ARTICULO #1
El Virreinato del Río de la Plata
El Virreinato del Río de la Plata fue creado en 1776 por orden de Carlos III. Si bien esta primera
fundación fue de carácter provisional, en 1778 se realiza la definitiva. Abarcó los actuales territorios de
Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, partes del sur de Brasil y el norte de Chile. La capital fue
situada en Buenos Aires, fundada en 1580 por Juan de Garay bajo el nombre de La Santísima Trinidad y
Puerto de Santa María del Buen Ayre.
Las causas de la creación de este virreinato, surgen de la
necesidad de la metrópolis de defender sus posesiones al
sur del continente de las ambiciones de otras potencias
Carlos III
coloniales, como Inglaterra y Portugal. Al encontrarse toda
esta zona bajo administración del Virreinato del Perú, el tráfico
entre Lima y Buenos Aires era muy lento y hacia difícil organizar la defensa
de Buenos Aires en caso de un eventual
ataque.
El territorio se dividió en intendencias y
gobernaciones, de acuerdo a las nuevas
leyes dictadas tras la Reforma Borbónica.
Los aborígenes, al igual que en el resto
de la América ocupada, fueron repartidos entre distintos grupos de terratenientes
que con la excusa de la evangelización, los sometieron a todo tipo de trabajos forzados
en condiciones de esclavitud.
Buenos Aires tras su primera fundación
La economía en este virreinato seguía el modelo extractivo-exportador, y al igual que el
resto de virreinatos y la propia metrópolis, se mostró ajeno a la protoindustrialización
surgida en el siglo XVIII y a su posterior evolución. La ganadería, asentada
principalmente en Buenos Aires constituyó una importante actividad económica, cuya
relevancia se mantiene en la zona hasta hoy en día. La minería no ocupaba el lugar
preferencial que poseía en el resto de virreinatos, la actividad minera en el Virreinato
del Río de la Plata se limitaba a una serie de yacimientos explotados en la actual
Mapa del Virreinato de la Plata.
Bolivia, sin embargo, desde el puerto de Buenos Aires, se exportaban enormes
cantidades de oro y plata llegadas, principalmente, del Alto Perú. El comercio,
centrado en la exportación de ganado y derivados, cereales, oro y plata, estaba fuertemente regulado por la metrópolis, lo
cual favoreció a la proliferación de actividades contrabandistas. La actividad comercial estaba en manos de unos pocos
españoles, los cuales a su vez, detentaban gran parte del poder político.
Los principales puestos políticos estaban ocupados por españoles, otros de menor importancia eran
asignados a criollos de buena posición. Pero al margen del reparto del poder, se encontraban indios,
negros y gauchos. Los aborígenes eran empleados en las minas y realizaban tareas en el campo,
mientras que otros, continuaban resistiéndose a la dominación foránea y la combatían con las armas en
noroeste del virreinato. Los negros, traídos bajo condiciones inhumanas desde el África Subsahariana, eran
importados desde su lugar de origen, o bien a realizar tareas domésticas en las residencias de las familias
más pudientes, o bien a trabajar en el campo. El gaucho, fruto de
Esclavo negro del siglo
XVI.
generaciones de mestizaje entre españoles, indios y criollos realizaba tareas rurales que requerían de
gran destreza, lo cual, a lo largo del tiempo y gracias también a la leyenda que gira en torno a sus
costumbres, cultura y modo de vida, hizo que ocupase un importante lugar en la formación de la
identidad nacional de la Argentina que surgiría tras la independencia y la disolución del Virreinato
del Río de la Plata.
http://www.claseshistoria.com/america/colonial-virreinatos-riodelaplata.html
ARTICULO #2
Gaucho argentino. 1868
9 de julio, Día de la Independencia
En 1816, luego del camino iniciado por la Revolución de Mayo en 1810, el país proclamó en un Congreso en Tucumán la existencia de una nación libre e
independiente de la Corona Española, inaugurando el largo proceso de unificación nacional.
