Page 41 - All About History - Issue 11-14

Tour Guide
PLAZA DE MAYO
08 Elected the heir
to St Peter
In March 2013, Jorge Mario
Bergoglio became Pope Francis I, 07 The 2001
the first pope from the southern A revolutionary
hemisphere. The Metropolitan December riots
Cathedral is the capital’s central During the winter of 2001, Argentina square
Catholic church and Pope Francis’ suffered a period of civil unrest and
former diocese. Buenos Aries saw much of the worst Plaza de Mayo has been at the centre of many
rioting against government cuts and the of the key events that have shaped modern-day
national debt. Rioters clashed with police Argentina. The country’s turbulent and often
and once again Plaza de Mayo became a violent past in the wake of Spanish colonial rule
battleground between police and protesters. is littered with travesties of justice, dictatorships
Over 22 people were killed in clashes all over and uprisings. Named after the Revolucion
the country and annual protests are now de Mayo, which saw Argentina declare
held to commemorate the events, independence from Spain in 1816, the Plaza
which included the ousting of
President Fernando de la Rua. has been a constant focus for the Argentine
population, where mass demonstrations against
alleged government injustices are still regularly
seen. The most famous is the Madres de Plaza
de Mayo, a protest group that has become
07 synonymous with the area, and whose white
headscarves can be seen depicted on and
around the Plaza.
05
06 FIGHTING FOR

04 JUSTICE AT THE PLAZA

03 The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo
06 is a protest group that originally
comprised of Argentine mothers of
children who had been taken from
them during the Dirty War, in which
thousands of dissidents’ children are
thought to have been kidnapped by
the government.
02

05 Backing the invasion
On Friday 2 April 1982, Argentine forces
attacked and occupied the British-controlled
Falkland Islands, or Las Malvinas. Eight days
later, a mass of nationalist supporters
rallied in the Plaza to
support President
Leopoldo Galtieri.

04 Eva’s last speech
On 17 October 1951, the first lady of Argentina, Eva
Perón, gave her last and most memorable speech
from the balcony of the presidential palace, the Casa
Rosada or ‘pink house.’ Eva’s championing of civil rights
as well as her powerful charisma had made her a living saint
for many in Argentina and an worldwide icon. Dying of cancer,
she gave her final speech six years to the day after her husband, © Getty; Thinkstock
president Juan Perón, was released from prison, on what is still
observed as Loyalty Day.
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