with Mr. Kirchner, just arrived to give, what seemed like, his very heartfelt empathy to Nestor's family. In spite of the sadness, this manifestation of Latin American unity and solidarity, whose seeds were only really sown in the last decades but continue to grow larger and larger and faster and faster, is quite beautiful. As the 28 block line of people walk past Nestor's coffin, overlooked by Cristina, Mr. Chavez and President Lula da Silva of Brazil, raising their fists and waiving peace signs, you get the sense that there is something special developing on this continent that has experienced a history of hardship. In death, Mr. Kirchner perhaps symbolizes a collective and hopeful future for the region.
Furthermore, Nestor Kirchner has been a leading figure in the fight for more Latin American unity, something that I deem crucial in increasing the rate of economic development in the region. He also helped to cool tension between Hugo Chavez's Venezuela and Álvaro Uribe and Juan Manuel Santos's Columbia and it is for these reasons that there has been an outburst of tributes to the Pingüino, a nickname given to Nestor because of his upbringing in the far south of Argentina, from heads of state throughout Latin America. All evening dignitaries from around the continent have been arriving to say goodbye to their colleague and give their condolences to Cristina. Hugo Chavez, who shared a warm relationship with Mr. Kirchner, just arrived to give, what seemed like, his very heartfelt empathy to Nestor's family. In spite of the sadness, this manifestation of Latin American unity and solidarity, whose seeds were only really sown in the last decades but continue to grow larger and larger and faster and faster, is quite beautiful. As the 28 block line of people walk past Nestor's coffin, overlooked by Cristina, Mr. Chavez and President Lula da Silva of Brazil, raising their fists and waiving peace signs, you get the sense that there is something special developing on this continent that has experienced a history of hardship. In death, Mr. Kirchner perhaps symbolizes a collective and hopeful future for the region.
Last night the Plaza de Mayo was a fascinating spectacle. Part mourning, part political demonstration and part festival, vendors sold hot dogs and bottles of beer while students waved flags screenprinted with the profiles of Che, Evita and Nestor and loyal supporters wrote impassioned letters of appreciation and tribute. From what I've witnessed, Nestor, you will be missed, but remembered throughout the future history of your Argentina. ¡Fuerza Cristina! ¡Fuerza Argentina!
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