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An important number of Cacerolazos, pot-banging protests, took place in several cities of Argentina on September 13, 2012. It was a national protest of nearly 200,000 people against the policies of the president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. The protests generated ample repercution in the local politics.

Antecedents

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was re-elected in 2011, by 54% of the vote of the general election. After it, the economy began a period of fiscal austerity. The inflation kept growing in very high levels, but the income tax was not adjusted accordingly, which led to a massive demonstration by unionist Hugo Moyano. The government imposed arbitrary trade barriers and forbade the adquisition of foreign currency, generating a black market of it. As the government denies the inflation, they printed huge ammounts of the largest $100 banknotes, instead of creating a banknote of a higher value. This renewed the Boudougate, a political controversy involving the vicepresident Amado Boudou and the printing house appointed to print the banknotes.

In the political level, president Kirchner is not allowed to run for a new mandate in 2015 and the Front for Victory has no other likely candidates, so they promoted an amendment to the Constitution of Argentina to allow indefinite reelections. This proposal is resisted by all the other political parties. The relation of Kirchnerism with the press worsened, with several attacks to the newspapers not aligned with the government. President Kirchner had also said that "you should be afraid of God, and a bit afraid of me, which was not well received either. The 2012 Buenos Aires rail disaster, the crime levels and the lack of respect for republican institutions were also invoked as causes for the protest.

The event

The demonstration was called for September 13 at 20:00. It was organized in social networks, without the intervention of political parties. Many people was already present at the intersection of the Santa Fe and Callao streets at 19:30, and most of them gathered at Plaza de Mayo at 21:00. Hundreds of people protested at the Quinta de Olivos, the official residence of the president, even thought Kirchner was not present at the time.

Similar protests took place in other cities of Argentina, next to their important places. 20,000 people of Córdoba gathered next to the Patio Olmos, increasing the number of previous demonstrations. In Rosario the people protested next to the National Flag Memorial. The Civic Center of San Carlos de Bariloche and the ntersection of San Martín and Sarmiento in Mendoza attracted the local protesters. Posadas, with 2,000 protesters, had the first notable demonstration against the Kirchners. Salta had a demonstration of nearly 1,000 protesters.

Repercution

Media

Nearly the 80% of the Argentine media is controlled by the government. The official media refused to broadcast the protest at 20:00, some of then began to do it at 22:00. The Televisión Pública (Template:Lang-es) TV channel broadcasted a documentary film, and C5N filmed streets with few people. Todo Noticias, which is not aligned with the government, broadcasted the protest the whole night, with a notable boost in the points of rating.

Most international news web portals mentioned the protest as well.

Politics

The politicians of the government disparaged the protest, minimizing its significance. The president said that she would not get nervous about it. The mayor Mauricio Macri requested her to acknowledge the protest and listen to the people's demands.

References

1. ^ "Multitudinario cacerolazo en la Capital y ciudades del Interior del país" (in Spanish). La Nación. September 13, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
2. Fernanda Iglesias (January 5, 2012). "Lanata: "¿A dónde voy a ir si no es al Grupo Clarín?"" (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved September 21, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
3. "Los medios oficialistas no se enteraron de la marcha" (in Spanish). September 13, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
4. "La multitudinaria protesta, en los medios del mundo" (in Spanish). La Nación. September 14, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
5. Mariana Verón. "El Gobierno minimizó el impacto político" (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved September 21, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
6. ""Yo nerviosa no me voy a poner, tranquilos"" (in Spanish). La Nación. September 14, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
7. "Macri le pidió a Cristina que "tome el mensaje" del cacerolazo" (in Spanish). La Nación. September 14, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)

• Protests in Argentina
• Presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
• 2012 in Argentina