Piquetero
Encyclopedia
A piquetero is a member of a political faction whose primary modus operandi is based in the piquete. The piquete is an action by which a group of people blocks a road or street with the purpose of demonstrating and calling attention over a particular issue or demand. The trend was initiated in Argentina
in the mid-1990s, during the Administration of President Carlos Menem
, soon becoming a frequent form of protest that still prevails on the South American socio-political scene. Seventy percent of the piqueteros are women, and some of their leaders are women too, like Milagro Sala
from Jujuy.
The word piquetero is a neologism in the Spanish
of Argentina. It comes from piquete (in English
, "picket"), that is, a standing demonstration
of protest
in a significant spot.
town of Cutral-Có, province
of Neuquén
, when workers laid off by the state-owned oil
company YPF (now privatized and part of Repsol YPF
) blocked National Route 22. Like many other small towns throughout Argentina, Cutral-Có depended almost exclusively on the jobs provided by a single local company.
During the latter half of the 1990s, as the Argentine economy
lost competitiveness and exports markets due to the over-valued fixed exchange rate
, and many former state companies were sold to private corporations, many Argentines lost their jobs. The piquetero form of protest soon spread to the impoverished
neighbourhoods and de-industrialized towns of Greater Buenos Aires
, starting in Florencio Varela
and La Matanza
, as well as other provinces. In 1997 there were 23 roadblocks in Buenos Aires Province
, and a total of 77 in the whole country.
After a time, piqueteros began assembling in a more organized fashion, forming "Unemployed Workers Movements" (Movimientos de Trabajadores Desocupados, abbreviated as MTDs). The protests began to include not only major road-blocking pickets, but also blockades of important streets in the cities or just outside of them, as well as bridge
s and accesses to economically critical spots (for example, directly in front of major stores and supermarket
s). In some instances, government buildings were blocked and occupied by force.
The MTDs also began involving themselves in co-operatives for a myriad of purposes, such as barter
markets for goods and services, small-scale food production, sewing
workshops, food-ration distributing facilities, etc. A number of piqueteros now participate, support, or otherwise have ties with the recovered factory movement (for example in the former ceramic tile factory Zanon, now FaSinPat
).
In 2002, two piqueteros, Darío Santillán and Maximiliano Kosteki, died during protests in the Pueyrredón Bridge in Buenos Aires. Judicial investigations and the Argentine press blame the Secretariat of Intelligence
for participation in the organization of these events. On the second anniversary of the killings, a defacement of one of SIDE's bases was done in protest. Involvement of SIDE has not been proven so far.
In early 2006, Alfredo Fanchiotti and Alejandro Acosta, two policemen who participated in the repression, were convicted for murder. Relatives and comrades of the piqueteros killed that day claim that the prosecutor and the judge intentionally avoided looking for the politician that ordered and directed the repression.
, from two main fronts: old, traditionally fragmented leftist
parties and movements, and the Peronist Party
. During the late 1990s, piqueteros in Greater Buenos Aires came to overlap with the manzaneras, agents of the anti-Menem Peronist machine of provincial governor Eduardo Duhalde
. By 2005, of the large MTDs in Buenos Aires have been mostly co-opted either by radical, intransigent left-wing ideological factions, or by the local Peronist municipal
administrations, many of them linked to former Buenos Aires governor and then interim
president Eduardo Duhalde
, and others to supporters of former president Néstor Kirchner
.
The Peronist Party connection is particularly important given that piquetero groups have acquired a hierarchical
structure, where benefits are shared from the top down, and in many cases the heads of the movements serve as intermediaries for the distribution of government welfare
subsidies, from which each member of the piquetero organization must discount a small sum to support the logistics
of the protests, the hiring and maintenance of assembly facilities, etc. Welfare subsidies come for example under the forms of Planes Trabajar, which consist in 20 hours per week "contracts" used by public institutions and paid 150 pesos
(less than 50 USD) a month.
