Crowd protest holding red cards in front of Argentine Consulate in New York City, 11/08/12.
Photo by Chris Lee

Friday, November 9, 2012

A main symbol of the global protests against President Cristina Kirchner has been the “red card” from soccer or futbol games meaning “throw her out.”

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has stated that unless Argentina remedied its faulty inflation data, she would use the red card against Argentina, threatening further sanctions. “If no progress has been made, then the red card will be out,” said Lagarde.

This is the second round of protests organized informally online through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The first occurred on September 13. The main issues cited by protestors are: runaway inflation, infringement on press freedoms, and attempts to amend the Constitution to allow Kirchner a third term.

There were 16 demonstrations in cities internationally on November 8 attended by Argentine expatriates, in addition to protests across Argentina. The protest in Rome drew 200 people with drums and a large rat cut-out. The one in London similarly drew several hundred protestors. In the United States, the Washington DC protest drew over 200 protestors. In New York, only a dozen Argentine expats were gathered at the start time of 6pm in front of the Argentine Consulate, but by 7pm the crowd numbered over 300. Police continually extended the “protest pen” and shut down part of West 56 Street to accommodate the swelling crowd waving hundreds of red cards.

Click here for more images of the international 8N events.