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| Date | April 18, 2013 (2013-04-18) |
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| Location | Argentina |
The18A was an Argentinecacerolazo that took place on April 18, 2013. Attended by nearly two million people,[1] it was the largest demonstration at the time against the presidentCristina Fernández de Kirchner.[2]
The 18A (a term that stands for the date "April 18") was initially called by groups in social networks asFacebook. Those groups had organized previouscacerolazos, the8N and the13S, and sought to repeat their success.[3] The Argentine branch of theAnonymous group was among the organizers as well.[3] Opposition parties in Argentina had not been formally involved in the previous demonstrations, which had no political leaning; in this case the organizers asked for political support from them.[4]
The government proposed a number of bills to amend the judiciary. Three bills were controversial: the first proposes to limit theinjunctions against the state, the second to include people selected in national elections at the body that appoints or accuses judges, and the third to create a new court that would limit the number of cases treated by the Supreme Court. The opposition considered that those bills attempt to control the judiciary.[5] As the bills were going to be discussed on April 18, theRadical Civic Union, theRepublican Proposal and the internal factions ofPeronism that oppose Kirchner formally supported the demonstration.[6] Still, the government announced that they would not decline the bills, even if the demonstration was massive.[7]
Many groups met at 19:00 at several points of Buenos Aires, marching to theObelisk andPlaza de Mayo at 20:00. The demonstration included no speeches or orators, and the political parties that joined it did not use political flags or banners.[8] The people marched then to theArgentine National Congress, which was still discussing the bill. A group of people managed to trespass the crowd control barriers and get to the entry of the Congress, by the time the bill was being approved.[9]
The demonstration took place at other cities of Argentina as well. The people inCórdoba filled all the space at the intersection of the avenues Vélez Sarsfield and Hipólito Irigoyen. There were demonstrations at many other cities of theCórdoba Province, such asVilla Carlos Paz,Río Cuarto,Villa María,Villa Dolores andAlta Gracia; governorJosé Manuel de la Sota gave his support.[10] The demonstration in Rosario met at theNational Flag Memorial, which was attended byMiguel del Sel of the PRO party.[10]La Plata, which was highly damaged by the2013 Argentina floods, had a demonstration at Plaza Moreno, with people opposing the mayorPablo Bruera and the perceived corruption in the national government.[11] There were demonstrations at Mar del Plata, Salta, Bariloche, San Juan, Santiago del Estero, Bahía Blanca and Misones, among other cities.[10] There were small protests at the Argentine embassies in 15 foreign cities, such as Sydney, Tokio, Washington, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Milan, Santiago de Chile and Rio de Janeiro.[12]
President Cristina Kirchner ignored the protest, and wrote several messages inTwitter during it, none of them related to the demonstration.[13] She was not at the country at the moment, as she was visiting Venezuela for the inauguration of presidentNicolás Maduro.[10] Still, there was a demonstration outside theQuinta de Olivos, the official presidential residence.[10]
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