Argentinians, right-wing
political actors, and piqueteros themselves.
Among the decimated but still numerous Argentine middle class, the common criticism is that piqueteros, while morally and legally entitled to protest and demonstrate, should not do so by blocking important roads and streets, since this violates other people's right
to circulate freely and often results in delays (from the relatively trivial problem of arriving home later after work, to the very serious of ambulances with critical patients being stopped by a picket). The so-called "violent" attitude of some piqueteros, who cover their faces with scarf
s or handkerchief
s as a form —so they claim— of protection against police retaliations, and who wield sticks, is sometimes interpreted as a visible threat towards passers-by and police, is usually pointed out as proof. On occasions, these type of critics become violent too when faced with a picket. People who thus criticize the piqueteros may agree with the need to provide relief for the poor and unemployed, but disagree on the form of the demands.
The political right, speaking mainly through politicians and journalists but resonating with many other Argentinians, overtly or covertly equates piqueteros with criminals. It is a fact that violent incidents with piqueteros have ended up with people wounded, cars and houses damaged, etc., and even non-violent blockades are formally illegal if they cause serious disruptions. Occupation of state and private buildings, including supermarket
s and casino
s, followed by demands of money and food supplies, has also occurred in the recent past. People advocating the application of the law against blockades request that the government outlaw the protests and suffocate them using violent means if necessary. However, the case is that most pickets ends without violence.
The piqueteros themselves have become fragmented, as explained above. The movements supported by leftist
parties, as well as the independent ones, criticize the piquetero leaders that have chosen to support the national Kirchner administration (which is viewed by them as a relatively progressive government, working slowly to improve Argentina's condition). In turn, the left-wing piqueteros are portrayed by the others as representatives of an unproductive, non-constructive radical opposition, sometimes encouraging violent action.
In the media, this fragmentation has been somewhat oversimplified by terming intransigent MTDs as piqueteros duros ("hard piqueteros") and those more willing to negotiate as piqueteros blandos ("soft piqueteros").
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in the mid-1990s, during the Administration of President Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
, soon becoming a frequent form of protest that still prevails on the South American socio-political scene. Seventy percent of the piqueteros are women, and some of their leaders are women too, like Milagro Sala
Milagro Sala
Milagro Sala is a leader of the Tupac Amaru neighborhood association, part of the Association of State Workers of Jujuy, and a leading figure in the Movimiento piquetero of Argentina.-Early life:...
from Jujuy.
The word piquetero is a neologism in the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
of Argentina. It comes from piquete (in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, "picket"), that is, a standing demonstration
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
of protest
Protest
A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...
in a significant spot.
Origins of the Piqueteros
The piqueteros appeared first in June 1996 in the PatagonicPatagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
town of Cutral-Có, province
Provinces of Argentina
Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...
of Neuquén
Neuquén Province
Neuquén is a province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west...
, when workers laid off by the state-owned oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
company YPF (now privatized and part of Repsol YPF
Repsol YPF
Repsol YPF, S.A. is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 29 countries...
) blocked National Route 22. Like many other small towns throughout Argentina, Cutral-Có depended almost exclusively on the jobs provided by a single local company.
Piqueteros as a national phenomenon
Economy of Argentina
This article provides an overview of the Economic history of Argentina.-Emergence into the world economy:Prior to the 1880s, Argentina was a relatively isolated backwater, dependent on the wool, leather and hide industry for both the greater part of its foreign exchange and the generation of...
lost competitiveness and exports markets due to the over-valued fixed exchange rate
Fixed exchange rate
A fixed exchange rate, sometimes called a pegged exchange rate, is a type of exchange rate regime wherein a currency's value is matched to the value of another single currency or to a basket of other currencies, or to another measure of value, such as gold.A fixed exchange rate is usually used to...
