Wednesday, July 13, 2016 Too much past on paradeFirst instincts are often the best and President Mauricio Macri would have done better sticking to his original plan of skipping Sunday’s military parade celebrating the Bicentennial of Argentine independence in order to rest off his exhausting overseas tour earlier this month. The inclusion of people who could be convicted of crimes against humanity seems to carry the principle of innocent until proven guilty too far — the celebration of two centuries of independence should be inseparable from the defence of the democracy during most of the second century. As Oscar Wilde said: “Once might be an accident but twice looks like carelessness” — the undue protagnonism given to a disgraced ex-ruler like Juan Carlos could always be attributed to misplaced courtesy or simple ignorance, but the sinister symbolism lurking amid the military fanfare is far more disturbing. It might be argued that the extreme nationalism represented by the likes of Rico is not wholly incompatible with the patriotism underlying any Independence Day celebrations, but this year does not only mark 200 years of independent existence — it is also the centenary of the first genuinely free and democratic elections in Argentina when Rico did his best (or worst) to derail a then infant revival of democracy back in 1987. If yesterday’s editorial described as a “provocation” Macri’s remarks to Spanish ex-monarch Juan Carlos about “anguish” over the separation from Spain, what term would be fitting for such outrages as the inclusion of former carapintada Army mutineer Aldo Rico or military veterans from the Operativo Independencia anti-guerrilla campaign as from 1975 (the first full rehearsal for state terrorism) — what could possibly be more provocative than the sight of a green Ford Falcon (the iconic vehicle used to whisk away the missing in the junta years) in the military parade in the Buenos Aires provincial city of Junín?

Source: Bueno Aires Herald July 13, 2016 05:36 UTC