Overview of Plaza de Mayo

The Plaza de Mayo (Spanish: May Square) is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina; it is flanked by Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets. Several of the city's major landmarks are located around the Plaza: the Cabildo (the city council during the colonial era), the Casa Rosada (home of the executive branch of the federal government), the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires, the current city hall or municipalidad, and the headquarters of the Nación Bank. The Buenos Aires financial district (microcentro), affectionately known as la City (sic) also lies besides the Plaza. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2052x3076, 1833 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Plaza de Mayo Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2052x3076, 1833 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Plaza de Mayo Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... Buenos Aires (English: Fair Winds, originally Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires, City of the Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Fair Winds) is the capital of Argentina and its largest city and port, as well as... The Casa Rosada (Pink House), officially known as the Palacio de Gobierno (Government Palace), is the official residence of the President of Argentina. ... Current President Néstor Kirchner The President of Argentina (full title: President of the Argentine Nation, Spanish: Presidente de la Nación Argentina) is the head of state of Argentina. ... ... In small towns, the town hall may also incorporate other functions, such as a post office. ...

Political significance

The Plaza de Mayo has always been the focal point of political life in Buenos Aires. Its current name commemorates the May Revolution of 1810, which started the process towards the country's independence from Spain in 1816. La Revolución de Mayo (the May Revolution) was the first attempt at independence in the Viceroyalty of the River Plate, which contains present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Argentine War of Independence was fought from 1814 to 1816 by Argentine forces under José de San Martín against realista forces loyal to the Spanish crown. ... 1816 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

On October 17, 1945, mass demonstrations in the Plaza de Mayo organised by the CGT trade union federation forced the release from prison of Juan Domingo Perón, who would later become president of Argentina. For several years the Peronist movement gathered every October 17th in the Plaza de Mayo to show their support for their leader (and October 17 is still "Loyalty Day" for the traditional Peronists). Many other presidents, both democratic and military, have also saluted people in the Plaza from the balcony of the Casa Rosada. October 17 is the 290th (in leap years the 291st) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... A man holds up a street puppet designed to resemble George W. Bush at a demonstration against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund on April 16, 2005 in Washington, D.C.. American Civil Rights March on Washington, leaders marching from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, August 28... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Juan Domingo Perón (October 8, 1895 – July 1, 1974) was an Argentine military officer and the President of Argentina from 1946 to 1955 and from 1973 to 1974. ... Peronism (also called justicialism) is an Argentine para-fascist political ideology based on the ideas and programs associated with former president Juan Perón. ...

In 1955 the Plaza de Mayo was bombed by planes of a military faction trying to overthrow Perón, killing over 300 bystanders and wounding many more. Although the coup was aborted, three months later, the Revolución Libertadora ("Liberating Revolution") succeeded and staged its own demonstration in the same Plaza that used to be a symbol of Peronism. 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A coup détat, or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually done by a small group that just replaces the top power figures. ... The Revolución Libertadora (Spanish, Liberating Revolution) was a military uprising that ended the second presidential term of Juan Domingo Perón in Argentina, in 1955. ...

Years later, in 1974, Perón, then president for the third time, expelled from the Plaza the members of the Montoneros, an armed organisation that tried to influence the political orientation of the national government. 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1974 calendar). ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ...

Crowds gathered once again on April 2, 1982 to hail de facto President Leopoldo Galtieri for starting the Falklands/Malvinas war. April 2 is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli (July 15, 1926 - January 12, 2003) was an Argentinian general and dictator. ... The Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas), was an effective state of war in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands (also known in Spanish as the Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. ...

Since the late 1970s, this is where the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo have congregated with signs and pictures of desaparecidos, their children, who were subject to forced disappearance by the Argentine military in the Dirty War, during the National Reorganization Process. The Argentine military was anti-Communist, and people perceived to be supportive of such ideas would be illegally detained, subject to abuse and torture, and finally murdered in secret. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo took advantage of the symbolic importance of the Plaza to open the public's eyes to what the military were doing. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... The white shawl of the Mothers, painted on the floor in Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires. ... Desaparecidos means literally the disappeared in Spanish, and is a reference to people who were arrested, often illegally, by various South American military governments and then vanished. ... A forced disappearance occurs when an organization forces a person to vanish from public view, either by murder or by simple sequestration. ... The armed forces of Argentina are controlled by the Commander-in-Chief (the President) and a civilian Minister of Defense. ... This article especially refers to the Latin America dirty war. ... Jorge Rafael Videla, first president of the Proceso Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (Spanish, National Reorganization Process, often simply Proceso) was the name given by its leaders to the dictatorial regime that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. ... Communism refers to a conjectured future classless, stateless social organization based upon common ownership of the means of production, and can be classified as a branch of the broader socialist movement. ...

Protests have continued on taking place, reaching well into the 2000s. On December 19, 2001, seven protesters were shot to their deaths and several others injured by police as they rioted around Plaza de Mayo. Nevertheless, Plaza de Mayo continues to be a tourist attraction for those that visit Buenos Aires, but those who want to visit the area remain advised to be careful about choosing the time to visit it. This article is about the year 2000. ... December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Riots occur when crowds of people have gathered and are committing crimes or acts of violence usually due to a perceived grievance or out of dissent. ... A tourist boat travels the River Seine in Paris, France Tourism can be defined as the act of travel for the purpose of recreation, and the provision of services for this act. ...

Reference

• Official site