Something a little more sober than usual today. Today and tomorrow mark the tenth anniversary of the marches and riots that took place all over Argentina in 2001 protesting against the effects of the economic crisis that had overtaken the country throughout the year. Photos from the events leading up to the riots and the events of the those 2 days are being displayed in Plaza de Congreso & Plaza de Mayo for the next week.
Looting
Explaining the causes of the crisis would take a much more economically-minded person than me, but it stemmed from the policy of the Menem government to peg the peso artificially to the dollar throughout the 90s. Known as the Uno a Uno, it was successful in its initial aim of controlling the hyperinflation of the late 1980s (when it hit 5,000%), but as the decade came to a close, Argentine exports became uncompetitive and the country entered a 3-year recession.
Blood on the street
Throughout 2001 the crisis got worse with mass resignations from the cabinet and President de la Rúa losing all parliamentary support in the October elections. Added to this was the effect of the Corralito which limited bank withdrawals to stem the flood of money from the system, which was largely ineffective due to large institutional exceptions (and warnings being given to large companies) but hit the middle classes hard.
Injured in Plaza de Mayo
By this point Argentina was effectively in default on a $132bn international debt and on December 1st all bank accounts were frozen which paralysed the country and the protests began in earnest. A series of lootings in Buenos Aires province between the 16th and 19th December led the President to claim Peronist agitators were fuelling the violence and at 9pm on the 19th December 2001 he declared a state of emergency.
Man with Gun
People began leaving their houses and a cacerolazo (banging saucepans with a wooden spoon) started as the people of Buenos Aires showed their unhappiness with the situation and converged on the Plaza de Mayo. On the 20th the protests continued as the police began cracking down violently on the protests and by the end of the day 26 people had been killed around the country, including 5 in the Plaza de Mayo. The situation was not helped by the resignation of the President the following day and his escape from the Casa Rosada by helicopter.
Police confronting Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo