“Doing this (activities for children in need) makes me feel like he is here with us, it is something that I cannot explain because I know what I feel, it is something that fills my soul and my daughters too,” are the words of Anabela Aranda, partner of Gonzalo “Pipi” Alonso, a barrabrava from Estudiantes de La Plata who
died from a gunshot to the head
on November 14, 2021 in the “mega-occupation” of land of the former Glider Club, in Los Hornos.
With translucent yellow sunglasses, hair tied up and a Estudiantes t-shirt, Aranda told
Clarín
that they do these activities almost every month to help the neighborhood children and continue the legacy that “Pipi” left.
“And we started with this because when the pandemic happened he wanted to help and started with all these solidarity movements and well, it is something that is left to us,” she highlighted.
In 2013 it was “Pipi” Alonso's first act of solidarity,
after the tragic flood of La Plata
.
He was in charge of distributing donations to his neighbors.
In 2020, he began organizing a weekly soup kitchen and began working on founding a club for the kids in his neighborhood.
These actions motivated his wife, daughters and family to continue with these charitable events in their neighborhood, La Favela, in Tolosa, La Plata.
The events are held for different celebrations and depending on the needs.
“For example, for Children's Day we handed out toys, a clown came and did a circus show,” Aranda mentioned.
One of Gonzalo "Pipi" Alonso's daughters at the last snack her family made for children from the La Favela neighborhood in La Plata.
For the start of classes they asked for donations to deliver supplies and backpacks to the children who needed them.
“We were washing backpacks to give them,” said the “Pipi” couple.
Not only her, her daughters and her family organize these activities, but also friends and
even people who did not know him
, but heard about “Pipi”.
And the memory of him and his good actions are still alive in the people of La Favela and the Estudiantes bar that printed his face on flags, t-shirts, murals and some even went so far as to tattoo his image.
While Aranda shows the mural they made on the street where “Pipi” lived, he reveals the number
“32”
on his jacket, the same one that his daughters also wear.
Because?
Alonso's favorite number, although the reason for his liking for it, he took to the grave.
Bed that Aranda cannot yet visit.
“The truth is that it is a delicate issue that we cannot yet address.
Going to the cemetery is a very strong blow that we still cannot face,” she expressed uncomfortably.
And that November 14, 2021 was marked in his life forever.
That day a friend called “Pipi” from the “megatake” of Los Hornos, a 160-hectare property taken over by more than a thousand families.
They told him that
they needed his help
with a problem they had with a couple over a piece of land, they had to move a container to end the dispute.
Anabela demands justice for the crime of "Pipi" Alonso.
Photo: Mauricio Nievas
She let him go, not thinking that it would be the last time she would see him alive.
Alonso came at 3:30 p.m. with another friend.
At 5:00 p.m. they were about to leave, with the problem apparently solved.
However, they were surprised by a group of 8 to 9 people, among whom was Romina Rocha, a woman with whom her friends argued over the land.
Two of her companions
arrived armed
with 9 millimeter pistols.
It was the bullets from one of these weapons that ended the life of “Pipi”, when he
ran to take cover
and avoid the fatal outcome.
According to Aranda's story, the Police were at the scene watching, but minutes before the incident they left, so she and her friends
accuse the officers
of also being responsible for Alonso's death.
“The Plicía is complicit.
They liberated the area, they are all going to pay “#Justiciaporpipi”, says a poster that accompanies the activities carried out by “Pipi's” family.
Aranda related that if the officers stayed perhaps what happened would not have happened.
Regarding the case, he reported that there are three detainees, two fugitives and other people not yet identified.
At the beginning of the year they told him that in five months there will be the trial of those who are imprisoned.
“What I want most is for all the people who were there and collaborated to make this happen pay.”
A brief relief for her is that one of those arrested is the one who killed “Pipi,” according to witnesses.
Although she has a lawyer who follows the case and is paid by the Student Bar,
she began studying a career in law
to be able to get more involved in the case and achieve justice.
The mural they made on the street where "Pipi" lived.
Photo: Mauricio Nievas
In addition to studying, she now has
two jobs
to be able to support her two daughters, one 9 and the other 14. Both aware that their father passed away.
She pointed out that it was difficult to raise her girls.
Her oldest daughter needed to go to therapy to
assimilate the loss
.
Aranda expressed that she always tries to turn everything around to move forward, despite the obstacles that she had to experience.
One of them,
threatening calls to withdraw the complaint
.
She commented that after the process began they called her to drop the case, which she did not do.
She informed the police and after a few weeks of being under police surveillance the threats stopped.
Although she no longer receives these calls, she also does not notice the police patrolling her street and therefore lives in fear that something could happen to her or her family.
Move?
It is not a viable option for her
due to economic issues
and because the apartment where they live was acquired a few days before “Pipi” was killed.
November 5 was when the family finished moving and a few days after fulfilling this dream the terrible outcome occurred.
Now they only have the good deeds that he did, the affection of everyone who knew him, the desire to get justice and some of his belongings such as his collection of T-shirts, a priceless treasure of his daughters.
“Pipi” Alonso was the son of a former leader of the Estudiantes tribune, Omar “Hache” Alonso, so his funeral was
full of fans
, managers and some footballers from the La Plata team such as Juan Sebastián Verón and also from other clubs such as Marcos Rojo from Boca Juniors.
Grateful for all the tributes, Aranda encourages organizations and people interested in helping them to contact her through her Facebook account and with her eyes up she says that she will continue to move forward to show her daughters how good life is.
Clarín Master's Degree / University of San Andrés
P.S.