Passion of the Plaza

I wasn't prepared to see the Plaza de Mayo.  My teammate and I with one of our new friends decided to casually stroll through the area on our way to visit Puerto Madero; however, our friend was, as many Argentines are, late, and we were left to wander around the plaza.  Before long, the history had absorbed us.

The Plaza de Mayo is situated right in front of the Casa Rosada (the Pink House) where the President works.  In the heart of the plaza is a statue commemorating the revolution for independence on May 25, 1810.  Since that date, the plaza has been the literal political arena of Argentina. 

The Plaza de Mayo was the site for the protests that ended in the release of Juan Peron who later became president as well as the beginning of what would become the Falkland Wars. But the most intriguing to me is that this very spot is where the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo gathered in the 1970s.  The group is made up of women with children or grandchildren, called "desaparecidos" or disappeared, who were presumably killed by the government during the Dirty War.  The Mothers wear the symbolic white handkerchiefs on their heads to symbolize peace, and hold up signs with photographs of the missing. 

But the Plaza de Mayo is not something of the past.  Manifestations and demonstrations are held daily.  When we visited, there was a group protesting the public school system.  The roads were barricaded, drums were being beaten, and people were marching with signs in tow.  In fact, the Plaza is also a place where the past and the present meet.  Every Thursday the same Mothers of those disappeared in the Dirty War march on the cobblestones of the plaza which are now painted with the symbol of the white handkerchief.

What seemed a bit bizarre to us, is normal here in Argentina.  Protesting is simply the way that people express themselves.  When Argentines are loyal to things, they tend to be more loyal than the rest of us.  Whether that's to their country, a futbol team, or a political belief.  My prayer is that Argentines will have that same fierce passion for God, and maybe we could learn a lesson from them ourselves.