rox-kuryliw said on July 23, 2005 09:25:

without sounding stupid , i have no idea what argentina is like ? off top of my head i wanna say old fashion and has problems, but doesnt everywhere ? (hope i didnt offend you )

gessle-addict said on July 23, 2005 15:21:

Well, Argentina is a big country in South America. Roxette is huge here, they´ve played live twice and its capital city is Buenos Aires, Per’s favourite one according to him. Buenos Aires is very much like Europe since it was built by Spaniards and Italians. Some people call it, the Paris from South America, because of its architecture and cafés. Tango is very popular here, you can see many artists dancing tango all around Buenos Aires. Marie and Per have bought lots of antiques in an antique shop from here during their visist in 1995. The most curious thing is that the owner of the shop, invited Per & Marie to eat “asado”, one of our typical food, similar to the barbeque, and they accepted. Later on both, M & P said that they had never eaten so much meat in their lives as they did in Argentina, hehehe.

Bibi said on July 23, 2005 16:33:

Mmm what else...? Argentina has a good football team and I know Diego Maradonna. The flag is blue and white. There are the Andes and most of the people are Catholic. Moreover I know that there are many very poor people but of course also some with a lot of money. There seems to be a big difference in the income.
The German punkrock band I am listning to (DIE TOTEN HOSEN) are occasionally going over to Argentina for some concerts and their Argentinian fans are very grateful that they are comming to them. According to the band the crowds in Argentina are REALLY, REALLY wild. And the fans start spitting at them. Seems to be a kind of reverence. Otherwise I don’t know so much about Argentina.

steven said on July 23, 2005 18:12:

Unfortunately, Argentina doesn’t have a very good image in Britain (and I’m sure the situation is the same reversed).

We know Agrentina mainly for 2 things.

1. Maradonna and the “hand of God” incident in the 86 world cup game.

2. Falklands invasion.

Roxnit said on July 23, 2005 20:36:

As a brazilian, I HATE Argentina in the soccer but I love Argentina at the wintertime vacations when I go to Bariloche with my family....and get poor every year when I spend a lot of money in your country............I can say that I help your economy!!!!! Well, for me Argentina is a “more or less” coutry......

Breathe8 said on July 24, 2005 08:10:

I think Argentina is the reachest from coutries of south America but Argentina has still some economic problems. Buenos Aires is the most european city in Amerika.

I know a lot of actors from Argentina, for example Natalia Oreiro, Gracia Collmenares etc. Argentina has many TV telenovelas.

Argentina has about 35.000 inhabitantes and official language is spanish.

Breathe8 said on July 24, 2005 16:06:

Yes, of course 35 millions inhabitants.

Santi said on July 25, 2005 10:30:

What I know...

- It’s a very long country in which you can find everything from tropical forests to steppes and even glaciers.
- The southernmost town of the world is there, and it’s called Ushuaia.
- In some parts of the country, especially in the Andes, the consumption of coca leaves is allowed (to fight the effects of altitude).
- The name of the country comes from the mineral riches of silver (“argentum” in latin, if I’m not mistaken) ransacked by the Spaniards when they “discovered” America.
- It was the destination for many european emigrants, in special Spanish and Italian (you can see that in the surnames of Argentinians), so much that they speak Spanish with Italian accent.
- The Platense Spanish dialect has the doubious honour of being considered “the worst Spanish in the world”. Moreover, Argentinians can’t pronounce “y” and “ll” properly ;D
- Even with that, there have been master writers from that part of the world, for example Jorge Luis Borges.
- Buenos Aires is one of the favourite cities of Per Gessle. It also has a very broad avenue that is impossible to cross at once.
- Somehow Argentinians are masters in sports. The most obvious example is football, in which they have won many times the Copa America and also the FIFA World Cup. But not only football. They’re also extremely good in basketball, being the only team to win over the USA in the olympics final since NBA players are allowed to play. They also won them in the World Cup, so it’s not just luck.
- 2 of the best players ever in football were Argentinian (Diego Maradona, Alfredo Di Stefano).
- They also excel in rugby and field hockey.
- There are very good musicians, not only tango. Like Andres Calamaro, Tequila, Los Rodriguez or Charly Garcia. I can’t stand Fito Paez though :D
- The politicians are a disaster and they’re the main reason why is not in the same level of European countries. The government has hosted in the last decades everything from populists to militar dictatorships and plunderers of any kind.
- The Mayo Square is sadly famous.

I’m sure I know more, but I would have to think for a while about it :D

sommartider said on July 25, 2005 20:13:

Santi, you know more about Argentina than myself!!
The band “tequila” is not from here, at least it’s not a poppular band. If you like the argentinian rock/pop music, I have to recommend you “Soda Stereo”, the best argentinian band ever.

Staffany said on July 28, 2005 06:59:

“While Eva Peron has been romanticized into pop culture, the reality is that she and her husband Juan were atrocious dictators who governed horribly and violently while looting all they could from Argentine citizens and businesses. Eva demanded constant admiration (and expensive gifts) from everyone, while Juan was a pedophile who, if he spotted a desirable young teen girl, would have his thugs snatch her off the street and deliver her to his quarters. The end of their reign left the country impoverished and disorganized, yielding a series of brutal dictatorships thereafter”

You can’t be more wrong. All you have said is a total mistake. Argentina government was, since the first constitutional president in 1862, a total oligarchy. It means, all the presidents came from the high society, mainly owners of the big “estancias” (cattle ranchs). That was finally broken when Hipolito Yrigoyen was elected as president in 1916. After two no-consecutive periods, a military revolution exploded, pushed for the oligarchy again. When Perón finally was elected (for the people) in 1946, he finally recognised the worker’s right and stablished a new constitution, where all those rights were finally included. He, helped by his wife, was the first one who thought about that mass of people, who never had access to education or their own houses. That you call “looting” (as a metaphor, I guess) means a more equall distribution of wealth, in a country when only a few enjoyed a good life wile the others stand in poverty.

All the other things you said, like pedophilia is just bullshit. I live here but I never heard a word about that. I’ve seen load of documentaries, some even with a negative point of view about his period, but they never mentioned pedophilia or something like that.

J.F.K. has been romanticized into pop culture too, but he was not exactly and angel. He was a criminal who invaded a total independent country like Cuba. What does USA to do in other countries’ matters?

Debora said on October 7, 2005 19:16:

I think that the only thing Perón did was made “vagos” (that’s people who live without working) and he was the one who buried Argentina. About Eva, at least, she gave to women the right to vote and that’s enough for me.
And about USA presidents... well, all the world knows about them. It is not personal, but in general, US presidents think they are like super-heroes always trying to help people in name of freedom where no one calls them. Think about it just for a second: US really brings freedom to the world or is captured it? It’s just my opinion.