18A

Antecedents

The 18A (a term that stands for the date "April 18") was initially called by groups in social networks as Facebook. Those groups had organized previous cacerolazos, the 8N and the 13S, and sought to repeat their success. The Argentine branch of the Anonymous group was among the organizers as well. Opposition parties in Argentina had not been formally involved in the previous demonstrations, which had no political leaning; in this case the organizers asked for political support from them.

The government proposed a number of bills to amend the judiciary. Three bills were controversial: the first proposes to limit the injunctions against the state, the second to include people selected in national elections at the body that appoints or accuses judges, and the third to create a new court that would limit the number of cases treated by the Supreme Court. The opposition considered that those bills attempt to control the judiciary. As the bills were going to be discussed on April 18, the Radical Civic Union, the Republican Proposal and the internal factions of Peronism that oppose Kirchner formally supported the demonstration. Still, the government announced that they would not decline the bills, even if the demonstration was massive.

The demonstration

Many groups met at 19:00 at several points of Buenos Aires, marching to the Obelisk and Plaza de Mayo at 20:00. The demonstration included no speeches or orators, and the political parties that joined it did not use political flags or banners. The people marched then to the Argentine National Congress, which was still discussing the bill. A group of people managed to trespass the crowd control barriers and get to the entry of the Congress, by the time the bill was being approved.

The demonstration took place at other cities of Argentina as well. The people in Córdoba filled all the space at the intersection of the avenues Vélez Sarsfield and Hipólito Irigoyen. There were demonstrations at many other cities of the Córdoba Province, such as Villa Carlos Paz, Río Cuarto, Villa María, Villa Dolores and Alta Gracia; governor José Manuel de la Sota gave his support. The demonstration in Rosario met at the National Flag Memorial, which was attended by Miguel del Sel of the PRO party. La Plata, which was highly damaged by the 2013 Argentina floods, had a demonstration at Plaza Moreno, with people opposing the mayor Pablo Bruera and the perceived corruption in the national government. There were demonstrations at Mar del Plata, Salta, Bariloche, San Juan, Santiago del Estero, Bahía Blanca and Misones, among other cities. There were small protests at the Argentine embassies in 15 foreign cities, such as Sydney, Tokio, Washington, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Milan, Santiago de Chile and Rio de Janeiro.

President Cristina Kirchner ignored the protest, and wrote several messages in Twitter during it, none of them related to the demonstration. She was not at the country at the moment, as she was visiting Venezuela for the inauguration of president Nicolás Maduro. Still, there was a demonstration outside the Quinta de Olivos, the official presidential residence.

References

References

1. (April 19, 2013). "Pocos se animaron a dar cifras". La Nación.
2. Laura Serra. (April 19, 2013). "Una multitud volvió a las calles en la mayor protesta contra el Gobierno". La Nación.
3. (April 11, 2013). "En las redes sociales, crece la convocatoria para la protesta del 18A". La Nación.
4. (April 12, 2013). "Invitación de los caceroleros a compartir la marcha del 18-A". La Nación.
5. Laura Serra. (April 12, 2013). "Duro documento de la oposición en contra de la reforma judicial". La Nación.
6. (April 12, 2013). "Macristas, radicales y aliados convocan a sumarse para el cacerolazo del 18A". La Nación.
7. Laura Serra. (April 16, 2013). "El oficialismo rechaza la marcha del 18-A y no detiene la reforma". La Nación.
8. Jaime Rosemberg. (April 18, 2013). "La oposición se sumará hoy al cacerolazo contra el Gobierno en Plaza de Mayo". La Nación.
9. (April 18, 2013). "Tensión en las puertas del Congreso, durante la marcha". La Nación.
10. (April 18, 2013). "Tras las inundaciones, La Plata se movilizó frente a la Catedral". La Nación.
11. (April 19, 2013). "Los cacerolazos también sonaron en varias ciudades del mundo". La Nación.
12. (April 18, 2013). "Mientras se desarrollan las protestas, Cristina repasa su último discurso". La Nación.
13. (April 18, 2013). "El cacerolazo por el 18A, en el interior del país". La Nación.