, and many former state companies were sold to private corporations, many Argentines lost their jobs. The piquetero form of protest soon spread to the impoverished
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
neighbourhoods and de-industrialized towns of Greater Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, starting in Florencio Varela
Florencio Varela Partido
Florencio Varela is a partido located in the south of Gran Buenos Aires urban area in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.The partido has an area of and a population of 423,992...
and La Matanza
La Matanza Partido
La Matanza is a partido located in the Greater Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires Province in Argentina....
, as well as other provinces. In 1997 there were 23 roadblocks in Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
, and a total of 77 in the whole country.
After a time, piqueteros began assembling in a more organized fashion, forming "Unemployed Workers Movements" (Movimientos de Trabajadores Desocupados, abbreviated as MTDs). The protests began to include not only major road-blocking pickets, but also blockades of important streets in the cities or just outside of them, as well as bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
s and accesses to economically critical spots (for example, directly in front of major stores and supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s). In some instances, government buildings were blocked and occupied by force.
The MTDs also began involving themselves in co-operatives for a myriad of purposes, such as barter
Barter
Barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. It is usually bilateral, but may be multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a...
markets for goods and services, small-scale food production, sewing
Sewing
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era...
workshops, food-ration distributing facilities, etc. A number of piqueteros now participate, support, or otherwise have ties with the recovered factory movement (for example in the former ceramic tile factory Zanon, now FaSinPat
FaSinPat
FaSinPat, formerly known as Zanon, is a worker-controlled ceramic tile factory in the southern Argentine province of Neuquén, and one of the most prominent in the recovered factory movement of Argentina...
).
Piqueteros during the crisis
Secretaría de Inteligencia
Secretaría de Inteligencia is the premier intelligence agency of the Argentine Republic and head of its National Intelligence System....
for participation in the organization of these events. On the second anniversary of the killings, a defacement of one of SIDE's bases was done in protest. Involvement of SIDE has not been proven so far.
In early 2006, Alfredo Fanchiotti and Alejandro Acosta, two policemen who participated in the repression, were convicted for murder. Relatives and comrades of the piqueteros killed that day claim that the prosecutor and the judge intentionally avoided looking for the politician that ordered and directed the repression.
Political involvement in the MTDs
The success of the MTDs soon attracted the attention of political actorsPolitics of Argentina
The politics of Argentina take place in the framework of what the Constitution defines as a federal presidential representative democratic Republic, where the President of Argentina is both Head of State and Head of Government. Legislative power is vested in both the President and the two chambers...
, from two main fronts: old, traditionally fragmented leftist
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
parties and movements, and the Peronist Party
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
. During the late 1990s, piqueteros in Greater Buenos Aires came to overlap with the manzaneras, agents of the anti-Menem Peronist machine of provincial governor Eduardo Duhalde
Eduardo Duhalde
-External links:...
. By 2005, of the large MTDs in Buenos Aires have been mostly co-opted either by radical, intransigent left-wing ideological factions, or by the local Peronist municipal
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
administrations, many of them linked to former Buenos Aires governor and then interim
Ad interim
The Latin phrase ad interim literally means "in the time between" denotes the meaning of "in the meantime", "for an intervening time" or "temporarily" in the English language...
president Eduardo Duhalde
Eduardo Duhalde
-External links:...
, and others to supporters of former president Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
.
The Peronist Party connection is particularly important given that piquetero groups have acquired a hierarchical
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...
structure, where benefits are shared from the top down, and in many cases the heads of the movements serve as intermediaries for the distribution of government welfare
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
subsidies, from which each member of the piquetero organization must discount a small sum to support the logistics
Logistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...
of the protests, the hiring and maintenance of assembly facilities, etc. Welfare subsidies come for example under the forms of Planes Trabajar, which consist in 20 hours per week "contracts" used by public institutions and paid 150 pesos
Argentine peso
The peso is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. Its ISO 4217 code is ARS...
(less than 50 USD) a month.
Criticism and fragmentation
The criticism towards piqueteros and MTDs have come mostly from three sides: middle-classMiddle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
Argentinians, right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
political actors, and piqueteros themselves.
