MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Fernández hosts Argentine Independence Day ceremony at historic Tucumán house amid protests

“We celebrate the effort of each Argentine who day by day works so that we are more and more independent...,” the president said

Argentine President Alberto Fernández Friday headed the celebrations marking the 205th anniversary of the country's Declaration of Independence. From the historic house in the Argentine province of Tucumán, where dignitaries of the provinces signed the declaration in 1816, Fernández said Argentines were “close to the tomorrow we want,” in a message posted on social media.

The president also highlighted “the efforts of each and everyone who, with work, keeps alive the legacy of the heroes of the country.” 

“We must become aware that not only do we celebrate an event from the past, which we remember with monuments, with tributes. We celebrate the effort of each Argentine who day by day works so that we are more and more independent and thus keep the legacy alive and the love for the country that they left us,” the president said.

“Values and convictions that we carry in every step we take and that should inspire us in the time … in which a pandemic hits and overshadows the entire world, but in which we were able to take care of ourselves and others and we were able to continue moving forward with work and solidarity,” he added.

But as Fernández was heading for the house where he stood alongside Tucumán Governor Juan Manzur, protesters in the streets of the province's capital clashed with the police.

The demonstrators, who were from a rural background and aligned with the march in San Nicolás, wanted to reach the traditional Plaza Independencia but were stopped by the police's CERO infantry group, despite which they remained in downtown Tucumán carrying Argentine flags.

Videos of the incidents quickly went viral on social media. “Let's not allow them to marginalize us as happened with our brothers from Salta,” demanded one of the slogans, recalling the incidents, of a similar tone, that had been registered in Salta during the tributes to the gaucho hero Martín Miguel de Güemes.