Posts Tagged ‘history’

Fascinating report about a torture victim from Argentina’s Dirty War meeting “Turco Julian”, the man who tortured him every day for 6 months. via

I’ve been doing some research for a project I’ll be working on more very soon, and here is some of the output.

In 1536 explorer Pedro de Mendoza, stopped for a while, put a few tents up and Buenos Aires was born. Originally called Ciudad de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre it didn’t last long and by 1541 was gone. In 1580 however, another explorer Juan de Garay decided he liked the spot and set up a permanent settlement named Santísima Trinidad, the port however kept the previous name, Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires. This was to prove to be the most important part of the city – to this day the inhabitants of Buenos Aires are known as Porteños, people of the port. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the port of Buenos Aires played a pivotal role in the Spanish colonisation of South America. Following the French Revolution in 1789, unhappiness with the colonial rule led, in 1810 to the May Revolution (commemorated today in the Plaza de Mayo), and on 9th July 1816 to full independence for Argentina. Throughout the 19th century, there were squabbles as to the status of Buenos Aires within this new nation but by 1880 the Federal Capital was established, and its role as the seat of government fixed.

As a major port, Buenos Aires flourished economically and culturally and by the start of the 20th Century it ranked with the major European cities of the age, having remodeled itself with wide avenues, leafy boulevards, grand mansions, one of the finest opera houses in the world and South America’s first underground train system. The 1920s brought a large wave of immigration to Argentina from Europe, mainly Italy and Spain, the influences of which are still very strongly felt today in Buenos Aires and Argentina as a whole. Plaza de Mayo (& the Casa Rosada which houses the President’s Offices) has been the focal point for many demonstrations throughout the second half of the Twentieth Century. In 1955, 364 people (mainly civilians) died when Plaza de Mayo was attacked by 34 Argentine Navy planes in a coup against the then-President Juan Perón. Today, it is where the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo march every Thursday in memory of the 30,000 people killed during the military dictatorship of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Today Buenos Aires and surrounding urban area is home to over 12 million people, a third of the population of Argentina, making it the 2nd largest city in South America after Sao Paulo in Brazil. The European influence remains strong (over 85% of the population are of European descent), yet it is a city which is proud of its place in South American history.

Today is a special day in Argentina – you know it’s a special day because there is a street and a square in Buenos Aires named after today. Now the street (25 de Mayo) is a kind of crappy-nothing-special street, but the square is worth paying attention to. La Plaza de Mayo, on the other hand is at the centre of things.

Named after the May Revolutions of 1810 (the major one happening on 25th May) la Plaza de Mayo houses the Casa Rosada (the President’s offices), el Cabildo (the original Buenos Aires city hall), the cathedral and many other government buildings.

So, today is Argentina’s 200th Birthday (it’s also Towel Day but let’s not dwell on that) and attention for the last 4 days of festivities has been focused on the Avenida 9 de Julio (which somewhat confusingly is Independence Day and didn’t happen for another 6 years after the revolution) where there have been nightly concerts and events to mark the occasion.

If Tayrona is the natural jewel in Colombia’s Caribbean Crown, then Cartagena de Indias is without doubt the City highlight. A major port during Spanish Colonial times, the walled city and fortress were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984 and the tourists have been pouring in ever since.


Cartagena is split into 3 main tourist areas, the walled city, Getsemani (where the majority of the backpacker hostels are) and Bocagrande, a beach and high-rise hotel area obviously trying to be Miami, and one of the least inspiring places I’ve been to in South America.


I’ve been to a few Colonial towns in South America (Sucre in Bolivia, Salta in Argentina, Cusco in Peru, Ouro Preto in Brasil, Villa de Leyva in Colombia all spring to mind) and along with Cartagena they all have one thing in common that distinguishes them from similar historical sites in Europe.


Whereas in Europe, a similarly well-preserved historical town would be a Disneyfied site, beautiful, yet devoid of any soul, full of high-rate art galleries, overpriced restaurants and souvenir shops, in South America these places, are alive, they are lived in. This is not to say they don’t cater to (and in some cases obviously rip-off) tourists, but on the whole everyday life continues around, and despite, you.


We spent 2 days in the Old Town, simply wandering around enjoying the atmosphere, the architecture and the sea breeze. It’s a very walkable place, probably the best thing you can do there is just amble. Every corner holds a new surprise, every building is begging to be photographed. Jewel in the Crown indeed.

Slightly off-topic from my normal stuff but easy to forget what that day felt like.

Unrelated to my travels but it’s my blog etc etc. Got this mail from my Dad this morning, one of many tales of derring-do in the family:

My Great Grandad James Jago (born in Ireland in the 1840s and a Sandgate coastguard) was in the Hythe boat which sank during the rescue (I’ve got a photo of him and the crew on a different occasion posing for the camera). The story is that my Grandad George dashed into the surf to pull him out when the lifeboat went down. Anyway Uncle Tom had the medal and when my cousin Jim (Tom and Mick’s brother) emigrated to Australia in 1965 it went with him. He died after a few years and since then there have been one or two requests to his widow to return it to England – and now here it is:

Details of the rescue can be found here and more here.