After posting the past two blogs earlier tonight, I headed out to a restaurant with a friend. We were walking along Avenida Santa Fe, just five blocks from my house, and noticed the police had closed off the street. We walked past the barricades and asked what was going on. There were people on the street burning candles and singing. One of the men (who spoke English) said the former president, Raul Alfonsin, had died tonight at 8:30 Argentina time, of cancer.Dr. Alfonsin was the first president to lead Argentina after decades of military rule as their first democratically elected leader. Unknown to me, Dr. Alfonsin was a neighbor of mine, spending his last few years on Santa Fe y Rodriquez Pena - only a few blocks away from my apartment.
It was very moving to see how important Alfonsin was to the older generation of Argentina, who suffered under decades of military rule. Human rights organizations estimate 30,000 Argentines died under the juntas. The current president declared three days of national mourning to pay tribute to Dr. Alfonsin.
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