Luego de la Revolución del 25 de mayo de 1810, el camino hacia la independencia nacional estaba trazado: la ruptura de los lazos coloniales con España en
1810 no hicieron más que cristalizar un movimiento liberador que venía buscando, desde 1806, mayor participación política y económica de los criollos.
Cronología del 9 de Julio
En 1810, América del Sur estaba dividida en dos bandos: los revolucionarios y, por otro lado, los leales al Consejo de Regencia, llamados “realistas”. Los
revolucionarios buscaban más autonomía dentro del sistema colonial hasta que volviera el rey y muy pocos se inclinaban por la independencia al principio.
Por eso las juntas se hicieron en nombre de Fernando VII, el rey preso.
Sin embargo, cuando los revolucionarios intentaron sumar a los realistas a su determinación, comenzaron las guerras entre ambos mandos, cuyo
resultado sería la independencia de los dominios coloniales en América. España no intervino porque se encontraba ocupada por los franceses y luchando
por su propia independencia. La guerra no tuvo un mando único, cada gobierno americano siguió sus propias decisiones.
En el Río de la Plata, la Banda Oriental –lo que hoy es Uruguay- y el Litoral empezaron a defender su autonomía y a desafiar la postura centralista de
Buenos Aires. Es por ello que, en la Asamblea de 1813, otro importante antecedente de la independencia, los representantes orientales no fueron aceptados
cuando se convocó a un congreso para organizar al Río de la Plata. En la Asamblea, la mayoría revolucionaria era partidaria de declarar la independencia.
Sin embargo, no se animaron a dar ese paso, a causa de los acontecimientos que se daban en Europa.
En efecto, en 1814, el rey Fernando VII fue liberado justo después de que Rusia, Austria, Prusia, Suecia, Portugal, España y Gran Bretaña formaran una gran
alianza que derrotó a Napoleón. Así, las monarquías absolutistas resultaron grandes ganadores y declararon que cualquier gobierno surgido de una
revolución era ilegítimo.
Sin embargo, ya desde 1813 los revolucionarios estaban bien encaminados: Bolívar reconquistó Caracas e instaló la segunda república venezolana; los
revolucionarios del Río de la Plata triunfaron en la batalla de Salta sobre los realistas. Y San Martín ya estaba formando el Ejército de los Andes, con el
objetivo de liberar los territorios de Chile y Perú.
Por su parte, el enfrentamiento entre Buenos Aires y los seguidores de Artigas, máximo líder de la Banda Oriental, se agudizó: el Litoral y la Banda Oriental
formaron la “Liga de los Pueblos Libres” y se separaron del resto de las Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata. Por su parte, Paraguay, que había dejado de
ser realista, se desvinculó completamente del resto y se mantuvo aislada.
A fines de 1815, la situación de los revolucionarios era desesperada. Venezuela y Colombia fueron reconquistadas por los realistas. Sólo el Río de la Plata
seguía en pie, amenazado desde Chile y el Alto Perú. A nivel internacional, la situación era preocupante: Austria, Rusia y Prusia habían formado la Santa
Alianza para defender a los absolutismos y apoyaban a Fernando VII en su búsqueda de recuperar su imperio.
En medio de esa gran emergencia, en 1816 las Provincias Unidas decidieron convocar a un nuevo congreso, que se reunió en Tucumán para decidir qué
hacer. Todas las provincias de la Liga de los Pueblos Libres (Banda Oriental, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Misiones y Santa Fe) no lograron participar del
encuentro, ya que sus representantes fueron aprisionados por el Directorio unitario instalado en Buenos Aires. Una sola provincia de ideas federalistas
pudo hacer llegar a sus representantes: Córdoba. Los territorios de la Patagonia, Comahue y el Gran Chaco se encontraban bajo el dominio de los llamados
pueblos originarios. El Congreso se inició el 24 de marzo de 1816 con la presencia de 33 diputados, en una casa en San Miguel de Tucumán, alquilada a
Francisca Bazán de Laguna, hoy Monumento Histórico Nacional.
