The 18A was an Argentine ''
cacerolazo
A cacerolazo ( or ), cacerolada (, ) or casserole is a form of popular protest which consists of a group of people making noise by banging pots, pans, and other utensils in order to call for attention.
The first documented protests of this styl ...
'' that took place on April 18, 2013. Attended by nearly two million people, it was the largest demonstration at the time against the president
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President o ...
.
Antecedents
The 18A (a term that stands for the date "April 18") was initially called by groups in social networks as
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
. Those groups had organized previous ''cacerolazos'', the
8N and the
13S, and sought to repeat their success.
The Argentine branch of the
Anonymous group was among the organizers as well.
Opposition parties in Argentina had not been formally involved in the previous demonstrations, which had no political leaning; in this case the organizers asked for political support from them.
The government proposed a number of bills to amend the judiciary. Three bills were controversial: the first proposes to limit the
injunctions against the state, the second to include people selected in national elections at the body that appoints or accuses judges, and the third to create a new court that would limit the number of cases treated by the Supreme Court. The opposition considered that those bills attempt to control the judiciary. As the bills were going to be discussed on April 18, the
Radical Civic Union, the
Republican Proposal
Republican Proposal ( es, link=no, Propuesta Republicana) is a centre-right
political party in Argentina. It is usually referred to by its abbreviation, PRO. PRO was formed as an electoral alliance in 2005, but was transformed into a national p ...
and the internal factions of
Peronism that oppose Kirchner formally supported the demonstration. Still, the government announced that they would not decline the bills, even if the demonstration was massive.
The demonstration
Many groups met at 19:00 at several points of Buenos Aires, marching to the
Obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
and
Plaza de Mayo
The Plaza de Mayo (; en, May Square) is a city square and main foundational site of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was formed in 1884 after the demolition of the Recova building, unifying the city's Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Armas, by that time kn ...
at 20:00. The demonstration included no speeches or orators, and the political parties that joined it did not use political flags or banners. The people marched then to the
Argentine National Congress, which was still discussing the bill. A group of people managed to trespass the crowd control barriers and get to the entry of the Congress, by the time the bill was being approved.
The demonstration took place at other cities of Argentina as well. The people in
Córdoba filled all the space at the intersection of the avenues Vélez Sarsfield and Hipólito Irigoyen. There were demonstrations at many other cities of the
Córdoba Province, such as
Villa Carlos Paz
Villa Carlos Paz () is a city in the center-north of the province of Córdoba, Argentina, in the south of the Punilla Valley, lying on the western slope of the Sierras Chicas. It has a population of about 56,000 as per the . The area of Punilla i ...
,
Río Cuarto,
Villa María
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became sm ...
,
Villa Dolores and
Alta Gracia
Alta Gracia is a city located in the north-centre of the province of Córdoba, Argentina. Its name means "High Grace". It is built upon the ''Sierras Chicas'', in a region that the Comechingón Indians used to call ''Paravachasca''. It has abou ...
; governor
José Manuel de la Sota
José Manuel de la Sota (28 November 1949 – 15 September 2018) was an Argentine politician who was a member of Justicialist Party. He was the governor of Córdoba Province from 1999 until 2007, and was reelected to the post for the 2011–15 ...
gave his support.
The demonstration in Rosario met at the
National Flag Memorial, which was attended by
Miguel del Sel
Miguel Ignacio Torres del Sel (born 3 July 1957) is an Argentinian politician and humorist, who has been National Deputy of Argentina representing Santa Fe province between 2013 and 2015. He belongs to Propuesta Republicana party. The president Ma ...
of the PRO party.
La Plata, which was highly damaged by the
2013 Argentina floods, had a demonstration at Plaza Moreno, with people opposing the mayor
Pablo Bruera and the perceived corruption in the national government. There were demonstrations at Mar del Plata, Salta, Bariloche, San Juan, Santiago del Estero, Bahía Blanca and Misones, among other cities.
There were small protests at the Argentine embassies in 15 foreign cities, such as Sydney, Tokio, Washington, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Milan, Santiago de Chile and Rio de Janeiro.
President Cristina Kirchner ignored the protest, and wrote several messages in
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
during it, none of them related to the demonstration.
She was not at the country at the moment, as she was visiting Venezuela for the inauguration of president
Nicolás Maduro.
Still, there was a demonstration outside the
Quinta de Olivos, the official presidential residence.
References
External links
Brief video of the protest paradeAfter 18A: People Power and the middle-class rebellion ''Buenos Aires Herald'' April 21, 2013
{{CFK
Protests in Argentina
Presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
2013 protests
2013 in Argentina