A celebration and… a party?

Alfredo Fernández. Journalist.
Letter of Peace addressed to the UN
 
In school they teach children that the Republic of Argentina made the first cry of freedom on 25th May 1810. On this day celebrations are held in schools, and children dress up in traditional clothes, paint their faces black to represent the black people who lived there in colonial times and they take fried pies and cakes to school and drink boiled mate.

They also dress the girls as upper class ladies who used to meet and embroider, weave and play the piano together, or as slave girls who cooked and washed clothes on the river bank.

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The 25th May is also a celebration of the fight for freedom. Many men gave their energy and their lives in the pursuit of emancipation. The decision to create the first national government was a demonstration of maturity that is manifest in numerous aspects of our lives, and whilst it implies freedom, it also means responsibility. The responsibility to defend the dream of an independent Argentina.

And yet there is still so much to be done in order to achieve it! Independence is not just a declaration; it is also the commitment to sustain it. Independence means being able to make decisions freely. But that is not so easily done today. Are we truly free to decide for ourselves? Are we tied to certain ideologies that stop us from acting freely?

May 25th is a day that invites us to reflect, to manifest patriotic ideals that are intimately linked to certain values that accompany us on a daily basis: freedom, sovereignty, equality. This freedom that is still so hard for us to see when almost half of the population is deemed poor. When more than 10% of the population is unemployed, not to mention the large numbers of people who work in marginalised jobs or the black market, and have no social protection whatsoever.

An Argentine historian remembers how “During these days the original festive dimension was brought back to life. Public spaces were filled with people taking pleasure in different performances and events”. And quite right too. Just think about it- 200 years! But of course, 200 years is nothing in Europe, whereas here in America it’s a long time.

We must celebrate these events that took place all that time ago, because although it wasn’t our responsibility or our decision, thanks to this we now exist, albeit that we are struck by a reality that regularly overwhelms us.

Because today we celebrate our liberation from Spanish oppression and domination, but we are still trapped by our own despondency and the resentments that stop us from expanding our freedom.

So, do we still have a reason to celebrate? Of course we do! But we should also engage in a process of reflection that allows us to look back at history, and in light of these events, these evidences, build a better present. We would truly feel independent if a cry of freedom could be reborn in the heart of every Argentine, bearing in mind this sense of separation, along with everything that keeps us trapped today and doesn’t let us live in freedom.

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THE ART OF COMMEMORATION: A NEW OPPORTUNITY
Francesc Torralba. Doctor of Philosophy. 
Director of the Universitas Albertiana Peace Institutes

CAN HISTORY BE TRANSFORMED?
Inés Palomeque.
Director of Mil Milenios de Paz