Argentina - A Brief History

• Indigenous groups like the Diaguita and nomadic tribes populated the region where Arentina now is, for thousands of years before European arrival
• Spanish explorer Juan Díaz de Solís arrived in 1516, and the Spanish crown eventually established the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776 with Buenos Aires as its capital.
• The May Revolution of 1810 overthrew the Spanish viceroy, prompting Argentine-born general José de San Martín to return from Europe in 1812 to organize the revolutionary military forces. Argentina officially declared its independence from Spain on 9 July 1816 while San Martín, now the nation's primary military leader, prepared his Army of the Andes in Mendoza to secure regional freedom. Serving as the ultimate liberator of the region, San Martín launched his historic 1817 crossing of the Andes, to defeat royalist forces in Chile and Peru and securing Argentina's borders, by destroying Spanish strongholds.
• The declaration and fight for independence (1810–1818) was followed by an extended civil war that lasted until 1861.
• After that, waves of immigration from Spain and Italy, especially Italy, led to peace and prosperity.
• By the early twentieth century, driven by an export boom of beef, grain, and agricultural goods., Argentina was the seventh-wealthiest nation in the world, ahead of the USA.
• Political instability followed The Great Depression, in the 1930s.

• Following the death of President Juan Perón, in 1974, his widow and vice president, Isabel Perón, ascended to the presidency, before being overthrown in 1976 (as we all know from the musical Evita.).
• A military junta, which took over after Juan and Isabel Peron, in the 1970s, persecuted and murdered thousands of political critics, activists, and leftists, during the Dirty War . (It was supported by the United States).
• Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) in 1982, but its swift defeat by Great Britain triggered the collapse of the military regime and the restoration of democracy in 1983.
• The country suffered a catastrophic economic collapse in 2001, resulting in massive social unrest, a default on its foreign debt, and five presidents taking office in a single fortnight.
• The twenty-first century has been characterized by intense political polarization between the left-wing Peronist Kirchnerist movement and center-right coalitions, navigating persistent inflation and economic instability

Facts and Factoids

• Today, Argentina is a middle power nation, with the second largest economy in South America (behind Brazil).
• Argentina is bigger than you might expect - it's the eighth largest country in the world.
• A country of contrasts, it features the highest point in South America, Mount Aconcagua, and the lowest, Laguna del Carbón (a salt lake), at 105 metres below sea level. Aconcagua Mountain in the Andes (6,961 metres) is actually the highest mountain in the Americas, the highest mountain in the southern hemisphere and the highest mountain in the western hemisphere. Laguna del Carbón is also the lowest point in the western and southern hemispheres.
• Argentina means silver - Latin argentum (silver). The land was rich in silver and the native communities of the Río de la Plata welcomed their future Spanish masters with silver gifts.
• This is where tango began, in Buenos Aires, in the 1880s.
• The national drink is yerba mate. It's very bitter.
• The national sport is said to be pata, a cross between polo and basketball. But it isn't really. It's football.

Some Awful Jokes from Argentina

The Argentinians are not like the Chileans. As the Chileans say:

“How does an Argentine commit suicide?”

“He jumps off his ego.”

The weather is  colder now and whenever anyone remarks “It’s chilly”, we chorus: “No, it’s not, it’s Argentina”.

What to See in Argentina?

Iguassu Falls ( I hopped over the border on my Brazil visit) is the number one attraction, closely followed by vibrant and sprawling Bueno Aires, The Paris of America.

But I love Patagonia, in the south: the mountains and the glaciers, at Perito Moreno and bleak Tierra del Fuego.