LABORDA “What’s behind the ‘saucepan’ protest?

Fernando Laborda, at La Nación, analyses in this article the so-called “saucepan” protests (cacerolazos) that took place in the city of Buenos Aires last week.

These protests hold many resemblances with the famous 2001 “cacerolazos”: they took place in the same wealthy neighborhoods where they started in 2001, and they were also triggered by economic reasons. There is a consensus among public opinion analysts, that while the main root of the protest is economic, the decision of take action has been determined by a combination of economic distress and high perception of corruption.

The movement is, however, still only an isolated protest, which only includes middle and middle high classes of the city of Buenos Aires. Nevertheless, it may begin to grow. Laborda concludes that this still an incipient protest  is the reflection of a population getting tired of an administrative style, and it also reflects a warning to the government regarding economic uncertainty, the ghosts of the past and the fear of more interventionist measures.