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THE PIQUETERO MOVEMENT IN ARGENTINA
SCRIPT
2'00"00
2'05"13
Very noisy..
and equally efficient...
the piquetero movement in Argentina is well organized: they come in hundreds, men, women and children, to demonstrate....
About once a week, sometimes more, and most of the time without any warning, they block off some of Buenos Aires' main streets, causing major traffic disruptions
2'29"10
SOUNDBITE VOX POP
"Mal mal mal... esto no va más. No se puede seguir así, cortando las calles, es un desastre, viejo."
"Bad, bad, bad... We can't go on like this, cutting off streets, it's a disaster"
2'40"04
And forcing the city to organize itself to avoid total chaos.
Although some piquetes are set up to show support for the Kirchner administration, the piquetero movement is mainly one of protest against the government...
2'59"00
SOUNDBITE VOX POP
"Eso es la realidad, que hay gente acá en Argentina que no tiene para comer. Hay gente que se está muriendo pero de hambre..."
"The reality is that, here in Argentina, some people don't have enough to eat. There are people who are starving to death."
3'06"20
These piqueteros were marching towards Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires's main square, in front of the Houses of government... but were stopped by the police a few hundred yards
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before reaching the plaza.
They decided to camp out where they were until the President agreed to give them what they wanted: a job...
3'25"11
SOUNDBITE, Guillermo Kane, Polo Obrero (Spanish)
"Y nos vamos a quedar hasta tener una solución para el conjunto de los compañeros"
"We're going to stay until we reach a solution for all our fellow "comrades"
3'29"13
And so they did... for 35 hours... Until the government finally agreed to their demands.
The piquete has become the most prominent way of protesting nowadays in Argentina....
A common method indeed, and a legal one at that... but not a popular one, Julio Burdman, Head of political science at Belgrano university in Buenos Aires tells us ......
3'54"01
SOUNDBITE Julio Burdman, Head of political science at Belgrano university, Buenos Aires
"Surveys show that the people, society, is fed up and get angry with the piqueteros, with piquetes. Even when they look at it closer and understand the reason of all this - they still don't like the method used".
4'12"03
Major traffic disruptions imply people being late for work, ambulances struggling to get patients to hospital, and force businesses to close...
The balance of power is such that, as social tension is growing in Argentina, many consider that so will the piquetero movement. And it is so well established that it may prove difficult for the government to handle in the future.
4'39"00
END SCRIPT
O.W.M.
On the Way Media
CREDITS
Production: Macarena Gagliardi
Camera: Nicolas Muñoz
Script and Voice over: Rebecca Martin
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