17A

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17A
DateAugust 17, 2020
Location
Argentina (Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Santa Fe, Mendoza, etc)
Caused by
Goals
Methodsdemonstrations, civil disobedience, online activism, protest march, cacerolazos, car marches
Resulted in
  • On 18 September, president Alberto Fernández announced less social restrictions and more economic relief
  • Increased political and social division
  • President’s plummeting popularity, with near 70% of disapproval
Concessions
  • Less restrictive social distancing since September
Parties
Lead figures

Non-partisan protesters

Number
Thousands

The 17A protests were a series of massive demonstrations in Argentina which took place on August 17, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, for several causes, among which: the defense of institutions and separation of powers, against a justice reform announced by the government, against the way quarantine was handled, the lack of liberty, the increase in theft, and a raise on state pensions.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

The main protest was in the Buenos Aires Obelisk. Demonstrations were also held in other parts of the city, such as Cabildo and Juramento (a main intersection in Belgrano), in front of the department of Cristina Kirchner (in Recoleta), and in other cities: Córdoba, Santa Fe, Mendoza, Tucumán, Mar del Plata, Lomas de Zamora, Adrogué, Avellaneda (Santa Fe), Viedma.[7][4][5][6][8][9][10][11] Protests were also held in Punta del Este, Uruguay.[12]

The protests were organised mainly through social networks, by accounts that oppose the government, but with a nonpartisan focus, since no political party claimed the protests, and neither any party emblems were seen in the protests.[13][14][15][10] Still, some politicians who oppose the government took part in the protests as private citizens, such as Patricia Bullrich, the leader of the PRO party.[15][16] The government of the time accused the participants of being "anti-quarantine" and mocking the pandemic containment efforts.[17][18][19]

Causes

[edit]

On March 12, 2020, a strict lockdown was established across Argentina. This, at first, caused a spike in the positive image of President Alberto Fernández during March. Several causes made it went down over the following months of "preventive and mandatory isolation", reaching in August a record-low positive image since the start of the lockdown measures.[20][21][22][23][24] Opinion Polls showed a sharp decline in economic expectations of the population, primarily in the future employment and prices expectations.[25][22][24][21]

People who approved the handle of the pandemic went from a 91.7% in March to a 62.4% in June, while disapproval went from a 5.5% in March to a 35.8% in June.[21]

On the 9th of July, protesters rallied against the government on the Buenos Aires Obelisk and in several other points of the country.[26][27]

Protests in the 9 de Julio Avenue

On the 30th of July, the President sent the Congress a Bill for Justice Reform with the objective, according to Fernández, of being able to "better organize the Federal Justice and overcoming the crisis affecting the credibility and well-function of the Federal Criminal Justice.[28][29][30] This project foresaw the unification of Criminal and Economic Justice and the creation of 23 new courts, what would dilute the influence of the country's 12 federal judges, as well as the merger of appeal courts and imposing several new procedure rules for Federal Judges.[28][31] Also, an Advisory Board was created to propose reforms on the Supreme Court and the Council of Magistracy.[32][33]

In August, negative image of Alberto Fernandez surpassed, for the first time, the positive one.[20][23] Only one poll, conducted by the state-owned UBA School of Social Sciences, showed a larger positive than negative image on the President.[34]

In the Buenos Aires Province, primarily the Greater Buenos Aires, an increase in crimes committed by people with no previous record was seen, qualified as "survival crime" by the Minister of Security of the province, Sergio Berni.[35][36][37] This increase on crime was heavily covered by mass media and was one of the protesters claims. The National Ministry of Security, Sabina Frederic, stated: "There are not so much robberies [...] we are seeing violence acts during crime happening, which are being alerted, mainly, by mass media, which make them visible and follow-up the cases".[38][39] After this statements, the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers (Santiago Cafiero) added: "What I know is what the Ministry of Security, Frederic, is proposing according to a statistics comparing with the last year. Now, comparing with March, there are obviously more cases".[40][41]

By the 17th of August, the day protests took place, the lockdown measures (officially known as "preventive and mandatory social isolation") had been on for 151 days in both the City of Buenos Aires and its Greater Area, while most of the rest of the country had gone to a less-strict phase called Social Distancing.