Cabe destacar que, pese a una hegemonía de representantes de todas las provincias partidarias del centralismo porteño, el Congreso expresó en gran
parte intenciones federales mantenidas por José de San Martín, Manuel Belgrano y Bernardo de Monteagudo. Luego de acaloradas discusiones, el Congreso
del 9 de julio de 1816 proclamó la declaración de independencia argentina respecto de España y de toda otra dominación extranjera.
http://www.argentina.ar/_es/pais/C2118-9-de-julio-dia-de-la-independencia.php
ARTICULO #3
Kissinger approved Argentinian 'dirty war'
Henry Kissinger gave his approval to the "dirty war" in Argentina in the 1970s in which up to 30,000 people were killed, according to
newly declassified US state department documents.
Mr. Kissinger, who was America's secretary of state, is shown to have urged the Argentinian military regime to act before the US
Congress resumed session, and told it that Washington would not cause it "unnecessary difficulties".
The revelations are likely to further damage Mr. Kissinger's reputation. He has already been implicated in war crimes committed
during his term in office, notably in connection with the 1973 Chilean coup.
The material, obtained by the Washington-based National Security Archive under the Freedom of Information Act, consists of two
memorandums of conversations that took place in October 1976 with the visiting Argentinian foreign minister, Admiral César
Augusto Guzzetti. At the time the US Congress, concerned about allegations of widespread human rights abuses, was poised to
approve sanctions against the military regime.
According to a verbatim transcript of a meeting on October 7 1976, Mr. Kissinger reassured the foreign minister that he had US
backing in whatever he did.
"Look, our basic attitude is that we would like you to succeed," Mr. Kissinger is reported as saying. "I have an old-fashioned view that
friends ought to be supported. What is not understood in the United States is that you have a civil war. We read about human rights
problems, but not the context.
"The quicker you succeed the better ... The human rights problem is a growing one ... We want a stable situation. We won't cause you
unnecessary difficulties. If you can finish before Congress gets back, the better. Whatever freedoms you could restore would help."
One day earlier, October 6 1976, Adml Guzzetti was told by a senior state department official, Charles Robinson, that "it is possible to
understand the requirement to be tough". Mr. Robinson is also reported as saying that "the problem is that the United States is an
idealistic and moral country and its citizens have great difficulty in comprehending the kinds of problems faced by Argentina today".
"There is a tendency to apply our moral standards abroad and Argentina must understand the reaction of Congress with regard to loans
and military assistance. The American people, right or wrong, have the perception that today there exists in Argentina a pattern of
gross violations of human rights."
The US ambassador to Argentina, Robert Hill, had been putting pressure on the regime to stop human rights abuses. But after Adml
Guzzetti returned from Washington, Mr. Hill wrote from Buenos Aires to complain that the Argentinian foreign minister had not
heard the same message from Mr. Kissinger.
Adml Guzzetti had told the ambassador that Mr. Kissinger had merely urged Argentina to "be careful", and had said that if the terrorist
problem could be resolved by December or January, "serious problems could be avoided in the US". Mr. Hill wrote at the time:
"Guzzetti went to US fully expecting to hear strong, firm, direct warnings on his government's human rights practices. He has returned
in a state of jubilation, convinced that there is no real problem with the USG [government] over that issue."
The then US assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, Harry Shlaudeman, who attended both the Kissinger and the
Robinson meetings with Adml Guzzetti, replied to Mr. Hill: "As in other circumstances you have undoubtedly encountered in your
diplomatic career, Guzzetti heard only what he wanted to hear. He was told in detail how strongly opinion in this country has reacted
against reports of abuses by the security forces in Argentina and the nature of the threat this poses to Argentine interests."
However, as the newly released documents make clear, Adml Guzzetti was correct to believe that the regime had, in effect, been given
carte blanche by the US government to continue its activities.
In a previously released cable, Mr. Hill reported how his human rights concerns were dismissed by the Argentinian president, Jorge
Videla: "[The] president said he had been gratified when Guzzetti reported to him that secretary of state Kissinger understood their
problem and had said he hoped they could get terrorism under control as quickly as possible.
