Prison Conditions in Argentina

In Argentina, the worst prison systems are in the provinces of Buenos Aires and Mendoza.  The prisons themselves are in horrible condition, and the prisoners are treated inhumanely.  The living condition and treatment go against the constitutions of the provinces and the nation, yet little is done to fix the issue.  The prisons in the two provinces are overcrowded, the living conditions are not even fit for animals, the healthcare is hardly there, and the treatment is inhumane.  The issue of overcrowding is unreal.  One of the prisons in Mendoza is only meant to hold 600 prisoners, but it is holding 1,600 inmates.  The overcrowding means that there are less resources for the prisoners.  There are prisoners sleeping on the floor without mattresses, and they are crammed into little cells all together.  The prison in Buenos Aires is holding 24,166 inmates, but the capacity is 17,858 prisoners.  Another issue with the overcrowding is that there is not separation between the prisoners who have been sentenced and the ones who are awaiting sentencing.  There is also not separation between the types of convicts.  Everyone is just lumped together, and it is illegal for the system to have no structure like that.  There are not enough mattresses for prisoners, the water availability is low, and the sanitation is disgusting.  The living conditions are horrible because you cannot even differentiate between the bathrooms and the cells.  The sewage system is so bad that they live in sewage all the time.  This is really bad because this causes infection and has caused meningitis.  The healthcare is also really bad.  The only time the medical staff is ever called in is after someone dies.  There are no medical records, and the doctors stay out of the prisons.  The lack of medical attention has led to prisoners intentionally hurting themselves just to get some sort of medical attention.  Lastly, the treatment of the prisoners is inhumane.  Aside from having to deal with horrible conditions and no healthcare, they are treated harshly by the prison guards.  Between 1983 and 2009, 33 percent of deaths linked to police brutality occurred in prisons.  In 2004 and 2006, Human Right courts focused on the issues in Buenos Aires and Mendoza, but after inspection in 2007, nothing had changed.  In a Buenos Aires prison, only 2 of 40 violent deaths of inmates since 2000, have been investigated.  The guards beat prisoners, spit in their for or do not give them food, and they threaten the prisoners and their families lives.  All of these issues together make the whole prison system in the provinces inhumane and inhospitable.  Instead of rehabilitating the prisoners, it causes them to come out the system worse off and more violent.  Many of the prisoners have not even been tried and this really makes the issue of being released more devastating.  It is hard for inmates to leave the prison in good shape.  Little is still being done to fix the prison system in Argentina, but human rights groups are fighting hard for the issue to be fixed.

Migration In and Out of Argentina

Argentina in the past was seen predominantly as a country of immigration, but recent issues have caused the transformation to immigration, emigration, and transit through the country.  Immigration in Argentina has been fairly persistent, with some ups and downs.  In the early 1800’s, Argentina adopted a policy to encourage immigrants to embrace the country as their own.  This was important because between 1870 and 1930, Argentina received over 7 million immigrants, that mainly came from Spain and Italy.  The New World seemed to be a great opportunity for Europeans who were struggling economically.  Although, the number of immigrants into Argentina was high, the return rate was 50 percent.  That means that 50 percent of the people who immigrated to Argentina returned home in the following decades.  Migration then dropped again in the 1930’s during the global depression.  And after rising slightly, it dropped again after World War II when conditions in Europe were improving.  Up until the 1980’s, the immigration rates from southern cone nations around Argentina were rising because of the higher wages and employment opportunities.  The collapse of the Argentine economy in 2001 and 2002 led to a decrease in immigration, and a rise in emigration.  In total, 65 percent of the countries foreign-born immigrants are from neighboring countries.  The demand for low wage workers allows for those neighboring countries to want to migrate to Argentina because it provides more opportunities than at home.  The highest immigration from neighboring countries come from Paraguay, Bolivia, and Chile.  Emigration, on the other hand, has risen over the years.  In the 1960’s and 1970’s, the economic conditions led to the first significant migration of native-born citizens.  Between the 1960’s and 1980’s the number if emigrants rose to 200,000.  The emigrants were native-born, and were primarily highly skilled, young individuals.  Emigration especially rose between 1976 and 1983 because of the military dictatorships and the issue of the “disappeared.”  Some migrants returned, but most stayed in their new host country.  The United States has had an increase in Argentine immigrants in the past decade.  60 percent of the immigrants to the United States live in California, Florida, and New York.  Many Argentina immigrants also go to Span and Italy.  The shared ancestry allow for fairly free movement  for Argentines in Europe.  

