The Perons - or the Clintons?

With the mayoral elections just over, I had expected at least a temporary respite from the political posters being plastered everywhere. But, before you could say ´Pte. Jose E. Uriburu´, a sinister new figure began to make its appearance.

Concealed behind inhuman layers of make-up, this new presidential candidate - the candidate of the ruling Justicialist Party - is named Christina Kirchner. Her relation to president Nestor Kirchner? She´s his wife.

She´s also a senator, making the allusions to the Clintons rather obvious. While Christina doesn´t have an entire industry dedicated to hating her, she isn´t as popular as her husband. Supposedly, Nestor is exhausted after his first term and hopes that if his wife is the new president they can continue their policies.

In Argentina, this is not as uncommon as you might think. When Evita was still around, she was chosen as Peron´s vice-presidential candidate but had to withdraw for health reasons. Later, when Peron returned from exile only to die in office a year later, his third wife Isabel took over, with disastrous results.

Of course, even the Clintons waited a few years before transferring power. Argentine politics are a little more improvisational.

Teenage Mutant Neocon Turtles

Been busy lately. Here are some right-wing cartoons to pass the time: more Argentina stuff soon.

La Vida Por Peron

In Argentina, the memory of Juan Domingo Peron and his last two wives (Evita and Isabel) continues to dominate the Argentine political scene, with every possible political party calling themselves the 'true heirs' of Peron and the enactors of his legacy. Kind of like international communism in miniature (although Peron never felt it necessary to say "Yo no soy peronista").

So, who exactly are the peronists? let's see:

Current president Nestor Kirchner? He's a peronist.

Former president and ultra-neoliberal Carlos Menem? Peronist.

The Montoneros, quasi-communist guerrilla group? Also peronists.

The Triple A (Argentine Anticommuist Alliance), secret police/death squad under the military dictatorship? Peronist too.

Peron, of course, didn't call his philosophy (such as it was) 'peronism' but 'justicialism', with the focus on social justice. Essentially it entailed strengthening the labor unions, giving aid to the poor, and breaking down the social restrictions which had dominated Argentine society since it's inception.

Twenty years in exile with Franco, though, seemed to have changed his mind a bit. During his brief third presidency, Peron exhibited far more right-wing attitudes towards the economy and far harsher reproach for social dissent, which some believe paved the way for the military dictatorship that followed soon after his death.

Of course, every professor, political analyst, and cabdriver has his own views on the subject:

Professor 1: Peronism is what your parents are. Do you have parents? Then they're peronists. When you have kids you'll be a peronist too.

Professor 2: Peronism is about social justice. But, since this is Argentina, scratch the skin and we're all fascists.

Cabdriver 1: Peronism is the Boca Juniors (Argentina's most popular soccer team) of politics.

Cabdriver 2: Peronism is whatever the hell you want it to be.

Cabdriver 3: Peronism is helping the poor and the workers...all these bullshitters just call themselves peronists to win votes.

So there you have it, I guess.

Va a Estar Malo Buenos Aires

Mauricio Macri has won the election to be mayor of Buenos Aires.

His supporters - his real supporters - say that, as a businessman, he can keep the city in order. Having the son of an increibly wealthy businessman as our president didn´t work out to weel for us, but I guess the Argentines haven´t learned their lesson.

Worse than that, though, was the reaction from the supposed radicals at UBA and my Hugo Chavez-supporting host mother. Originally there were signs all over the place urging people to ´votar en blanco´; that is, use their obligatory vote to vote for nobody. One by one, though, they all squirmed and admitted they had voted for Macri.

¨But WHY??¨ I asked.

¨You know, to...uh...send Kirchner a message?¨

This is how extremist regimes come to power. People get disatisfied with moderation and send a ´Fuck You´ to the center-left by putting the ultra-right in power. Where´s the Old Mole when you need it?

At the Crossroads

Some time ago, the city planners of Buenos Aires realized that they were fast running out of presidents and generals to name their streets after. No doubt as a way to both save time and win some international goodwill, they decided to name streets after almost every country and would-be country in the world.

You can make what you will, for example, of the fact that the city zoo is located on Republic of India street, or that United States street is home to one of the city´s better (and cheaper) steakhouses. But now and then, the intersections betray a sense of irony not usually found in municipal government (the weird glowing effect is because I used a flash):



Ooh, the symbolism is just so ripe. I wonder what henpecked beaurocrat laughed himself to sleep thinking of that one.