"Videla said he had the impression senior officers of the USG [government] understood situation his government faces, but junior
bureaucrats do not. I assured him this was not the case. We all hope Argentina can get terrorism under control quickly - but to do so in
such a way as to do minimum damage to its image and to its relations with other governments. If security forces continue to kill
people to tune of brass band, I concluded, this will not be possible."
The revelations, which were also announced at a conference in Argentina yesterday, confirm suspicions at the time that the regime
would not have continued to carry out atrocities unless it had the tacit approval of the US, on which it was dependent for financial and
military aid.
The junta, which ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, fell after the military's defeat in the Falklands war. During its period in power an
estimated 30,000 people may have been arrested, tortured and killed. Many bodies have never been found.
An investigation into those crimes has begun in Argentina.
Mr. Kissinger has been asked by the Chilean authorities to give evidence in connection with human rights abuses during the 1973
Chilean coup and the support he gave to the former dictator, General Augusto Pinochet. He is likely to be asked to do the same in
Argentina.
He reportedly does not travel abroad without consulting his lawyers about the possibility of his arrest.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/dec/06/argentina.usa
ARTICULO #4
Argentinian Alcatraz'
On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the invasion of the islands, the Observer's former defence correspondent retells of his terrifying
ordeal in a Tierra del Fuego jail
Argentinian troops captured during the brief conflict in 1982 wait to
be repatriated from Port Stanley, capital of the Falklands.
Photograph: PA
When I arrived in Argentina in 1982 after the invasion of the Falklands, the mood was euphoric. "The recovery of our islands has been
very easy," said the slogan on Argentinian TV, as the screen filled with a map of the "Malvinas".
Few people in Argentina thought there would be a war. Even when Margaret Thatcher dispatched a task force, the six weeks it would
take for British troops to reach the Falklands seemed plenty of time for diplomacy to do its work and find a compromise.
Argentinian officials were in ebullient mood at a reception I attended in the presidential palace. The press secretary of Leopoldo
Galtieri, head of the ruling junta, waved his arms expansively and replied, "Anywhere you like," when I asked him where I was
allowed to travel in the country.
So as defence correspondent of the Observer, and with no need to file daily reports, I set off with two colleagues towards the military
bases in southern Argentina in the hope of finding an amenable pilot who would fly us over to the islands. At Rio Grande airport in
Tierra del Fuego, the bright red Tierra del Fuegan government Lear jet sat tantalisingly close on the tarmac and its pilot was almost
persuaded to take us "for a spin". Ten minutes on the ground in the Falklands would have been enough for a global scoop.
But it was not to be. In the end, having reached Ushuaia, the most southerly town in the world, we gave up. In the south, closer to the
Falklands, the mood was darker. As we were about to return to Buenos Aires, an Argentinian naval officer accompanied by armed
marines marched up and arrested us. "For you the war is over," he said sneeringly in English.
At first I felt pleased. I had no doubt that I would soon be released, as journalists invariably were, and would have a ready-made story
of "My night in an Argentinian jail". It was only when a judge announced that the three of us would be charged with espionage that I
realised the seriousness of the situation. The "dirty war" in Argentina in which thousands had disappeared had not yet ended and the
country's naval intelligence, in whose hands I now was, was guilty of many of the atrocities.
My mistake had been to fail to realise that, unlike in other wars that I had covered, I was a citizen of the enemy state this time. My
notes of the military aircraft and troop movements I had seen were deemed to be not journalistic but espionage material.
Ushuaia prison was "locked down" for our arrival. Prisoners were confined to their cells, and total silence imposed. The first evening
we were allowed to exercise along the prison corridor. A cell door opened and shut again almost immediately and three apples came
rolling towards us. It was the first sign that, while we might have been dangerous international spies in the eyes of the Argentinian
authorities, as far as the other prisoners were concerned we were fellow victims of the system. Later I discovered that our benefactor
was Humbert, a Chilean businessman in prison for stealing whisky.
The three of us were questioned at length separately and afterwards put into one cell and allowed to mix with the other prisoners.
