Economist.com Cities Guide: Buenos Aires Briefing - September 2005

News this month

Expect delays

August saw a number of demonstrations by piqueteros (“picketers”), groups of unemployed protesters who wreak havoc by blocking roads. Their demands include the doubling of unemployment payments, which are now around $50 a month. In mid-August, hundreds of protestors camped out for three days in the central Plaza de Mayo square, in front of the presidential palace. By month's end, a smaller group disrupted a meeting where Roberto Lavagna, the economy minister, was due to speak—a demonstration that resulted in numerous injuries and the arrest of 15 piqueteros.

President Néstor Kirchner described the piqueteros as “extortionists and provocateurs”, and called on judges to “apply the law as appropriate.” But several judges pointed out that controlling the streets is the responsibility of the police, who receive orders from the government. So far Mr Kirchner has refused to clamp down, mindful of the way such tactics forced his predecessor, Eduardo Duhalde, to cut short his presidency.

Playing dirty

The battle for October's Congressional elections is descending into a war of abuse and counter-accusations. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in Buenos Aires province, where the largest number of deputies will be elected. It is also the main battleground between Mr Kirchner and Mr Duhalde, his former ally.

Mr Kirchner's candidate for Congress, his wife Cristina Fernández, is way ahead in the polls. But with social unrest threatening the government's popularity, the Kirchners have accused Mr Duhalde of promoting turmoil in order to destabilise the government. They claim the former president is collaborating with sections of the piquetero movement and another former president, Carlos Menem, Mr Duhalde's one-time enemy. Messrs Duhalde and Menem have no direct ties. But Mr Duhalde's wife, Hilda “Chiche” Duhalde—who, like Ms Fernández is part of the Peronist party, but heads a different faction—has joined forces with one of Mr Menem's allies, Luis Patti, the leader of a law-and-order party, and a former police commissioner accused of human-rights abuses.

Suffer the children

A series of strikes by workers at the Garrahanpaediatric hospital has forced the cancellation of many operations, leading to accusations that staff are failing to provide enough emergency cover. Complicating matters, the hardline stance of these striking workers, who are members of a local branch of the Association of State Workers (ATE), is at odds with the more conciliatory line of the national leadership. This mess has led the government to claim that the strike is being led by extremists, with the health minister branding them “terrorists”. The authorities have threatened to sack the striking workers, a move so far blocked by the courts. The unions counter that the government is refusing to negotiate and that long-term underfunding by the state has left the hospital on the verge of collapse.

Violent times

A rash of attacks by skinheads has alarmed political and religious leaders. The murder of a 19-year-old man in the city centre in June led to the arrest of four skinheads, including the daughter of a leading provincial politician. Then in August, a gang stabbed a 17-year-old boy 13 times. Although many local skinheads are openly racist, these two victims appear to have been targeted for belonging to other urban “tribes”: one was a “goth”, the other a “rolinga”, as local Rolling Stones fans are known.

But in a third incident, a group of skinheads cornered and harassed a 15-year-old Jewish boy, who was rescued by the police. DAIA, an organisation that represents Argentine Jews, warned that this was part of a recent spate of anti-Semitic attacks and graffiti in Buenos Aires, and called for the city government to get involved.

No limits

Diego Maradona, an Argentine football star, confessed in August that he did indeed punch the ball into the net during a match against England in the 1986 World Cup. This seemed to reinforce a local survey that found that many Buenos Aires residents have scant regard for rules. Of the respondents, 70% confessed to queue-jumping, 76% to littering and 85% to cheating in an exam—almost a third having done so “many times”. With tax evasion rife, it was perhaps surprising that only 34% said they had cheated on their taxes.

Although porteños, as residents are known, complain of crime and corruption, they also have a sneaking respect for “viveza criolla”, the local knack of bending rules (Mr Maradona's goal was a famous example). This double standard was reflected in their views on traffic regulations: while 92% called the flouting of regulations a serious problem, 75% admitted to speeding and 60% to having jumped a red light.

Catch if you can

September 2005

The Rufino Tamayo Collection

Until mid-September 2005

Fundación Proa, a local arts foundation, is displaying a collection of international, 20th-century art assembled by Rufino Tamayo, a leading Mexican artist. Tamayo, who died in 1991, founded Mexico's first contemporary art collection in 1981. It includes emblematic works from various movements of the 20th century, including surrealism, post-war French abstract art, American abstract expressionism, pop and op art. Artists range from international giants such as Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon, René Magritte, Max Ernst and Joan Miró, to Latin American masters such as Roberto Matta, Wilfredo Lam, Joaquín Torres Garcia and Tamayo himself.

Fundación Proa, Av. Pedro de Mendoza 1929, La Boca. Tel: +54 (0)11 4303-0909. Open: Tues-Fri 12pm-7pm; Sat, Sun 11am-7pm. See the foundation’s website for details.

More from the Buenos Aires cultural calendar