The 1989 riots were a series of

riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

s and related episodes of

looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

in stores and supermarkets in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, during the last part of the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...

Raúl Alfonsin Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...

, between May and June 1989. The riots were caused by the rampant

hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...

and food

shortage In economics, a shortage or excess demand is a situation in which the demand for a product or service exceeds its supply in a market. It is the opposite of an excess supply ( surplus). Definitions In a perfect market (one that matches a sim ...

, and were associated with legal

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

s and

demonstrations Demonstration may refer to: * Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting * Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought * Demonstration (political), a political rally or prote ...

. The first riots started in

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

, the third-largest city in the country, when people demanded supermarkets to give away food; they quickly spread to other cities, especially in

Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires ( es, Gran Buenos Aires, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( es, Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the adjac ...

. The national government established a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

. More than 40 people were arrested, and there were 14 dead (20 according to unofficial reports). Eventually President Alfonsín resigned, and president elect

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...

took office six months in advance, in July.

Build-up

In August 1988 the Alfonsín government launched a new economic plan, called ''Plan Primavera'', intended to contain inflation. It included

price controls Price controls are restrictions set in place and enforced by governments, on the prices that can be charged for goods and services in a market. The intent behind implementing such controls can stem from the desire to maintain affordability of good ...

, negotiated with 53 leading companies, and

exchange rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

controls, the freezing of state workers' wages, and negotiations with the labour unions. The plan soon proved a failure. Interest rates rose uncontrollably, and the Central Bank's foreign currency reserves were depleted, as it sold U.S. dollars to preserve the value of the

Argentine austral The austral was the currency of Argentina between June 15, 1985, and December 31, 1991. It was subdivided into 100 centavos. The symbol was an uppercase A with an extra horizontal line, code point . This symbol appeared on all coins issued i ...

. The economic establishment withdrew deposits from the banks, withheld the dollars brought in by exports, and purposefully delayed the paying of taxes. During May 1989, the exchange rate (while fixed in theory) rose from 80 to 200 australes to the dollar. In Rosario, the inflation rate of May reached 96.5%. There was a shortage of basic products in supermarkets and stores, and their price tags were updated several times in the same day. The results of the general elections held on 14 May 1989 were overwhelmingly favourable to the

Justicialist Party The Justicialist Party ( es, Partido Justicialista, ; abbr. PJ) is a major political party in Argentina, and the largest branch within Peronism. Current president Alberto Fernández belongs to the Justicialist Party (and has, since 2021, served ...

. The volatile situation prompted talks about the possibility of anticipating the assumption of the president elect. In Rosario, mayor

Horacio Usandizaga Horacio Daniel Usandizaga (b. June 15, 1940 in J.B.Molina, ), also known informally as ''El Vasco'' (Spanish: The Basque), is an Argentine politician. Usandizaga studied to become a lawyer and entered political activity as a member of the Radica ...

resigned, fulfilling a promise that he would leave office if Menem got elected. Wednesday, 24 May was a bank holiday. The first isolated riots erupted in Rosario and Córdoba. On 28 May the president announced an emergency economic plan. That night the riots and episodes of looting became generalized in Rosario, especially in the southern neighbourhoods, where most of the larger supermarkets were concentrated at the time, and the next day they spread to the nearby industrial corridor and to other cities, accompanied in certain cases by road blockades and ''

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 ...

s''.Gabriela Águila. Nueva Historia de Santa Fe (2006). Vol. 11, ''De los cordones industriales a la integración del eje Mercosur (1940-2005).'' Ch. 12, pp. 183.

The riots in Rosario

The rioters broke into supermarkets, food stores and smaller businesses, in groups of varying size (as small as 20 people and as large as 1,000). In most cases they were young, and included a significant proportion of women and children, who doubled as willing

human shield A human shield is a non-combatant (or a group of non-combatants) who either volunteers or is forced to shield a legitimate military target in order to deter the enemy from attacking it. The use of human shields as a resistance measure was popula ...

s against the police. Though most were motivated by hunger and took only food, many also stole cash registers, furniture, refrigerators, etc. Common robbers as well as ostensibly middle-class people could be found among the crowd, as well as people who loaded stolen merchandise on cars and other motor vehicles. The violence was directed at the businesses, not the people, although there were some isolated incidents of owners being hurt or hurting others when trying to defend their shops, and attacks on some police stations. Police action was rather passive during the first two days, which contributed to the generalization of the riots. Whether they were overwhelmed by its massive dimensions is a matter of discussion; some hypotheses point to orders from a faction of the provincial government. Some neighbours claimed that the police was merely "guarding" the robbers, as the security forces only shot some rounds into the air and few arrests were made. This changed on 29 May, when the president declared a

for 30 days. The city was militarized and divided into three operational areas. School classes were suspended, banks were closed, public transportation was shut down, and a

curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...

was imposed. By the beginning of June the riots ceased, as the situation was controlled by the security forces and the municipal and national governments began to deliver food assistance. The national government also ordered the creation of hundreds of

soup kitchen A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center, is a place where food is offered to the Hunger, hungry usually for free or sometimes at a below-market price (such as via coin donations upon visiting). Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoo ...

s.Time.com
The Fall and Fall of Argentina

Riots in 1990

The beginning of 1990 saw a new, albeit much smaller wave of riots, mainly February and March, in Rosario and Greater Buenos Aires. The economic crisis had not abated, and many businesses had resumed operating with physical barriers. The riots were contained quickly, again with delivery of food assistance to the poorer neighbourhoods.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riots In Argentina, 1989 Presidency of Raúl Alfonsín Emergency laws Protests in Argentina Riots and civil disorder in Argentina Inflation in Argentina

Riots In Argentina, 1989 1990 in Argentina Political riots Food riots

Looting Economic crises in Argentina 1989 protests May 1989 events in South America June 1989 events in South America

Build-up

The riots in Rosario

Riots in 1990

See also

References