Spurred by the shocking killing of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis, protesters marched in Buenos Aires on Tuesday to demand justice for the slain black US citizen.
The rally, called by the left-wing Frente de Izquierda Unidad, was in support of the “popular uprising” being witnessed in the United States, organisers said. Marching from the Obelisk landmark in downtown Buenos Aires to the offices of the US Chamber of Commerce in Argentina on Viamonte Street, demonstrators for the most part ignored social distancing measures put in place to tackle the coronavirus pandemic as they denounced the “racist crime.”
"The brutal murder of George Floyd is a racist crime. The State is responsible and that is why the mobilisations have opened a very deep crisis that not only touches [US President Donald] Trump but also the Democratic Party,” said national lawmaker and party leader Nicolás Del Caño.
“Today the United States is the epicentre of the pandemic, of the economic crisis and also of the class struggle of the oppressed and exploited,” he added.
In an interview on Tuesday, President Alberto Fernández said the demonstrations in the United States were “a reaction to inequality and the treatment a community receives, which is the black community."
The Peronist leader, who expressed solidarity with the “suffering” faced by the community said he was shocked by images of violence in some US cities, but said politicians had to note the cause of them.
"What one has to understand is that one cannot live in peace with inequality,” he said. “You have to work to provide better conditions and opportunities for everyone."
– TIMES/NA
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