The day had dawned cloudy and rainy on May 25, 1810, but when at 15 p.m. on that historic day, the members of the First Government Board took the oath in the City Hall, from the heart of the city of Buenos Aires the history of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata or Republic of Argentina.
It is probably not necessary to explain that May 25, 1810 is a relevant date for Argentines, because it was that day that their own government was born, the product of the bravery of a people who refused to remain under the yoke of the Spanish monarchy, then occupied by Napoleon Bonaparte.
That First Patriotic Government was made up of a president –Cornelius Saavedra-, two secretaries –Juan Jose Paso and Mariano Moreno– and six vowels – - Manuel Alberti, Miguel Ignacio de Azcuenaga, Juan Jose Castelli, Manuel Belgrano, Juan Larrea and Domingo Matheu.Surely they were not aware of the place that history would hold for them in the estimation of future generations of Argentines.
Two hundred years have passed since then, and the situation finds us cornered by a Chinese virus called COVID-19, and by a paternalistic government, which, although it initially had the good sense to define a social, preventive and mandatory quarantine for all the inhabitants of the country, has already entered into a kind of populist state paternalism that oppresses citizens, ruins the country's economy, underestimates the conscience and social responsibility of each individual when it comes to taking care of themselves from contagion, and puts the sacred freedom of movement of men in check, which, although it is susceptible to being restricted, is being excessively violated by a State that, with the excuse of "taking care" of people, subjugates them and subjects them to psychological illnesses whose consequences will surely cause more deaths than those that are intended to be saved with the measures that are being adopted.
On May 25, 1810, our country was emancipated from Spain. Two hundred years later, it seems enslaved, but not by Spain, but by a treacherous virus that has grown tired of traveling around the world, and also by the absence of work and reasonable freedoms, the result of decisions adopted by the current authorities, who, under the cover of a record lockdown in the world, and with the aforementioned argument of “taking care of the Argentines”, are undermining the functioning of institutions and ruining the dreams of millions of individuals who need to work, produce, trade and feed themselves, even in the context of an unwanted pandemic.
It does not seem to be the best context to celebrate the 210th anniversary of our country; but in any case we must take the opportunity to analyze how those patriots would have acted, in the face of the growing and galloping discredit that our institutions, our economy and our legal system are suffering in the context of the current pandemic. May the spirit of May enlighten us in that regard.
By: Félix V. Lonigro. Professor of Constitutional Law (UBA)
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