South America Blog
About this blog
Wayne Bernhardson is the author of Moon Handbooks to Buenos Aires, Chile, Argentina, and Patagonia. Here he shares his vast knowledge of South America and its people.
Recent Posts
- The Papal Cumbia
- The Uruguayan Sacraments: Tango & Mate
- Taxing the Tourist: Argentina's AFIP Aims Low
- Fortress Falklands: A Book Review
- Pope Argentinus I, The Musical: Ragtime Meets Tango
- Credit Where Credit Is Undue?
- ¿Adios Hugo?
- When "No" Is A Positive
- Chile and Its "Crazies"
- The Oscars: A Post Mortem, So to Speak
- Sacrificing the Atacama? A Chilean View of Dakar
- Chilean Oscar Faceoff? "No" v. "Kon-Tiki"
- Friday Digest: Southern Cone Nuggets
- Dancing in the Mud? The Andean Aftermath
- Floods & Mud: Summer Storms Hit the Andes
VIP Pot-Banging? Cacerolazos Continue in Buenos Aires
It’s been a wild week in Buenos Aires, as a second major middle-class cacerolazo (pot-banging demonstration) followed on the heels of the protest I described a couple weeks ago. This one, according to numerous published accounts, used online social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to get people out of their houses and marching toward the Plaza de Mayo, popularly known as the “Plaza de Protestas,” opposite the Casa Rosada presidential palace. It’s usually the working-class Peronist throngs who demonstrate here, but this crowd was different. more >>
Peso Problems Precipitate PR Crisis
Argentina’s money scenario keeps getting stranger and more unpredictable, quickly becoming a major political football (or soccer ball, if you prefer). Concerned (some would say panicky) about capital flight and its ability to pay the bills, the government of president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is intensifying restrictions on foreign currency purchases, but it’s made some serious missteps. more >>
Chilean Campaign Symbols?
In the midst of a presidential election, it’s worth noting the misstatements and missteps that US politicians have made in Latin America, particularly South America, where their ignorance is almost breathtaking. more >>
Palermo Pot-Banging
For the time being, I’m stuck in California, but my wife arrived in Buenos Aires Saturday for a family visit combined with vacation. Returning from dinner with friends at the Museo Evita restaurant Monday night, she was startled by a cacophony of metallic noises seemingly emanating from all the balconies and open windows in our normally placid middle to upper middle-class Palermo neighborhood (pictured above) near the botanical gardens and the zoo. A cacerolazo (pot-banging demonstration) had erupted against President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. more >>
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