So, this will be a work in progress, that I'll probably be editing and such over the next week. Anyway I've been tryin to find out more about the La Crisis that devestated this country and came to a violent climax not quite four years ago.
Background: After a violent military dictatorship that kidnapped, tortured and killed 30.000 citizens between 1976-1983, democracy finally returned to Argentina, due in no small part the disasterous Malvinas (Falklands) War in 1982 and the economic catastrophy brought on by increased liberalization of the economy (largely due to pressure from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund) that evaporated any support that the junta once had. Raúl Alfonsín was the first non-Peronist candidate to win a a free and fair election since the overthrow of Perón by the armed forces (with the support of the IMF and the British government) in 1955. He introduced a new currency and new economic measured intended to stabilize the economy. Both failed miserably, and inflation was so b ad that prices changed several times throughout the day. By 1988, the nation was once again in a full-blown crisis, with riots at supermarkets and widespread looting largely of absolute desperation- inflation refused to slow down (the new currency, the Austral, was originally worth $1, and printed in denominations as such; by the end of the decade, the Austral was being printed in denominations of 100,000).
In 1989 new elections were held and Carlos Menem, a Peronist, won. (He's a scum bag; I'll cover that later) Alfonsín soon resigned so that the new president could take office and try to sort things out.
And, it largely worked: a new peso (still in circulation) was introduced and fixed at 1 to 1 with the dollar. Inflation was drastically reduced and the economy did great throughout the 90s, until the Asian finacial crisis of 1997. Suddenly, investment started to dry up a bit. Slowly inflation and unemployment started to rise again and another non-peronist candidate, Fernando de la Rua, took office in 1999. He, just as Menem, did everything the IMF advised, and was totally incompetent. The country slowly continued its decline and held onto the now-disasterous 1 to 1 parity with the dollar- Argentina simply could not export anything (overvalued!) and industry suffered badly. In 2001 his government introduced the Corrallito (corral), which severly restricted access to bank accounts and, for some, meant that that it was basically impossible to withdraw funds.
THAT was the proverbial straw on the public camel's back. In December, massive protests hit the city of Buenos Aires (and the rest of the country) in the form of Casarolazos- people leaving their houses, banging pots and pans, and converging on a central point (here, in front the Congreso or Casa Rosada). The government paniced and declared a state of emergency; after 34 people were killed by riot police, on the 19th and 20th, massive riots erupted and the central city of BsAs was under siege by violent protesters who destroyed businesses (particularly banks, especially Citibank), looted, burn cars and hurled whatever they could at the police. On the 21st, the president had to be evacuated by helicopter after resigning, and within the next two weeks there were no fewer than five presidents. After two days the city was retaked by the government, and though large protests continued for the next few months, nothing reached the craziness of those two days.
Eventually another president took charged, devalued the peso (it promptly fell to 4 to 1 to the dollar, wiping out most people's savings). Meanwhile, the middle class was destroyed, and half the population was left in poverty.
That's why president Néstor Kirchner likes to say that the country is "slowly coming out of hell." It is much better today, but the middle class has shrunk drastically, unemployment is still at least 20%, and a vast percentage of the population is struggling to get along. For perspective: it was a cause for celebration that the country finally had returned to the productivity level of 1998.
Looking at these pictures from December 2001, I can't believe that this is my city:
Mounted riot police chasing protestors on Diagonal Alem
On Avda. Nueve de Julio, police in front of rocks that have been thrown at them and a sign that says "De la Rua OUT!". During the protests people chanted "Que se vayan todos"- May they all leave (office). It's become a famous slogan in S.A. and it's something that protestors in Ecuador have been saying...
Supermarket looting
Crowd near Obelisco
Putting out a burning car and trying to disperse people...sometimes I go by the place where they keep the huge scary riot police vehicles when I'm on the bus
Protestors versus police, Avenida de Mayo (congreso in the background)
Burning street signs and other stuff
To come: captions; cartoneros; piqueteros
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