Lonely Planet Buenos Aires

by Lonely Planet

  At least two idiomatic expressions stem from Argentina’s economic crisis: el corralito (a little corral) refers to the cap placed on cash withdrawals from bank accounts during ‘La Crisis,' while cacerolazo (from the word cacerola, meaning pan) is the street protest where angry people bang pots and saucepans.

  Enter Néstor Kirchner

  Duhalde, to his credit, was able to use his deep political party roots to keep the country together through to elections in April 2003. Numerous candidates entered the contest; the top two finishers were Menem (making a foray out of retirement for the campaign) and Néstor Kirchner, little-known governor of the thinly populated Patagonian province of Santa Cruz. Menem bowed out of the runoff election and Kirchner became president.

  Kirchner was the antidote to the slick and dishonest Buenos Aires establishment politicians. He was an outsider, with his entire career in the provinces and a personal air of sincerity and austerity. The people were looking for a fresh start and someone to believe in – and they found that in Kirchner.

  During his term Kirchner defined himself as a hard-nosed fighter. In 2003 he managed to negotiate a debt-refinancing deal with the IMF under which Argentina would only pay interest on its loans. In 2006 Argentina repaid its $9.5 billion debt, not a small feat, which drove his approval rating up to 80%. Annual economic growth was averaging an impressive 8%, the poverty rate dropped to about 25% and unemployment nose-dived. A side effect of the 2001 collapse was a boom in international tourism, as foreigners enjoyed cosmopolitan Buenos Aires at bargain prices, injecting tourist money into the economy.

  But not everything was bread and roses. The fact that Argentina had repaid its debt was fantastic news indeed, but economic stability didn’t necessarily follow. In fact, a series of problems ensued during Kirchner’s presidency: high inflation rates caused by a growing energy shortage, unequal distribution of wealth, and a rising breach between rich and poor that was slowly obliterating the middle class.

  On the foreign policy front, Kirchner’s belligerence became aimed at outside forces. In November 2005, when George Bush flew in for the 34-nation Summit of the Americas, his presence sparked massive demonstrations around the country. Although anti-US sentiment unites most Argentines, some feared that Kirchner’s schmoozing with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez alienated potential investors in the United States and Europe.

  Kirchner made admirable strides toward addressing the human rights abuses of the military dictatorship. In 2005 the Supreme Court lifted an amnesty law that protected former military officers suspected of human rights abuses, and this led to a succession of trials that put several of them away for life.

  The Trials & Tribulations of Cristina

  When Néstor Kirchner stepped aside in July 2007 in favor of his wife’s candidacy for the presidential race, many started wondering: would Cristina be just a puppet for her husband, who intended to rule behind the scenes?

  In the October 2007 presidential election, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner succeeded in her ambition to move from first lady to president. Weak opposition and her husband’s enduring clout were some of the reasons for her clear-cut victory. While this was not the first time Argentina had had a female head of state (Isabel Perón held a brief presidency by inheriting her husband’s term), Cristina was the first woman to be elected president by popular vote in Argentina.

  Cristina’s first term was marked by roller-coaster approval ratings. In March 2008 she significantly raised the export tax on soybeans, infuriating farmers, who went on strike and blockaded highways. Soon after, she enacted a law set to break apart Clarín, a media conglomerate that opposed her presidency. All the while, Argentina was hounded by inflation unofficially estimated at up to 25%. There were plenty of positives, however. The economy grew strongly during the first part of her tenure, and Cristina implemented a wide range of social programs to beef up the pension system, benefit impoverished children and help fight cases related to crimes against humanity. And in July 2010 she signed a bill that legalized same-sex marriage in Argentina, making it Latin America’s first country to do so.

  On October 27, 2010, Cristina was dealt a serious blow when Néstor Kirchner died suddenly of a heart attack. The country rallied around Cristina’s sorrow, and her popularity in early 2011 remained high enough that she ran for office again and was easily re-elected. She had run on a platform that appealed to the populist vote, promising to raise incomes, restore industry and maintain Argentina's economic boom. But her popularity wasn't to last.

