A Day in Caballito

This week, I had the pleasure of visiting Caballito, a middle-class neighborhood in the heart of Buenos Aires. The neighborhood is known for its beautiful housing stock, fresh produce markets, and central location. As one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in the city, Caballito faces escalating housing costs. Historic two-story homes are town down to make way for ten-story high rises, to be filled with young urban professionals from Argentina and Latin America and retirees from Europe.

Community activists have been successful in preventing the construction of a few of the new high rises, mostly on grounds of historic preservation. However, in the next year, some 350 new high-rise apartment buildings are set to be constructed in Caballito alone.

Our wonderful tour guide, Carolina, was from the neighborhood, and got us plenty of inside access. We visited a local elementary school, met with the principal, and toured some of the classrooms. I was surprised to see political posters and signs in the hallways, especially considering how young the students are.

The above image commemorates 30th anniversary of the disappearance of six student activists during the last military dictatorship. The “Night of the Pencils,” as this tragedy is known, was particularly horrific, as all of the activists were under the ago of 18; some were as young as 16. Only one every returned to their families. What happened to the rest is still unknown.

We also had the pleasure of visiting the School of Philosophy with the University of Buenos Aires. Two things struck me: First, everyone seems to smoke there, in class, outside of class, in the hallways, outside. Second, the political activism of the students here is astounding. The hallways are covered, from ceiling to floor, with posters promoting upcoming protests and direct actions. The groups who have organized here are predominately leftists, including many anarchist and communist groups.

It struck me that even leftists in Argentina seem prone to viewing politics as something through the lens of what Melina Piglia, a professor of History at the University of Buenos Aires dubs caudillsmo, or political power based on a leader’s charisma. Consistently, politics here are driven by politicians transferring “untenable qualities appreciated in the private sphere” to the public rhealm: bravado, audacity, cheekiness. I found an image of Chairman Mao above the booth of the student Communist Party booth particularly interesting, given that I’m heading to China in four weeks.

By no means is the United States immune to this; how else would we end up with our current president if people had voted on credentials and not political machismo? The difference here is how the political parties are structured. While in the US, we claim to have two political parties, with one progressive and one conservative (although that’s a completely different debate in itself), the winning party in Argentina tries to incorporate all viewpoints. Meaning, the Peronist party will have both conservatives and leftists in its ranks; with no clear political platform, it’s up to the leader to set the direction of the party.

Overall, I’ve been impressed with the levels of political participation of the citizens in Buenos Aires. Of course, I’ve only been here two weeks, and have much to learn about the intricacies of this complex city.

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