There were around 26 of them in cells along a single corridor. They were a mixed bunch, ranging from local criminals to cattle
smugglers and one former Tupamaro guerrilla from Uruguay called Castro, who was in prison for grievous bodily harm. Some were
pathetic characters. One named Moreno, who attached himself to me, was a conscript serving two years for hitting an officer. He
confided that he had had sex only once and that was with the wife of a lion-tamer while he was working in a circus.
Another prisoner, who had forged his identity, asked me to write to his English girlfriend in Chile to inform her that he was "in
obscurity", so she would not know he was in prison.
There were two women in the prison, in a separate section. One was a young prostitute from a nightclub serving two years for taking
out the eye of another woman with a broken bottle. The other female prisoner had killed her 13th baby.
The war was ever present. The prison was in line with the runway of Ushuaia's air base and we saw Argentinian Skyhawk jets taking
off to attack the British fleet. The worst day was 2 May, when a British submarine sank the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano with
the loss of 323 lives. The Belgrano was based in Ushuaia and had sailed from there to patrol the south-west approaches to the
Falklands, as there were fears that the Chilean navy would intervene on the side of Britain.
Our cell was invaded by furious prison guards, who took everything except basic necessities. We lost the shortwave radio through
which we had been following the conflict on the BBC without having to rely on Argentinian propaganda on a TV set in the prison.
Feelings ran high in the town when the bodies were brought back. Commander Juan Carlos Grieco, the senior naval intelligence
officer dealing with my case, was at the dockside. He told me that one lifeboat had contained bodies frozen to their seats, including
that of an Argentinian sailor still holding a lamp aloft. Officers from the Belgrano had been at his house the night before the cruiser
sailed, and made final calls to their families, some their last.
My greatest fear was of being torn to pieces by a mob. There was yelling in the street, death threats were sent to the court and in the
nearby Argentinian naval base there was talk of an attack on the prison to seize us.
Escape was out of the question because of the harsh Antarctic winter and the fact that Tierra del Fuego had originally been chosen as
the site of Argentina's Alcatraz because of its remoteness. There was a glacier behind the prison. But at the front, by standing on a
chair, I had a beautiful view through the barred window towards the Beagle Channel and the snow-capped mountains of Navarino
Island in Chile, sometimes rose-tinted in the wintry sunlight.
One small blessing was that the original prison, in which prisoners had to wear full-length yellow and black striped tunics and looked
like human wasps, was defunct. But conditions were harsh and the food poor – chicken necks being my least favourite dish. The
prison was the most patriotic place in town, being the first to "volunteer" to forego electricity for the sake of the war, although this
self-denial did not extend to the prison officers' club. There was nowhere to exercise and the air was blue with tobacco smoke as there
were no open windows.
The rattle of chains on an outer gate near my cell during the night always woke me. Usually it was just a new prisoner being brought
in. At weekends it was drunks from a nightclub called the Igloo. They were put in a cell that always smelt of urine and released with a
small fine on Monday. I came to recognise some of the "regulars".
I was not tortured. A highly effective international campaign was organised on our behalf. The judge received more than 600
telegrams of protest and prison guards realised that we were too "important" to be harmed.
When the war ended the Argentinian mood changed to one of resignation. Eventually, when I had spent nearly three months in prison,
the judge granted bail with freedom to leave Argentina. Seven years later through a statute of limitations the case expired. Officially, I
was neither guilty nor innocent.
I returned to Tierra del Fuego to make a BBC documentary for the 10th anniversary of the Falklands invasion. I met again many of the
leading characters, including the prison governor, José Barrozo, a civilian, who had prospered, and Grieco, who had fallen on hard
times. Both were honourable men. I felt no animosity towards them, nor did they towards me. I like to think that we ended up friends.
77 DAYS BEHIND BARS
13 April Eleven days after Argentinian forces invade the Falkland Islands, Observer defence correspondent Ian Mather, on
assignment to cover the conflict, is taken into custody with two other British journalists.
19 April US Secretary of State Alexander Haig attempts to mediate with the Argentinian military junta. The junta rejects his
proposals, effectively ending peace talks.
25 April South Georgia is retaken by Royal Marines, pictured, who quickly overcome the small Argentinian garrison following a
bombardment by Royal Navy ships.