Government response

[edit]
  • Alberto Fernández, president of Argentina: "The protests are an invitation to contagion",[42] and "They will not bend us, those who scream are usually not right"[43]
  • Ginés González García, Ministry of Health: "Today I read that elder people is being invited... it is a joke. The protests are a joke on all the measures we are trying with a big effort of all the argentine people".[18]
  • Santiago Cafiero, chief of staff: "We apologize to healthcare workers for not being able to avoid the protests".[44]
  • Roberto Salvarezza, Ministry of Science and Technology: "it will bring consequences in the number of infected people".[17][19]
  • Luana Volnovich, head of PAMI (a public health insurance for the elders): "If someone invited my mom to a protest, I'd kill him".[45]

Participants

[edit]

Several public figures from Argentina participated in the protests:

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Anti-government protesters defy virus measures in Argentina". France 24. 2020-08-18. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  2. ^ "LIVE: Crowds in Buenos Aires rally against quarantine measures in Argentina". Reuters. August 17, 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  3. ^ ""Contra la Reforma Judicial y la falta de libertades": los testimonios del #17A". Página 12 (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Marcha del 17A: banderazo contra el Gobierno en el Obelisco y las principales ciudades del país". Clarín (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Avellaneda, la cuna de Vicentin, es una de las ciudades donde se siente fuerte la protesta del 17A". Clarín (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  6. ^ a b "En Viedma también hubo marcha contra la cuarentena y la reforma judicial". Río Negro (in Spanish). General Roca. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  7. ^ "La marcha de los contagios: los anticuarentena en el Obelisco". Página 12 (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Las protestas en todo el país: Tucumán, Mar del Plata, Rosario y Córdoba también marcharon el #17A". Todo Noticias (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Cacerolas y bocinazos. Cientos de personas se congregan frente a la Quinta de Olivos". La Nación (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  10. ^ a b "La "Caravana por la República" se hizo sentir en Tucumán". La Gaceta (in Spanish). San Miguel de Tucumán. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Adrogué se sumó a la protesta contra el gobierno nacional". Noticias de Brown (in Spanish). Almirante Brown. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Marcha 17A: argentinos también se manifestaron en Punta del Este". Correo de Punta del Este (in Spanish). Punta del Este. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Santilli también se despegó de la marcha anticuarentena". Página 12 (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  14. ^ "La marcha del 17A Fernán Quirós: "Que el esfuerzo colectivo no corra riesgo por la necesidad de un subgrupo de expresarse"". Todo Noticias (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Patricia Bullrich: "El PRO no convoca a la marcha del lunes, pero voy a ir sin romper ninguna regla"". Télam (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Marcha del 17A: cómo fue la participación de Bullrich en el banderazo". Ámbito Financiero. Buenos Aires. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  17. ^ a b "Roberto Salvarezza dijo que "la marcha anticuarentena va a traer consecuencias en el número de contagios"". Página 12. Buenos Aires. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Ginés González García criticó a las personas que asistirán a la marcha". MDZ Online (in Spanish). Mendoza. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  19. ^ a b "Salvarezza: "La marcha del 17A va a traer consecuencias en el número de contagios"". Ámbito Financiero (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  20. ^ a b "La imagen de Alberto Fernández es negativa por primera vez desde el inicio de la pandemia". Perfil (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 19 August 2020.
  21. ^ a b c "CRISIS SANITARIA COVID-19 - Índices de optimismo & Encuestas Temáticas" (PDF) (in Spanish). Management & Fit. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  22. ^ a b "Crece el pesimismo sobre el futuro económico y la capacidad del Gobierno de controlar la pandemia". El Cronista (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 29 July 2020.
  23. ^ a b "INFORME X - ESPECIAL COVID-19" (PDF) (in Spanish). Giacobbe Opinión Pública. 18 August 2020.
  24. ^ a b "Encuesta: cae la imagen del Gobierno por la cuarentena y el 60% afirma que su situación económica empeoró". El Cronista (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 15 July 2020.
  25. ^ "Más de la mitad de los argentinos cree que la situación económica está peor que el año pasado y que se agravará aún más". Infobae (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 4 August 2020.
  26. ^ Beato Vassolo, Inés (10 July 2020). "Multitudinario banderazo contra el Gobierno en diferentes puntos del país". La Nación (in Spanish). Buenos Aires.
