¿What is 25 de Mayo?

The Revolution of May of 1810 (with wikipedia to keep me honest.)

It happened in Buenos Aires.

It wasn't a revolution in the way you might think of the French Revolution or the American Revolution or the Mexican Revolution with all the violence those embraced ...but it was a revolution all the same. Like Cinco de Mayo, it marked the end of an American nation taking orders from a colonial power.

In the case of 25 de Mayo, it was mostly the ruling class and the commercial class of Buenos Aires that chose to no longer take orders from the Spanish Crown.

That wasn't too tough to do. The Spanish Crown had been deposed by Napoleon who installed his brother, Joe, as the new King of Spain. The king's guy in The Río de la Plata, The Viceroy, no longer had the force of his boss to justify his rule here.

The Viceroy tried to keep the news of King's fall a secret but with the arrival of a British (here they come again...) warship on the 13th of May in Montevideo harbor the word was out that something big had happened to His Majesty. So the Viceroy made up a bunch of shit and called for loyalty oaths to the King.

The Viceroy and his bunch were already not held in high regard by the owning class nor the working class of Buenos Aires. There had already been two British invasions of Buenos Aires within the space of one year (like it or not, as today, if you controlled Buenos Aires ...you control Argentina. In the case of 1810, you controlled Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay.) They say that even housewives came out to beat British troops with whatever they could lay their hands on. How's THAT for a cacerolazo!

Not only did Buenos Aires beat back the two British invasions ...but they did it with none of the promised support of the Spanish King. So already, there was some talk about His Majesty being good for nothin' on this side of the pond.

On the 18th, Rodríguez Peña and a couple of buddies asked for permission to have what Yankees (not yanquis!) would call a town meeting (you had to ask, in those days.) The whole situation was shit for birds to the folks that had to make a living here. They decided that they were gonna call a few shots, themselves.

The Viceroy was not hip in the least to allow this open meeting. He called a bunch of the top military to his digs in The Fort (you can still see a piece of the old fort in back of the Casa Rosada.)

Cornelio Saavedra, (lots of street names in this story, eh!) chief of the Patricios Regiment (those are the guys we still see in the parks every now and then with the cool old 18th century uniforms!) was in attendance. When the Viceroy asked for his support, Saavedra replied that he should resign, as the Junta which had appointed him no longer existed.

Ya see, everybody down this way derived his authority and position from the King... 'ceptin' that there weren't exactly no King no more ...and the King never was much good for the Río de la Plata even back in the good ol' days of Empire.

Saavedra offered some kind advice, "Hey 'Roy, maybe youse oughta just pack it in and go back to Spain." Viceroy Cisneros did just that. He made it back to the Old Country and held a few big jobs like admiral ...and actually came back 10 years later to try to take back Argentina by force. That's about all that history has to say about ol' 'Roy.

On the 25th, about 500 of the top citizens in town (pretty big town, even back then!) met in the Cabildo (you know, the one they chopped off in order to make Avenida de Mayo head straight to Plaza de Mayo) and kicked 'Roy out and formed the "First Congress", better known as the "Primera Junta" (Hey! That's a subte stop!) 'Roy tried to hang in there for a few hours as the President of the Primera Junta but that went over like a lead balloon.

Napoleon didn't exactly cause the whole thing but he threw the last grenade that made it all possible. For years and years, the Spanish Crown was happy to suck the sweet, juicy center out of Latin America ...but never had any interest in infrastructure. There is an old saying that when the day came that even the slaves in the silver mines of Potosí wore loincloths of British-made cloth... the whole thing was over. (Peak Silver?)

So that's your 25 de Mayo. It was really a week or a month but the 25th was when the whole thing shook-out and a "new order of the ages" (a novus ordo seclorum, if you like) was formed here in the Americas of the South.

It's really something that every son and daughter of liberty can celebrate heartily ...not unlike Bastille Day. Hard to believe that the bars are closed!

It's also a cautionary tale for ALL empires. Feliz 25 de Mayo! Libertad, libertad, libertad!

not fun being a yanqui right now... part 3

No doubt some will find this to be good news for the US economy...

LONDON (Reuters) - Belgian brewer InBev , the world's second-biggest by volume, is working on a $46 billion bid for Anheuser Busch , a Financial Times report said, boosting the U.S. brewer's stock price.

At 10:26 a.m. EDT (1426 GMT), Anheuser Busch shares were up about 6 percent at $55.80. InBev was down 0.6 percent at 50.00 euros, having earlier fallen more than 4 percent after the report.