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands are located of the south eastern coast of Argentina.  There has been a major issue in dispute over ownership of the Falkland Islands between Argentina and Britain.  The first landing on the islands was in 1690 when the French, Spanish, and British were colonizing South America.  In 1820, when Argentina claimed independence they also claimed sovereignty of and founded a settlement on the Falkland Islands.  In 1833, the British claimed sovereignty of the island and expelled all Argentina settlers.  The fight over the islands went back and forth as to who the islands should belong to.  The struggle only intensified in 1965, when the United Nations said that the issue was a colonial problem that needed to be negotiated by Argentina and Britain.  For years the two countries went back and forth trying to solve the issue, but could not agree on who should have sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.  Things got really bad on April 2nd, 1982, when Argentine troops went onto the islands.  Britain’s military tried to force the Argentine troops out, but they would not leave.  For two months they fought, but Argentina surrendered on June 14th, 1982.  The battle caused the deaths of 255 British soldiers and 655 Argentine soldiers.  The two countries acted cordially in affairs after the fight, but the disagreements continued.  Issues escalated again in 2009, when Argentina requested to talk about sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, but Britain refused to talk about the issue.  Argentina also tried to pass a law claiming the islands, but Britain rejected that, too.  There was always an issue of fishing rights, but in 2010, when Britain started exploring for oil, anger rose.  The problem was that Britain was searching for oil in the waters around the Falkland Islands.  In response to the British, Argentina made new rules that required all ships passing through to the Falkland Islands to have a permit.  At this point, tensions are high.  Now that there is potentially 60 billion barrels of oil under the ocean floor, both countries are hoping to exploit this resource.  At this point in time, the Falkland Islands are a British territory.  The population is about 2,500 and the main export is fish.  The tourist industry to the island is small, but the interesting wildlife of penguins and sheep draws tourists in.

Indigenous Peoples in Argentina

The indigenous peoples represent about 3 to 5 percent of Argentinas population, but in some areas they can represent up to 25 percent of the population.  A large majority of the people in Argentina do not even realize that there are indigenous people even left.  Indigenous peoples are forced to hide their identities to avoid racial discrimination due to stereotyping.  Some of the stereotypes are that they are dirty, lazy, savages, and not intelligent.  Most of the indigenous groups speak their native languages and most of them only know their native language.  Those peoples that were forced to move to cities lose their native language over time, or their children do.  The religion that many of the groups practice are the same as their ancestors.  During the colonization, though, the indigenous peoples were forced to follow the religion of the colonizer, which was evangelical for the most part.  Often times, the indigenous groups would incorporate their native religion into their forced religion to keep many their same beliefs.  They found a way to fuse the two together so they could be happy and so could the colonizers.  This allowed them to keep their ancestral beliefs with them so that groups today can still carry those beliefs.

Over the decades of colonization by the French, Spanish, and British, the indigenous groups in Argentina have been push off of their land.  They have been push so far from society and given such little resources that it is hard for them to survive on their own.  Most of these indigenous groups live in hunter-gatherer societies, but even that is being made difficult due to human action.  The groups are in regions all throughout Argentina, but they are hardly even recognized by the majority of the population because they have been force to the least desirable areas in each region, which are rural areas.  The most populous area of indigenous peoples is in the Chaco region.  There is so much activity like logging, cattle farming, agricultural farming, and mining are causing major issue for the indigenous peoples.  The logging and cattle farms are causing desertification.  The agricultural farms are affecting biodiversity, which is causing a problem with natural food.  The mining is contaminating the rivers that the groups in this region rely on for water and fish.  The heavy metals, like mercury, are spilling into the water.  All of these issues together are leading to an increase in poverty and malnutrition in the region.  In Patagonia, the main issue is loss of land.  There are many instances when the fences of an indigenous persons fence is literally moved at night and that land is taken from them without them even knowing prior.  Their land is also sold by local governments while they are still on the land.  They can try to fight back, but their outcries are ignored.  If their lad is not taken, then often they are forced to sell their land to multinational companies who want to purchase that land.  Although some would think that this would provide employment, it does not because they have hardly any ties with the labor market.  In most of the regions that indigenous groups live, the water conditions are so bad from oil contamination that it cannot be drank at all.  This has led to extremely high levels of lead and mercury in the peoples blood.  These groups were pushed onto these regions to get them out of the way, but once they are out of the way people are still greedy enough to damage these groups environment, water, and blatantly steal their land.  All of these issues are forcing many of these indigenous groups to migrate to the cities because they cannot survive in the situation they have been forced into.

Many organizations are working together with each other and with the indigenous groups for specific purposes like media recognition, protecting their rights, and self-help.  The organizations are trying to work together to really protect the indigenous people who are in danger of losing their culture, land, and lives.  The organizations help to educate people who do not know about indigenous groups and put an end to discrimination.

