In spite of all, happy Independence Day Argentina...

Today is Argentina's Independence Day.

195 years ago, 33 decisived men, involved in the politics of the time gathered at the Province of Tucuman to formally proclaim independence from the Spanish crown, which had been recovered by previously overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte King of Spain, Fernando VII.

In 1816, the deputies attended the Congress formed at the Tucuman province, and declared the independence of the United Provinces of the River Plate, giving birth to what is Argentina nowadays.

195 years later, unfortunatelly there is little to celebrate. Although we are indeed free from Spain, we've became subdits of a new sort of "queen". The president in power -Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner- is neatly following his late husband's methods and procedures, which are obsessive concentration of power, contempt for the republican system of government and the rule of law, and an abusive use of the taxes collected due to an also outrageous tax burden on the tax-payers.

This year, the national holliday is the day before polling day for mayor of the city of Buenos Aires. Given the unitarian scheme of this country, Buenos Aires is the most important jurisdiction among all.

In order  to leave the voters in peace to consider and medidate their voting decisions, the elections law forbidds any and all political propaganda 48 hours previous to polling day.

The queen, I mean the president, hastily decided that such rule does not apply to her, and instead she went on with the campaing in favor of her candidate, Daniel Filmus. How she did it? She went on national brodacasting system, forcing us to see her on TV and listening on the radio, and decided to take part of the opening of a new building at the Ezeiza international airport. As La Nacion newspaper reports, the presidents hardly participates in openings of public and/or private works on saturdays, and even less in the main national holliday as the Independence Day..

The opening and the celebrations are great opportunities to address the nation, which shall either see her on TV or listening on the radio. One can argue that it's always possible to turn off the TV and the radio. And -fortunatelly- there'll be many peoply doing so, me among them. But there are two bigger problems: i) the message that goes out when a president acts as if she were beyond the law (the elections law, in this case), and ii) the message shall reach those not upset enough to turn off the radio and the TV.

And that's what turns this issue so sensitive when it comes to consider the institutional seriousness of this matter: if she, the main officer in charge, can break the law... why wouldn't we?

In spite of the lousy government we have today, and of the jeopardy of becoming Cuba... Happy birthday dear Argentina!