  27. ^ "El nuevo "banderazo" anticuarentena del 9 de July, con los discursos de siempre". Página 12 (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 10 July 2020.
  28. ^ a b Cibeira, Fernando (30 July 2020). "Alberto Fernández presentó la reforma judicial: "Una Justicia sobre la que no influyan los poderes"". Página 12 (in Spanish). Buenos Aires.
  29. ^ "El Presidente presentó el proyecto de ley de reforma de la Justicia". Argentine Executive (in Spanish). 2020-07-29.
  30. ^ "Alberto Fernández: "Proponemos organizar mejor la justicia federal"". Télam (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 29 July 2020.
  31. ^ "Punto por punto, los cambios que introduce la reforma judicial que presentó Alberto Fernández". Télam (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 29 July 2020.
  32. ^ Hauser, Irina (28 July 2020). "Reforma judicial: el Presidente definió los 11 firsts que integrarán el consejo asesor". Página 12 (in Spanish). Buenos Aires.
  33. ^ "Reforma judicial: "La Corte Suprema debería tener 9 miembros", consideró un integrante del nuevo consejo de asesores del Presidente". Infobae (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 28 July 2020.
  34. ^ "A un año de las PASO, Alberto Fernández mantiene una alta imagen positiva". Página 12 (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 15 August 2020.
  35. ^ "Por la cuarentena, bajó el delito en la Ciudad" [Because of the quarantine, crime went down on the city]. Página 12 (in Spanish). 15 August 2020.
  36. ^ "Sergio Berni: "Ahora tenemos una presencia muy fuerte del delito de supervivencia"" [Sergio Berni: "We are now seeing a strong presence of the survival crime"]. Perfil (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 30 June 2020.
  37. ^ <ref>"Berni: "Estamos deteniendo gente sin historial que comete delitos de supervivencia"" [Berni: "We are arresting people with no criminal record who does survival crimes"]. Telefé Noticias (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 2 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  38. ^ "Sabina Frederic: "No son muchos los robos, los medios de comunicación los hacen visibles"". Infobae (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 3 August 2020.
  39. ^ ""No hay muchos robos en la Argentina", aseguró la ministra de Seguridad de la Nación". La Capital (in Spanish). Rosario. 3 August 2020.
  40. ^ "Cafiero: "Claramente hay aumento de casos de inseguridad desde el inicio de la pandemia"". Télam (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 5 August 2020. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  41. ^ "Cafiero habló de inseguridad y reconoció que hubo un aumento: "El delincuente no es delincuente porque es pobre"". Los Andes (in Spanish). Mendoza. 5 August 2020.
  42. ^ ""Ahí tienen a los anticuarentena que aparecen muertos" dijo Alberto Fernández del 17A". Perfil (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. August 15, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  43. ^ "Alberto Fernández tras el banderazo del 17A: "No nos van a doblegar, los que gritan no suelen tener razón"". La Nación (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. 19 August 2020.
  44. ^ "Cafiero el 17A: "Le pedimos perdón a los trabajadores de la salud por no haber podido evitar la marcha"". Ámbito Financiero (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  45. ^ "Banderazo del 17 de agosto: "Si alguien convocara a mi mamá a una marcha, lo mato", afirmó Luana Volnovich, titular del PAMI". La Nación (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. August 16, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  46. ^ a b c d e f g "Marcha 17A: quiénes fueron los opositores que se sumaron a la protesta o la respaldaron". La Nación (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  47. ^ @PatoBullrich (August 17, 2020). ""#17AJuntosContraLaImpunidad"" (Tweet) (in Spanish) – via Twitter.
  48. ^ @WolffWaldo (August 17, 2020). ""#17AJuntosContraLaImpunidad #NosotrosEstamos"" (Tweet) (in Spanish) – via Twitter.
  49. ^ @TotyFlores (August 17, 2020). ""#17AJuntosContraLaImpunidad #17APorLaRepublica #17ASalimosTodos #17A"" (Tweet) (in Spanish) – via Twitter.
  50. ^ @CarolinaPiparo (August 17, 2020). ""Acompaño con responsabilidad y con las convicciones de siempre. Todo mi apoyo y cariño a los miles de argentinos que reclaman una salida planificada a la cuarentena, firmeza ante la inseguridad y gritan un no rotundo a la reforma judicial #17AJuntosContraLaImpunidad #LaPlata ♥️🇦🇷"" (Tweet) (in Spanish) – via Twitter.
  51. ^ @herlombardi (August 17, 2020). ""Acompañamos a la gente, manteniendo la distancia social, junto a Beto Brandoni. 1 argentino cada 2 metro diciendo no a la reforma judicial que persigue la impunidad. Sepa el gobierno escuchar. #17AJuntosContraLaImpunidad"" (Tweet) (in Spanish) – via Twitter.
  52. ^ @andreshibarra (August 17, 2020). ""Más juntos que nunca defendiendo los valores de la República 🇦🇷💪🏻 #17AJuntosContraLaImpunidad"" (Tweet) (in Spanish) – via Twitter.
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