2 May The Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano is sunk by British submarine HMS Conqueror, killing 323 on board, the biggest
single loss of life in the Falklands war.
21 May British landings begin at San Carlos on East Falkland.
27-28 May 2 Para attack Goose Green and Darwin. After fierce fighting, the Argentinians surrender. Seventeen British servicemen die
during the battle.
8 June Landing craft RFA Sir Galahad, pictured, and RFA Sir Tristram are bombed at Bluff Cove; more than 50 British servicemen
are killed.
11-13 June British troops take the key objectives of Mount Longdon, Two Sisters and key Argentinian positions overlooking Port
Stanley.
14 June White flags are seen flying over Port Stanley. General Mario Menéndez surrenders to Major General Jeremy Moore. British
troops march into Stanley.
17 June Argentinian President Leopoldo Galtieri resigns as leader of the junta.
17 June Ian Mather is released and returns to the UK.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/31/ian-mather-falklands-jail-argentina
ARTICULO #5
Cristina Kirchner, nueva presidenta de Argentina tras una victoria
arrolladora
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, de 54 años, se convirtió ayer en la primera presidenta argentina elegida en las
urnas, y sucederá a su marido al frente del país hasta 2011. La senadora, que reivindica los orígenes combativos
del peronismo, ha obtenido el 44,88% de los votos con más del 95% de voto escrutado, suficiente para evitar la
segunda vuelta.
“Hemos ganado ampliamente”, fueron las primeras palabras de Fernández, esposa del actual presidente Néstor
Kirchner, en su centro de campaña frente a cientos de seguidores y bajo una lluvia de papeles celestes y
blancos.
El resultado de la elección presidencial confirmaba los pronósticos de las encuestas, y colocaban mejor de lo
esperado a la centroizquierdista Elisa Carrió, quien en la madrugada de hoy reconoció la derrota.
“Creemos que la tendencia confirma como presidente de la República Argentina a Cristina Kirchner y
reconocemos y la felicitamos por su victoria”, dijo en una rueda de prensa.
Según las últimas cifras oficiales, con un 96,27% de las mesas escrutadas, Fernández obtenía un 44,88% de los
votos frente al 22,97% de Carrió. En tercer lugar queda Roberto Lavagna, antiguo ministro de Economía del
presidente Néstor Kirchner, con un 16,90%. La participación se sitúa en el 71,61% del electorado.
Cristina Fernández evita así la segunda vuelta. De acuerdo con el sistema electoral argentino, un candidato es
elegido directamente presidente con al menos el 40% de voto y un margen del 10% sobre el segundo.
Poder familiar
La victoria de Fernández permitirá a América Latina ser testigo de un inédito traspaso de poder entre esposos
elegidos democráticamente. La presidenta electa prometió ayer una vez más mantener las políticas que han
llevado al país a un ciclo de intenso crecimiento durante los cuatro años de gestión de Néstor Kirchner.
En su primer discurso, la presidenta electa se mostró conciliadora y aseguró que “es necesario aún profundizar
los cambios y, para ello, es necesario sumar a la mayor cantidad de argentinos y argentinas a esta tarea”.
Pero la primera dama deberá enfrentarse a varios obstáculos en el inicio de su gestión, entre ellos la aceleración
de la inflación que está castigando duramente los bolsillos de los argentinos, la falta de inversión en
infraestructura, y casos de corrupción e índices altos de delincuencia.
Los sobrios festejos de los seguidores del Gobierno se limitaron a cantos y aplausos dentro del centro de
campaña de Fernández, en un hotel del centro de Buenos Aires, mientras que en las puertas se congregaron
algunos cientos de personas con tambores y banderas argentinas.
La senadora -que ha recibido el apoyo del mandatario venezolano Hugo Chávez- fue una pieza clave de la
administración de Kirchner y muchos argentinos creen que su victoria implica que el país seguirá siendo
gobernado por la pareja hasta 2011 tal como ha ocurrido desde 2003.
http://www.cincodias.com/articulo/economia/cristina-kirchner-nueva-presidenta-argentina-victoria-arrolladora/20071029cdscdseco_2/