Among the decimated but still numerous Argentine middle class, the common criticism is that piqueteros, while morally and legally entitled to protest and demonstrate, should not do so by blocking important roads and streets, since this violates other people's right
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
to circulate freely and often results in delays (from the relatively trivial problem of arriving home later after work, to the very serious of ambulances with critical patients being stopped by a picket). The so-called "violent" attitude of some piqueteros, who cover their faces with scarf
Scarf
A scarf is a piece of fabric worn around the neck, or near the head or around the waist for warmth, cleanliness, fashion or for religious reasons. They can come in a variety of different colours.-History:...
s or handkerchief
Handkerchief
A handkerchief , also called a handkercher or hanky, is a form of a kerchief, typically a hemmed square of thin fabric that can be carried in the pocket or purse, and which is intended for personal hygiene purposes such as wiping one's hands or face, or blowing one's nose...
s as a form —so they claim— of protection against police retaliations, and who wield sticks, is sometimes interpreted as a visible threat towards passers-by and police, is usually pointed out as proof. On occasions, these type of critics become violent too when faced with a picket. People who thus criticize the piqueteros may agree with the need to provide relief for the poor and unemployed, but disagree on the form of the demands.
The political right, speaking mainly through politicians and journalists but resonating with many other Argentinians, overtly or covertly equates piqueteros with criminals. It is a fact that violent incidents with piqueteros have ended up with people wounded, cars and houses damaged, etc., and even non-violent blockades are formally illegal if they cause serious disruptions. Occupation of state and private buildings, including supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s and casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
s, followed by demands of money and food supplies, has also occurred in the recent past. People advocating the application of the law against blockades request that the government outlaw the protests and suffocate them using violent means if necessary. However, the case is that most pickets ends without violence.
The piqueteros themselves have become fragmented, as explained above. The movements supported by leftist
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
parties, as well as the independent ones, criticize the piquetero leaders that have chosen to support the national Kirchner administration (which is viewed by them as a relatively progressive government, working slowly to improve Argentina's condition). In turn, the left-wing piqueteros are portrayed by the others as representatives of an unproductive, non-constructive radical opposition, sometimes encouraging violent action.
In the media, this fragmentation has been somewhat oversimplified by terming intransigent MTDs as piqueteros duros ("hard piqueteros") and those more willing to negotiate as piqueteros blandos ("soft piqueteros").
External links
- Argentina's New Social Protagonists (2002) and Piqueteros, la cara oculta del fenómeno (2002) - Report and slide show from ClarínClarín (newspaper)Clarín is the largest newspaper in Argentina, published by the Grupo Clarín media group. It was founded by Roberto Noble on 28 August 1945. It is politically centrist but popularly understood to oppose the Kirchner government...
, the Argentine daily newspaper - The Oppenheimer Report: 'Piqueteros' are the real kings of the road (2006) - Miami Herald report
- Argentina: Pickets and police (2004) - Economist report on Kirchner relations with the piquetero movement
- Argentina: Who's afraid of the piqueteros? (2004) - Green Left report on U.S. and Argentine government responses to the piqueteros
- Piquetero Movement Ideas: A discussion with MTD Allen - Interview with a piquetero leader
- Power or counter power? The dilemma of the Piquetero movement in Argentina post-crisis (2003) - article in Capital & Class
- Argentina's Piqueteros and Us - Overview and comparisons with the situation of the United States
- Argentina: the mystification of the 'piquetero' movement International Communist Current critique the piquetero movement as an instrument of the bourgeoisie
- Unrest and Repression in Argentina (1998) - New Politics analysis of Cutral Cò and other early piquetero episodes
- Argentina's unemployed movement: fragmented but active
- Piquetero TV
- "Colectivo Situaciones" texts about piqueteros and social movements in various languages
- Diario del Juicio, a website about the June 2002 repression of piqueteros
- A Look at Argentina’s 2001 Economic Rebellion and the Social Movements that Led It - video report by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...