Can't stand the heat?... Protest!

I love the word "cacerolazo." It describes a protest, but it more literally means something like a "pot-bang" ("cacerola" = casserole or stew pot and then the suffix "-azo" denotes a striking or hitting action). There was another cacerolazo the other night in Caballito to protest the lack of electricity in the neighborhood amid a stifling heat wave. That was enough of an excuse for me to Google the fine word & borrow the image (above) & learn from Wikipedia that the term was actually coined on the other side of the Andes in Chile in the early 70s, when women banged pots in the streets to protest basic supply shortages under Allende. Argentina has since run with the tradition, most famously during the currency crisis of 2001.

In Palermo, our block was hit with a power outage early Wednesday morning. Too early to inspire me to grab pots and pans. I awoke at 3 AM, but was left stunned by the silence and sticky heat. The AC had shut off a while ago, judging by the temperature in our bedroom. The ceiling fan was absolutely still. We didn't get our power restored until 11 AM later that long, hot morning...

In today's papers we have the government's first admissions that they are cutting power to homes, amid record demand. Cristina blames global climatic changes and a heat wave. Nice tactic. No mention of the lack of investment in Argentina's infrastructure... Her chief of staff, Alberto Fernández, notes that's it's not an energy problem but a distribution of energy problem. Here's the story (with some feisty comments attached):

"No tenemos problemas energéticos" [La Nacion]