  By 2015, Argentina was ready for a change. Unable to contest a third term under the constitution, Cristina backed the candidacy of Daniel Scioli. The contest was close, but Scioli was narrowly defeated by former Buenos Aires mayor Mauricio Macri, leader of the political coalition 'Cambiemos' (Let's Change). How that change will be realized remains to be seen.

  TIMELINE

  1536

  Spanish aristocrat Pedro de Mendoza reaches the Río de la Plata and attempts to set up a permanent settlement, only to return to Spain within four years.

  1580

  Buenos Aires is reestablished by Spanish forces, but for years the city remains a backwater in comparison to growing strongholds in central and northwestern Argentina.

  1660

  Buenos Aires’ population is around 4000; it will take another century for it to double.

  1776

  Buenos Aires becomes capital of the new Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, which included what are today Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

  1806 & 1807

  British troops raid the city but are beaten back by the people of Buenos Aires in two battles, now celebrated as La Reconquista (the Reconquest) and La Defensa (the Defense).

  May 25, 1810

  Buenos Aires declares its independence from Spain, although actual independence is still several years off. The city renames its main square Plaza de Mayo to commemorate the occasion.

  1829

  Federalist caudillo Juan Manuel de Rosas takes control of Buenos Aires and becomes its governor; BA's influence increases dramatically during his 23-year reign.

  1852

  Federalist and former Rosas ally Justo José de Urquiza defeats Rosas at the Battle of Caseros and, in 1853, draws up Argentina's first constitution.

  1862

  Bartolomé Mitre, governor of Buenos Aires province, poet and founder of La Nación newspaper, becomes president after defeating Urquiza’s federal forces.

  1868

  Intellectual Domingo Faustino Sarmiento is elected president. He encourages immigration, ramps up public education and pushes to Europeanize the country.

  1869–95

  The Argentine economy booms, immigration skyrockets as Italian and Spanish immigrants flood in, and Buenos Aires' population grows from 95,000 to 670,000.

  1869–95

  Tango emerges in Buenos Aires.

  1871

  Serious shortages of water and inadequate sewerage systems lead to a severe outbreak of yellow fever that kills more than 10% of the city’s population.

  1887

  Construction of Puerto Madero begins.

  1888

  The first Teatro Colón, located on Plaza de Mayo, is demolished.

  1897

  Puerto Madero is completed, but Eduardo Madero – the businessman contracted for the project – died four years earlier.

  1908

  After 20 years of construction, the second Teatro Colón opens with a presentation of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida.

  1916

  Hipólito Yrigoyen, leader of the Radical Party popular with the middle classes, is elected president and introduces minimum wage to counter inflation; he’s re-elected in 1928.

  1930

  Hipólito Yrigoyen is overthrown in a military coup led by General José Félix Uriburu, who stays in power for two years, after which civilian rule is restored.

  1946

  Populist Lieutenant-General Juan Domingo Perón is elec
ted president; Perón and his young wife Eva Perón ('Evita') make sweeping changes to the political structure.

  1952

  Evita dies of cancer on July 26 at age 33, one year into Juan Perón's second term as president. Her death severely weakens the political might of her husband.

  1955

  After the economy slides into recession, Perón loses further political clout; he is thrown from the presidency and exiled to Spain after a military coup.

  1976–83

  Argentina is ruled by a military junta under the leadership of General Jorge Videla. In eight years, up to 30,000 people 'disappear.'

  1982

  General Leopoldo Galtieri provokes the UK into a war over control of the Falkland Islands (Las Islas Malvinas), but Argentina is easily defeated by the British.

  1983

  The military regime collapses; civilian government is restored under Radical leader Raúl Alfonsín, but he leaves office early due to growing inflation problems.

  1989

  Peronist Carlos Menem succeeds Alfonsín as president and overcomes the hyperinflation that reached nearly 200% per month by instituting free-market reforms.

