200 Years Since Argentina Sorta Declared Independence

The celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the "Revolución de Mayo" are going strong.  Boulevards closed.  Parades clog up traffic.  Lots of special events, including the opening of the Teatro Colon after a lengthy renovation.  So its a good occasion for a history lesson.


Saturday we got going early to hear a young Argentinian explain what all the fuss is about.  In 1810, the Spanish colony was called the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata, which contained all of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.  The land was technically the property of the King of Spain.  Napoleon replaced the King of Spain with his brother, Jose Bonaparte.  In response, the Portenos, looking for an excuse to escape the Spanish monopoly on trade, decided to form an independent government, arguing that they were actually preserving the rights of their ruler, the legitimate Spanish Crown.  The "Revolución de Mayo", was a completely peaceful event -- no revolution nor riot nor war nor killing.  And the motivation was purely economic.  All the trade in the Viceroyalty passed through Buenos Aires, and as an independent state the city could impose tariffs on goods going to and coming from Europe.

A Congress/Cabildo was called, and the city elected a board of directors, called the Primera Junta.  A couple of days earlier they had picked the existing Viceroy as the "new" governor, then had second thoughts and replaced him with the Primera Junta.  So in May 1810, the city did not declare independence from Spain, but rather simply decided to form an interim independent government until the Crown was restored. (Because of Napoleon's strength, probably no one really believed that the Spanish Crown would be restored.)

The Revolución de Mayo only applied to Buenos Aires, although other cities in the Viceroyalty followed suit with similar declarations of independent governments.  The country of Argentina, with Buenos Aires as its capital, was not formed for another 70 years.  But 1810 is considered the first step towards an independent Argentina.  And it's time to party in Argentina.

Here are the girls in the middle of Avenue 9th of July, the major boulevard in the city.  Stevie and Laura are good friends from Panama days.  Both are now living in the States, but they are taking advantage of our extra beds in Buenos Aires.
In the center of the boulevard, the government put up temporary exhibition spaces for each of the provinces in Argentina and many of the Latin American countries (including Panama).

The traffic in the city is almost at a complete stop for the four day celebration.  But we think many have escaped to the country.

Last night's cultural event was a remarkable ballet performance of Carmina Burana at the Teatro San Martin.  Again, Marta, J's Spanish teacher, was responsible for recommending the event to us.