Fernández's error against Pedro Sánchez 1:45
(CNN) -
President Alberto Fernández received the President of the Spanish Government Pedro Sánchez in Buenos Aires on Wednesday.
In their joint press conference, the Argentine president made an unfortunate occurrence.
Trying to explain his condition as a "Europeanist", as he defined himself, he erroneously quoted the Mexican writer Octavio Paz, Nobel Prize in Literature, and said: "Mexicans came from the Indians, the Brazilians from the jungle and we, the Argentines , we came from the boats ”.
Fernández mistook a quote that the Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes - Octavio Paz's friend - attributed to the Argentine writer, Martín Caparrós, with a certain sense of humor, I suppose, as a criticism of Argentines. And at the same time, he also confused it with the lyrics of a song by the Argentine musician and friend of the president, Litto Nebbia.
The text by Carlos Fuentes of the book "The Five Soles of Mexico" refers in its preface: "Recently, a journalist asked a group of Mexicans:" When did Mexico start? " Somewhat perplexed, I consulted my answer with an Argentine friend, since Argentina is, in Latin America, the opposite pole of Mexico, both geographically and culturally. My friend, the novelist Martín Caparrós, first answered me with a famous joke: “Mexicans are descended from the Aztecs. We Argentines got off the boats ». And it is true: the recent migratory nature of Argentina contrasts with the ancient profile of Mexico. But Caparrós told me something else: "The real difference is that Argentina has a beginning, but Mexico has an origin." You can tell with some ease when something started.It is much more difficult to understand when something originated ”.
Controversy over statements by Alberto Fernández about immigrants in Brazil and Mexico
The matter had an enormous impact on the world press, on social networks and in the affected countries: Brazil and Mexico.
Therefore, the Argentine president offered his apologies, not once but twice.
This Thursday, Fernández tweeted: “« I wanted it to be a phrase (Zamba) that talks about us.
And of this land that we love (Latin America) and is a mixture of all.
Litto Nebbia synthesizes the real meaning of my words better than I do ”.
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Logically, Fernández's comment has annoyed Brazilians and Mexicans, as he attributed to the former a jungle condition and to the latter a descent from the "Indians."
This quote is not only derogatory, it is false.
It is an anachronistic and hurtful definition.
Thank God, many ships came to all of America with all kinds of immigrants.
Argentina is a great example of this migratory process.
All of America is a glorious mixture of currents, races, religions and colors that have mixed with the original peoples, which has enriched our continent.
Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Fernández meet: what topics did they discuss?
It is not the first time that Alberto Fernández has produced controversies with neighboring countries. Not to mention his comments from previous days that capitalism had not given good results, said to Vladimir Putin, or that human rights violations in Venezuela had been disappearing. Particularly during the pandemic, it is quite common to hear phrases as or more unfortunate than this from the authorities of the countries. For example, Donald Trump offered a catalog of these kinds of statements, and even Jair Bolsonaro himself and other leaders surprise the world every day with sayings of this nature.
This controversy has hidden another: when Fernández said that the central countries hoarded the vaccines and that they should distribute them, ignoring that, for the first time, the world is organizing to offer millions of doses to the region and the entire world.
Interestingly, Argentina, as a consequence of the regulations that it is applying in the matter, has the entry of these vaccines blocked for geopolitical reasons.
The president, who tried to explain his status as a "Europeanist", did not make it clear which part of Europe he was referring to.
Alberto Fernandez