  1992

  A bomb attack at the Israeli embassy kills 29 and injures over 200.

  1994

  Eighty-five people are killed and over 100 are wounded when a Jewish community center is bombed.

  1999

  The mayor of Buenos Aires, Fernando de la Rúa, is voted president of Argentina as a result of dissatisfaction with the corrupt Menem administration; he inherits $114 billion in public debt.

  2001–02

  Argentina commits the largest debt default in world history; Argentina’s economy is ruined, which sparks massive riots and looting around the country.

  2003

  Néstor Kirchner – a governor from Patagonia’s province of Santa Cruz – is sworn in as Argentina’s president after Carlos Menem bows out of the race, despite winning more first-round votes.

  2005

  An amnesty law that protected military officers suspected of human rights abuses during the 1976 to 1983 dictatorship is abolished.

  2007

  Lawyer, senator and former first lady Cristina Fernández de Kirchner becomes Argentina’s first female president elected by popular vote.

  May 2010

  Argentina celebrates its bicentennial with a bang; BA's Av 9 de Julio shuts down for many colorful festivities, and the Teatro Colón reopens after four years of restoration.

  October 27, 2010

  Néstor Kirchner dies suddenly of heart failure.

  2011

  Cristina Kirchner wins presidential election race.

  2012

  Inflation is running at about 25% (though government figures say it's less than 10%). Kirchner passes a law restricting the sale of US dollars, creating huge black-market demand.

  2015

  Former Buenos Aires mayor Mauricio Macri wins the presidential election against Daniel Scioli, in Argentina's first-ever presidential run-off vote.

  Music

  A variety of music genres are well represented in Buenos Aires, especially when it comes to the city’s most famous export, the tango. But BA's music scene is also about hybrids of overlapping sounds and styles. Traditional kinds of folklore, tango and cumbia are melded with digital technology to create global tunes that are gaining recognition in living rooms and music festivals all around the world.

  Charly García’s version of the Argentine national anthem does what Jimi Hendrix did for ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,' but it earned García a court appearance for ‘lacking respect for national symbols.'

  Folk Music

  The folk music of Argentina spans a variety of styles, including chacarera, chamamé and zamba. The late Atahualpa Yupanqui was a giant of Argentine folk music, which takes much of its inspiration from the northwestern Andean region and countries to the north, especially Bolivia and Peru. Probably the best-known Argentine folk artist outside of South America, however, is Mercedes Sosa (1935–2009) of Tucumán.

  Contemporary musicians to watch out for are Chango Spasiuk, an accordion player who popularized chamamé music abroad; Mariana Baraj, a singer and percussionist who experiments with Latin America’s traditional folk music as well as elements of jazz, classical music and improvisation; and Soledad Pastorutti, whose first two albums have been Sony’s top sellers in Argentina – ever!

  Argentine music has experienced the hybrid phenomenom of blending electronic music with more traditional sounds. Onda Vaga's smooth harmonies add a jazzy feel to traditional folklórica.

  Other big names in folklórica are Eduardo Falú, Victor Heredia, Los Chalchaleros and León Gieco. To hear folklórica in Buenos Aires, head to the Feria de Mataderos.

  Born in Córdoba in the early 1940s, cuarteto is Argentina’s original pop music. Despised by the middle and upper classes for its arresting rhythm and offbeat musical pattern (called the ‘tunga-tunga’), as well as its working-class lyrics, it's definitely music from the margins. Although definitively cordobés (from Córdoba), it’s played in working-class bars, dance halls and stadiums throughout the country.

  Rock & Pop

  Argentine rock started in the late 1960s with a trio of groups – Almendra (great melodies and poetic lyrics), Manal (urban blues) and Los Gatos (pop) – leading the pack. Evolution was slow, however; the 1966 and 1976 military regimes didn’t take a shine to the liberalism and freedom that rock represented. Emerging in the 1980s, musicians like Charly Garciá (formerly a member of the pioneering group Sui Generis) and Fito Páez (a socially conscious pop-hippie) are now icons of rock nacional. The late poet-songwriter Alberto Luis Spinetta of Almendra fame also had an early influence on the Argentine rock movement, and another mythical figure is Andrés Calamaro, frontman of the popular 1970s band Los Abuelos de la Nada.