In the report on its Alphaville blog on the newspaper's website, the FT cited sources as saying the approach was expected to be pitched at $65 a share but while extensive work was being carried out InBev was "not about to push the button."

The report also said a financing package of $50 billion had been provisionally arranged through JPMorgan and Santander and that the bid had been discussed at an InBev board meeting on April 28 and at a meeting on Thursday.

InBev said it would not comment on the report. Anheuser-Busch was not immediately available but has a policy of not declining market rumors.

A JPMorgan spokeswoman declined to comment.

There have been recurrent rumors over a possible bid from InBev for its U.S. rival.

"Anheuser-Busch shares and options have been active throughout the week due to rumors of a takeover," said William Lefkowitz, options strategist at brokerage firm vFinance Investments in New York.

Jan Meijer, a beverage sector analyst with Theodoor Gilissen in Amsterdam said the deal made sense.

"There is a clear takeover rationale and we've been waiting for this to happen," he said.

"InBev has had some problems in the United States and if there was a takeover they would be able to rely on the network of Anheuser-Busch. It would fit in nicely with their exposure to emerging markets too."

InBev has a distribution deal with Anheuser-Bush for its beers in the United States.

InBev was overtaken as the world's largest brewer by SAB Miller last year. Rivals Heineken and Carlsberg have also increased their size with their joint purchase of Scottish and Newcastle .

I'm beginning to think that...

...that I will not survive this.

Get your flu shots, don' be like Mike.

Drinking Liberally is a Hit

I don't really want to promote this Drinking Liberally thing. Seriously, I don't.

I would rather it develop on its own path with its own adherents and attendees ...without any sort of leadership or membership (there is NO leadership NOR membership, btw!) and let things sort of gel the way things should among adults whose hearts are on the side the Good Lord intended they should be.

However! This has been a bonafide success ever since the first one, auspiciously held on May Day, and every one since!

Ladies and germs, this is the real deal. It's what you've been looking for ...if you been looking for a way comfy place in which you can talk the talk with folks that walk your walk.

I've hesitated to publish a list of people that stopped by for the evening ...and the people that only popped in for a few moments and ended up staying 'til closing ...and I'm not gonna start now.

Why "name names"? It'd be pretty antithetical to why we come together in the first place, wouldn't it?

It's enough to say, I think, without exaggeration, that sooner or later, every liberal in Buenos Aires will pass through this space we've created; it's got a lovely vibe.

The drinks are cheap ...and unlike some expat vulture operations ...the house gets it all.

Drinking Liberally does not get a "cut of the vig" that we bring to the establishment (a time-honored tradition here in town.) In return, we are welcomed ...we get good service in very comfy surroundings ...and I really think that they have intentionally UNDER charged us every time. When's the last time THAT ever happened to you in Buenos Aires?

Man. People talk! ...and nobody gets ignored. Yep, people listen. Buena onda.

In case you missed it: open to all liberals no matter what your political party or nationality, always on Thursday, always at 7pm, always at Sir Will's Pub... San Martín 678 in Microcentro ...easy access by all forms of transport from everywhere.

That's all I'm gonna tell you! You want more? Stop by and I'll buy your first one.

(I will, however, post some transit maps!)

Starbucks comes to Buenos Aires

"Después de varias idas y venidas y todo tipo de rumores, la inauguración del primer local de Starbucks ya está confirmada para el próximo miércoles en el shopping Alto Palermo."

Yep, it should be fun to watch.

Porteños, being the great travelers that they are, know what Starbucks is, to a great degree. So there won't be any show there.

The real fun will be watching the expats gettin' what might be their first jolt in a long time from the Nipple-less, Navel-less Nerida of the North.

I'm reminded of something Maya Frost once wrote about a trip back to Yanquilandia after an extended period here. She was looking forward to some of the old country delicacies and Starbucks was way up on the list ...but the experience was not what she and her husband expected.

"How barbaric," I think was the way she put it, "to stand in line for coffee!" "Where's my waiter in his little uniform with his towel and tray?" "Where's my tiny agua-con-gas?" "¿Donde estan mis MASITAS, por el amor de Dios?"

When US soldiers returned from the first big yanqui involvement in Europe, after WWI, the popular question was "How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Paris?"

I hope to be there in Alto Palermo on opening day to get some reactions from extranjeros that have been taking their coffee here for quite sometime, in the lap of a luxury that is all but prohibitively expensive for the 21st century US market...

...and maybe some reflections on what it's like for them to be again herded into a queue in order to get their jolt in a paper cup with a plastic lid.

Should make for an interesting story.