SOVEREIGNTY DAY (By Hostel Buenos Aires)

Today, Monday November 22nd of 2010, Argentina celebrates for the first time the holiday known as Sovereignty Day, which will be evoked every November 20th. This year the date was moved to Monday 22nd because the original day was a non-working day as Saturday. An important day of our history adds to the official commemorations calendar. We remember November 20th of 1845, when the battle of Vuelta de Obligado took place.

In 1845, the internal political context of our country was complex and signed by a serious division in two faction that struggled for power: Unitarians and Federal. Due to the internal weekness, two European powers as France and England tried to take control of Buenos Aires on November 20th. The goal was to enter the city from the north by the Paraná River.

In response, the Governor of Buenos Aires Juan Manuel de Rosas sent his main General Lucio Mansilla to repeal the attack. A difficult issue considering that France and England possessed the most powerful navies in the world back then. Beside that, they outnumbered the Argentine forces and had more ammo. The battle was fought anyway and finally, after a few months signed by local population support, Argentina kept its patrimony.

As a curiosity, the 20 pesos bills carry the face of Governor Rosas on one side and an image of the place of the battle on the other. Vuelta de Obligado still exists, near the city of San Pedro in the north of Buenos Aires. Today, Argentine sovereignty is undeniable and the rememberance of that battle is festive. Fortunately away from wars and conflicts, our country embraces the world with his own identity.