  More recent Argentine groups that have played rock nacional include Soda Stereo; cult-like Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota (its legendary leader Indio Solari now has a solo career); versatile Los Piojos (mixing rock, blues, ska and the Uruguayan music styles murga and candombe); and Los Ratones Paranóicos, who in 1995 opened for the Rolling Stones’ spectacularly successful five-night stand in Buenos Aires.

  Los Fabulosos Cadillacs have popularized ska and reggae, along with groups such as Los Auténticos Decadentes, Los Pericos and Los Cafres. Almafuerte, descended from the earlier Hermética, is Buenos Aires’ leading heavy-metal band. The bands Dos Minutos and Expulsados seek to emulate punk-rock legends the Ramones, who are popular in Argentina. Other classic bands include hippyish Los Divididos (descendants of the famous group Sumo), Mendozan trio Los Enanitos Verdes and the wildly unconventional Babasónicos.

  Today some of Argentina’s most popular bands include Bersuit Vergarabat (utilizing multigenre tunes with political, offensive and wave-making lyrics), La Portuaria, who collaborated with David Byrne (rock fusion influenced by jazz and R&B), and Valentin y Los Volcanes (indie-pop with great guitar music). And don’t miss the multicultural, alternative and eclectic Kevin Johansen.

  Murga is a form of athletic musical theater composed of actors and percussionists. Primarily performed in Uruguay, murga in Argentina is more heavily focused on dancing than singing. You’re most likely see this exciting musical art form at Carnaval celebrations.

  Jazz & Blues

  The high degree of crossover between Buenos Aires’ blues and rock scenes is illustrated by the path of the late guitar wizard Pappo (1950–2005). An elder statesman, Pappo was in the groundbreaking rock group Los Abuelos de la Nada and became involved with the seminal blues-rock band Pappo’s Blues, as well as Los Gatos and others. He played hard-driving, full-tilt rockin’ blues and was especially great when covering such American masters as Howlin’ Wolf, BB King and Muddy Waters.

  Guitarist-singer Miguel ‘Botafogo’ Vilanova is an alumnus of Pappo’s Blues and an imposing figure in his own right. Also worth checking out is La Mississippi, a seven-member g
roup that has been performing rock-blues since the late 1980s. Memphis La Blusera was around BA’s blues scene for a long time until it broke up in 2008; it once worked with North American legend Taj Mahal.

  Lalo Schifrin is an Argentine pianist, composer and conductor with a jazz background; he's most famous for writing the Mission: Impossible theme. He's also won four Grammy awards and has been nominated for six Oscars. In the late 1950s, Schifrin performed with Gato Barbieri, another notable composer and jazz saxophonist. Carlos Alberto Franzetti is a big-band composer who wrote The Mambo Kings (1992) and won a Latin Grammy in 2001 for his Tango Fatal album.

  Guitarist Luis Salinas is known for his mellow and melodic tunes that run along George Benson lines but are a bit less poppy; be sure to check out his jazz takes on such traditional Argentine forms as the chacarera, chamamé and tango. Dino Saluzzi, a bandoneón player originally from Salta who began recording in the '70s, was one of the first Argentine musicians to mix folklore, tango and jazz. Dino’s son José is a renowned guitarist in his own right.

  Another musician and son of an Argentine jazz legend is Javier Malosetti, whose group Electrohope blends jazz, blues, rock and swing with Latin rhythms and funk. Drummer Sebastián Peyceré, who favors a funk-tinged fusion, has played with the likes of Paquito D’Rivera, BB King and Stanley Jordan. Finally, BA’s own version of the Sultans of Swing is the Caoba Jazz Band, who for years have been playing 1920s and ‘30s New Orleans–style jazz for the love of it.