The National Sovereignty Day ( es, Día de la Soberanía Nacional) is a
national public holiday of Argentina, celebrated during November 20. It commemorates the
Battle of Vuelta de Obligado
The naval Battle of Vuelta de Obligado took place on the waters of the Paraná River on 20 November 1845, between the Argentine Confederation, under the leadership of Juan Manuel de Rosas, and a combined Anglo-French fleet. The action was part o ...
, when a small Argentine army stood against an
Anglo
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to peopl ...
-
French navy that broke into the
Paraná River on November 20, 1845, against the will of the
Argentine Confederation. Although the battle itself ended with an Argentine defeat, the losses of Britain and France in the whole military campaign were so high that both countries were forced to the bargaining table and signed a treaty with
Juan Manuel de Rosas. The day was enacted as a national observance in 1974, following a request from the revisionist historian
José María Rosa
José María Rosa (August 20, 1906 – July 2, 1991), also known as ''Pepe'' Rosa, was an Argentine historian, one of the most notable of the Argentine nationalist revisionist historians.
Biography
Rosa was born in Buenos Aires in 1906. He stud ...
, and promoted into a national holiday in 2010.
History
José María Rosa was the first one to make reference to November 20 as the Argentine's National Sovereignty day. It was in 1950, during the second administration of
Juan Domingo Perón
''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, ...
.
[Hernández, pp. 28–29] The Peronist government did not endorse openly the historical revisionism of the history of Argentina (which sought to modify the mainstream perspectives over
Juan Manuel de Rosas), but it allowed public manifestations of it. Perón himself admired Rosas and the battle of Vuelta de Obligado since his time in the military school, but did not engage in the historiographical controversy during his presidency: he maintained that "''I have enough problems with living people, to fight with dead people as well''". The Rosist revisionism was forbidden during the peronist proscription of the ''
Revolución Libertadora''.
The first official mention to the date was done by the governor of Buenos Aires province
Carlos Aloé in 1953.
In 1954 José María Rosa and
Ernesto Palacio
Ernesto Palacio (born October 19, 1946, Lima) is a Peruvian tenor, particularly associated with Rossini and Mozart roles.
Palacio first studied theology before turning to music. He began his vocal studies in Milan, and after winning first prize ...
created the "Popular organization for the repatriation of the remains of General Rosas". Rosas died in 1877 in
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, and his body hadn't been returned to Argentina. Law 20.769 was proposed to both repatriate the body of Rosas and create a Day of National Sovereignty by Senator
Cornejo Linares. The proposal was approved on November 14, 1973 by the Senate. It was approved with amendments by the Chamber of Deputies, and returned to the Senate. The new version did not include the new observance but just the repatriation. As a result, deputy Gallo proposed a new law, law 20.770, specifically for the new observance. Both laws were approved on September 25 and 26, 1974. Law 20.770 was promulgated by executive power the following October 3.
In 2010, year of the
Argentina Bicentennial, 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 ...
, who openly supports the Argentine historical revisionism, made a new proposal to increase the number of holidays in Argentina. One of the proposals was to turn the Day of National Sovereignty into a national holiday, instead of just an observance. The proposal was later promulgated by a
Necessity and Urgency Decree
A Necessity and Urgency Decree (Spanish: ''Decreto de necesidad y urgencia'', also known as DNU) is a special kind of order issued by the President of Argentina. Unlike regular decrees, which are used in Argentina for rulemaking, a DNU has the for ...
on November 3.
First celebration
The new holiday was first celebrated in 2010 at Obligado, the site of the battle, in an act with the presence of the president, revisionist historian
Pacho O'Donnell
Mario Ernesto O'Donnell Ure (born 28 October 1941), known as "Pacho O'Donnell", is an Argentine writer, politician, historian and physician who specializes in psychoanalysis.
Career
After the return to democracy in Argentina in 1983, he was na ...
and other politicians. The celebration included the inauguration of a monument of the event, created by Rogelio Polesello.
The
Radical Civic Union (UCR) was Rosist at its early times, and praised the ideas of the old
federalists
The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''.
History Europe federation
In Europe, proponents of de ...
. The colours of the shield, red and white, reflect that affiliation: federalists wore red badges, and white is the colour of the White Party from Uruguay (the modern
National Party), of Rosas' ally
Manuel Oribe. The UCR distanced from those ideas in later years, embracing the anti-rosist historiography instead. For this reason, some people was surprised by the presence of
Leopoldo Moreau, one of the leaders of the UCR, among the invited guests.
The new holiday did not generate any political controversy.
[Hernández, p. 9]
References
Citations
Sources
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{{refend
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Public holidays in Argentina
Remembrance days
Sovereignty
November observances
Spring (season) events in Argentina