Carnival in Argentina

After 35 years, carnival as a holiday is back in Argentina!  In 1976, carnival as a holiday was removed during the military dictatorships.  Durning those 34 years, carnival continued, but is was not a holiday with non-working days so it lost a lot of the traditions that is used to carry before the dictatorship.  Even after the dictatorship ended carnival started to be celebrated more, but was not implemented as a holiday so is was still largely lost in smaller towns.  Buenos Aires and some other cities did not lose the traditions of carnival, but the non-holiday stopped carnival from being “immortal.”  Generations during that time lost out on the profound experiences of the holiday and many citizens would travel to other countries, like Brazil and Chile to celebrate.  In November 2010, President Christina Kirchner brought back carnival as a holiday and was celebrated as a holiday for the first time in March of 2011.  The long weekend of celebration returned with Monday and Tuesday being a national carnival holiday.  Since people had the days off of work, many traveled to other parts of Argentina.  Hotel capacity went up by 80 percent over the long weekend by travelers from Argentina.  This is a great opportunity from Argentines to bring back their old traditions and celebrate carnival all over the country.

Argentina’s First Elected Woman President

In October 2007, Argentina elected their first woman president.  President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner won the presidency by a landslide, and is taking over the position of presidency from her husband Nestor Kirchner.  When her husband was president she helped bring Argentina out of the 2001 economic crisis, by helping fight poverty and unemployment.  President Christina Kirchner has been compared to Hilary Clinton, but Kirchner did not have to campaign hard because her presidency victory was basically inevitable.  She was not in the media often during her campaign and she rejected most debates.  Although this is a ground breaking success, it did not feel as historic as it could have to the people of Argentina because it was not a tight race.  President Kirchner is not the only woman president in Latin American.  In fact, she is the  8th woman to be head of state in Latin America.  She is part of one of the biggest Latin American countries and she will have a huge impact on all of Latin America.  In Argentina in particular, 43 percent of the people believe that “Women in politics have done a better job than men.”  Throughout nine countries in Latin American, 61 percent of women and 47 percent of men believe women in politics have done a better job than men.  This is a really shocking statistic because women, especially in Latin America, have been give very matronly roles so this is a big breakthrough that 47 percent of men feel this was about women being in charge.  In the nine countries studied, the survey also showed that 68 percent of men and 63 percent of women say they think “women have the same opportunities to realize their aspirations that men do.”  Equality between men and women is slowly becoming the norm is some of these countries.  This is a major step forward for women in Latin America and all over the world.  This will and is influencing the United States to understand that women can hold a powerful position and be successful.

Wealth Gap in Argentina

Argentina carries an attitude similar to that of Frances' manifesto "liberty, equality, and fraternity."  They want to avoid the individualistic societies that countries like the United States, Brazil, Chile, and Peru, share around them.  This has changed, though, over the past decade because of the rising wealth gap between the rich and poor.  In the mid 1990's, the richest 10 percent of Argentina's population had an income 18 times that of the poorest 10 percent of the population.  When the crisis peaked in 2002, the richest income was 43 times the income of the poorest.  This is the worst economic crisis in modern history.  The crisis has improved, but the wealth gap is still so spread.  The poverty issue has improved, but the wealth gap between rich and poor is spreading.  The economy in Argentina is growing faster than any other country in South America, and is growing 8 percent per year.  This growth is tremendous, and the poverty rate is going down, but the wealth gap is still in a detrimental state.

Argentine Women Demanding Gender Equality

In Argentina, there is an outcry by women demanding gender equality.  Argentinas highly religious and sexist society makes it hard for women to gain any right or be given much freedom.  These women who fight are fighting for women's rights have triple roles as working women, mothers, and activists.  The main issues are that of abortion, sexual orientation (or lesbianism), sexuality, and violence against women.  Like discussed in an earlier post, abortion in Argentina is illegal, except for cases or rape or endangerment of the mother.  Yet even in the cases or rape, women are given very little option.  If they do proceed with the abortion then they are alienated by the religious and conservative groups.  One example of the little options rape victims are given and the alienation they face is seen in the case of 19 year old Romina Tejerina.  She was raped by a neighbor that was only sentenced to jail for three days for the rape.  She tried to get an abortion, but was not given the option of a legal abortion.  After giving birth to her chid in a bathroom, she killed her baby.  She was sentenced to 14 years in prison for murder.  She is now a focus of many women's organizations for the fight to legalize abortion.  Another focus in the fight for women's right is for lesbians to be noticed by society.  In the Argentine society, lesbians are invisible and hidden from society.  Their only chance to meet other lesbians and to organize is at the national women's congresses.  The issue of sexuality has also been a focus of women in the fight for gender equality.  Since women's sexuality is seen as taboo, they are trying to incorporate sex education into society.  It is important for women to show that they are sexual beings, and the fight for sex education and legalizing abortion are part of that.  The last issue is that of violence against women.  For the most part, men in Argentina are given the benefit of the doubt when is comes to violence against women.  They are given must lighter sentences than if a women is violent towards a man.  Men are basically given excuses for why they committed a crime so they are treated better than women are.  The fight for gender equality is an active part of the lives of Argentine women and the national women's congresses is the stepping stone for women to be noticed by society.

