May Revolution

The Cabildo at Plaza de Mayo

The May 25 national holiday in Argentina commemorates the events that culminated in the country’s May Revolution, which in 1810 was the prelude to Argentina’s eventual independence from Spain.

Towards the end of the 18th century revolution was doing the international rounds. Independence for what became the US demonstrated that the colonies in the Americas could go it alone, and the French Revolution in 1789 encouraged many to question the concept of the divine rights of kings.

The Spanish monarchy of course was not so convinced by the liberal and anti-nobility ideas coming out of France, and despite actually aiding the thirteen North American colonies who won freedom from British rule in 1776, was not disposed to relinquishing control over its own colonies in the Americas.

Beef for everyone

The headline of last Thursday’s Clarín was accompanied by a less than flattering snap of a baseball capped Cristina Kirchner at the launch of her plan to provide cheap beef for everyone in what was once the beef epicentre of the planet.

Only one problem – her Carne para Todos (Beef for Everyone) plan will only cover about 0.15% of daily consumption. More like beef for a few said Clarín, the national newspaper with a long standing anti Kirchner reputation.

Cristina’s grand scheme will see a massive total of five refrigerated vans driving round the city selling 13 different cuts of beef at prices fixed by the controversial Secretary of Commerce Guillermo Moreno. The vans will distribute a total of 10,000 kilos of beef, which as Clarín highlighted, is a miniscule amount when one considers 6.6 million kilos of beef are sold each day in Argentina.