2024-01-09 05:12:02
MERCEDES, Argentina (AP) — Isabelino Ruiz patiently waited for his turn to touch the glass wall that protects the figure of Gauchito Gil in the shrine in northern Argentina that, every January 8, brings together thousands of faithful who ask the saint for help vigilante
The retiree had managed to cover the nearly 680 kilometers that separate Buenos Aires from the open-air sanctuary near the city of Mercedes, making a great financial effort, since his meager pension was increasingly insufficient in the face of rampant inflation.
“I come to ask for (President Javier) Milei, so that he has a good government and for us retirees,” Ruiz told The Associated Press, while on Saturday he formed a line with dozens of faithful.
The 67-year-old man arrived two days before the main festival that commemorates a new anniversary of the death in 1878 of the popular saint, a sort of “Robin Hood” in the Argentine popular imagination from whom they ask for help to overcome economic problems. health and other matters.
This year the needs of many faithful are more pressing, due to rising prices and lack of work.
Milei, an ultra-liberal economist with hardly any political experience, has promised to pulverize inflation and put Argentina on its feet, which in the current context full of adversities appears to be a defiant miracle.
Ruiz, who was wearing the shirt of the popular soccer club Boca Juniors, paid for part of the cost of the trip by collecting cardboard and other waste on the street, which he later sold. “I have been collecting cardboard for six months to be able to come here.”
Like him, thousands of Gauchito Gil faithful continued to gather at his sanctuary on Monday, begging him for help.
The religious figure evokes Antonio Mamerto Gil Núñez, about whose life little is known and he is not part of the Catholic liturgy, although due to the miracles attributed to him after his death he is adored by many Argentines who profess that religion.
The history of Gauchito has been modified from generation to generation. It is said that this rural bandit, originally from the province of Corrientes, loved dances and parties and that he had excellent use of the facón, the knife used by gauchos to kill animals and work with leather and wood.
According to the Ministry of Culture, he joined the ranks of the Army, but deserted. He later won the love of the rural laborers, who considered him a hero who protected the humble, who stole from the rich to give to the poor, who avenged the humiliated and who healed the sick.
Gauchito Gil avoided many ambushes, but ended up being captured and hanging upside down from a tree. The stories that circulate say that the colonel who cut his throat and took his life became his first devotee.
After delivering Antonio Gil’s head to the authorities, the colonel went to his house and found his son dying. In desperation he rode at full speed to where he had buried the gaucho’s body; There he gathered the remains of the earth moist with blood, anointed his son with it and the miracle occurred that allowed her to heal.
For many faithful, Gauchito Gil is a saint who appreciates the prayers that are addressed to him without fear and from the heart.
This year, bricklayer Jorge Zabala had to ask his loved ones for money to visit the sanctuary. Unlike other times, the savings eaten away by inflation were not enough to move his family to Mercedes.
In front of one of the altars, Zabala held his little son in his arms, satisfied that he had fulfilled his promise to visit the pagan saint.
“We come every year on January 6 and stay until the 8th; This time it was quite complicated due to the economic issue. But we made the necessary effort to comply… We had to borrow,” the man lamented.
Zabala, who finds it difficult to get his clients to approve the budgets for the works “because the prices are crazy,” said that his prayer to the saint was for the country to “get on track.”
The bricklayer was bare-chested and wore a rosary around his neck. On his back there was a huge tattooed image of the saint.
“Let him give all his strength to Milei, because it is really very complicated for everyone,” said Zabala in front of the tree that symbolizes the place where Gauchito Gil was hanged and murdered on January 8, 1878.
Private economists estimate that the increase in the cost of living in December was between 25 and 30% and that 2023 ended with inflation of more than 200%, a three-digit annual rate that the country had not recorded since the hyperinflation of 1990. Official data in this regard will be released on Thursday.
To combat this chronic evil in the economy, Milei has launched a drastic adjustment plan in a recessionary context with the alleged purpose of reducing the fiscal deficit, which it considers largely responsible for the skyrocketing prices that have led to poverty. to many Argentines. Currently, more than 40% of the 46 million inhabitants of the South American country are poor.
The measures include layoffs in the public sector and the reduction of subsidies for public transport and the energy sector, which will lead to increases in bus and train tickets, as well as electricity and gas rates.
To this has recently been added a 27% increase in the value of fuel within the framework of the price liberalization policy applied by the government. The measure would further heat up inflation due to the impact of gasoline on costs such as heavy goods transportation.
In another part of the property, dozens of faithful lit red candles around another statue of the gaucho and several knelt on the ground to pray. Different sales stalls were overflowing with statuettes of different sizes that represent him as a man with long hair and a mustache who is dressed in a red headband, neckerchief and belt.
“I come to ask for health and work, the main thing,” said Carlos Maiana, 49, who hopes to increase his income to weather the skyrocketing cost of living.
The man stated that the government must stop social deterioration. “Let the governments put on their pants and do something, because we ask them, but if the government does nothing…”, the man noted.
Meanwhile, Laura Ríos, who sold drinks in the rain, stated that since “everything goes up from one day to the next, there is no choice but to go out to work and ask for work for everyone.”
Hours later, as Monday made its way into the rainy night, fireworks exploded to celebrate another anniversary of the death of Gauchito Gil.
Almost a century and a half later, the followers of this saint abound. They honk their cars as they pass by one of the thousands of small altars that are built to remember him on the shoulders of Argentine roads.
Some stop and get out, light a candle, bring him some cigarettes and also some wine.
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