The Abortion Issue

In Argentina, abortion is illegal except for if the pregnancy puts the woman's life in danger, or if the pregnancy is a result of rape.  This has led to a high number of unsafe and illegal abortion performed each year.  The main cause of maternal mortality in Argentina is complications due to unsafe abortions.  In Argentina, about 40 percent of pregnancies end in abortion.  Even in cases where abortion is legal, many doctors, especially in rural areas, do not have the knowledge of how to perform the abortion or are not willing to perform abortions.  Many times, all women, including the ones within their legal limits, are forced to handle the abortion illegally and often dangerously.  Wealthier women also have an easier time finding a safe clinic to perform the abortion because they have the money and means, but lower class women sometimes must resort to using household objects to perform the task on their own.  Because of the methods that women sometimes use, like placing an object into the uterus, serious injury can easily occur.  When these women go to the hospital, they are often mistreated, even though there are laws requiring staff to act humanly.  The nurses and doctors will go as far as to perform treatment that requires anesthesia without giving the woman anesthesia.  This is a major issue that must be taken care of because it is effecting hundreds of thousands of women each year.

Argentina Cuisine

In most parts or Argentina, the most important meal of the day is lunch and most places close for lunch.  This excludes major cities, like Buenos Aires, because the city must continue to run.  During lunch in most places, everything closes down so people can go home for lunch and enjoy a large, home cooked meal.  A lot of the food in Argentina has European influence.  Pasta, bread, and especially meat are an important part of the cuisine.  Eating beef became a tradition in the 19th century when the Pampas region was filled with cattle and the people took advantage of this convenience.  Today, a very popular dish is milanesa, which is breaded beef that is deep friend.  Also, some beef is even served very traditionally with the hide and hair still attached.  Another popular part of Argentine cuisine is a traditional drink, called yerba mate.  Yerbe mate is similar to tea, but is prepared and drunk differently than in the United States.  Yerba mate is prepared by pouring hot water over the yerba plant leaves, which are being contained in a mate, or gourd, which is decorated with silver.  When the gourd is filled with the hot water, the leaves expand and fill the gourd.  To drink the yerba mate, you use the bombilla, which is a straw with a strainer, that is made of silver.

Religion

In Argentina's national Constitution, it states that the government in Roman Catholic, but all citizens have the freedom of religion.  70% of the country is Roman Catholic, 11% is Protestant, and 16% claim no religion.  Argentina also has many Jews, Muslims, and Russian and Greek Orthodox believers.  Some indigenous peoples follow the Catholic religion, while some keep their traditional beliefs, but many attend Catholic church and bring their traditional beliefs into the Catholic religion.  Argentina has a large population of Jews and Buenos Aires has the second largest Jewish population in the Americas, second New York.  An important part of Argentinian religion is to make annual pilgrimages to holy sites and shrines.  The most popular shrine is the Virgin of Lujan that is being protected by a chapel that is now a holy sight.  Two other important holy sights are Salta city, that holds a statue of Jesus Christ, and Corrientes Province, that holds the Virgin of Itati.  Most states and provinces have patron saints that they worship at local holy sights.

About Argentina

Argentina is a country in South America filled with a diverse landscape and a population of 41 million people.  Argentina is only second in size and population to Brazil in South America.  The religion is predominantly Roman Catholic with 1% of the people being Jewish.  Argentina has the largest Jewish population in South America.  The official language of Argentina is Spanish because of the large influence of the Spanish and Italian immigrants.  Argentina gained independence in 1816 and has the current government of a Republic.  The capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires which is located in the Pampas.  The Pampas are in the central-eastern part of Argentina and has a mediterranean type climate.  Also in Argentina is Patagonia, the Andes Mountains, and the Gran Chaco.  Patagonia is an arid desert in southern and central Argentina that covers 25% of the territory.  The Andes Mountains are on the western border of Argentina and contain some of the highest mountain in the world, only behind mountain in Asia.  The Gran Chaco is a very hot area of tropical and subtropical forest and scrub.  Argentina is an extremely diverse country with and indigenous population of 700,000.  The land and the people share great diversity, and yet live happily among the land and each other.