Articles by Beatrice Labonne

On a Mission to Argentina


In Latin America, Argentina is the current “in” destination. Let’s be realistic: the Argentine Peso, US Dollar 3 to 1 exchange rate makes the place attractive to many tourists.  Brazilians flock to Buenos Aires mainly for shopping and cheap wine.  The Europeans usually do the whole Argentina in 15 days. The package tour includes parrillada dinners, and a tribute to football legend Maradona in la Boca suburb of Buenos Aires.  They also visit milonga clubs for tango evenings, and the San Telmo flee market.  In these locations they bump into American tourists who are doing all of the above (excluding the football/soccer pilgrimage; who is Maradona after all?).  Americans are also keen to visit Evita’s resting place in the Recoleta cemetery. We nevertheless met some lost Americans in la Boca Juniors stadium; they were desperately looking for Madonna! 


With limited time, my friend and I decided to tackle things a bit differently. We entered Argentina through the province of Misiones in the north by crossing the Brazilian-Argentine border near the Iguaçu waterfalls. It was a contingency plan to limit the impact of the airline turmoil which is affecting both countries.  


Since their respective independence in the 19th century, Argentina and Brazil have been aggressively competing with each other.  Now, the competition mainly takes place in football stadiums, at international conferences, and in trade negotiations.  Lately, airports have become the new contest zones.  The two countries are outdoing themselves in air transport chaos.  Chaos started six month ago in Brazil when a go-slow by traffic air controllers stranded thousands of passengers.  Not to be outdone, a month ago Argentina followed the trend with divine help.  Thunder struck the only working radar of the country, grounding commercial airlines and stranding passengers.  Right now and until new radars are brought in, Argentina is winning the chaos contest with flying colours.  


We finished our ten-day Argentine journey as we had started it, in the province of Misiones.  The province was named after the large number of missions the Jesuit priests founded in the 17th and 18th centuries.  In the early 80s, the English film Mission with Robert de Niro and Jeremy Irons publicized the exploits of the Jesuits in this region. The Jesuits were sorts of Indiana Jones in cassock.  Their adventures to protect the Tupi Guarani Indians who lived in the region are the stuff of action movies.   The Jesuits came on the heels of the Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors.  They were missionaries with a creative business model.  Unfortunately, the Jesuit missions became too successful for their own good, and the outcome of this experiment has been deeply tragic  


The 17th century was a pretty miserable period for the Guaranis.  If they had a choice of masters, the Portuguese Bandeirantes on the one hand, and the Spanish land grabbers on the other, their livelihood options were variants in the same colonial slavery regime.  In these appalling conditions, the Jesuit collective farms felt like paradise on earth, and paradise in heaven was also offered in the package deal. The first Jesuit mission or reduccion in Spanish was established in Brazil in 1609, and by the time they were expelled in 1767 the Jesuits had built some 50 settlements, all laid out according to the same urban model. 


The constant attacks of the slave-hunting Bandeirantes from São Paulo forced the missions to relocate several times.  Because their northern settlements, in today’s Brazil were routinely the target of raids by the Bandeirantes, the Jesuit Indiana Jones took their converts to a treacherous 730 km long rafting journey down the Paraná River towards the relative safety of Argentina.  When rapids blocked their escape, the Jesuits kept going by trudging through the jungle.  New boats were built to finish the river trip. 


In the 18th century, these tropical kibbutzim became the home of some 150,000 Indians and their caciques.  Each self-sustained mission was managed by only two or three Jesuit priests.  The largest mission could count up to some 4,500 inhabitants. Under the savvy management of the Jesuits and thanks to skill and technology transfer the missions prospered.  Subsequently they attracted an increasing numbers of indians. Controversial for some, the Jesuit  mission model nonetheless brought many benefits to the indians.  It helped to safeguard  the Guarani language and customs, except for polygamy which was banned.  


The mission downfall came in 1767 when the king of Spain expelled the Jesuits from the Spanish territory. The matter was handled in great secrecy. The priests were shipped manu militari to Europe, and the Guaranis were left to their fate.  Many survived and thanks to their technical skills they blended into the colonial  melting pot.  


The ruins of some 30 missions have been identified, located on a NW-SE axis straddling the South East of Paraguay, the Argentinean province of Misiones and Brazil. Seven of them are World Heritage Sites (www.misiones-jesuiticas.com.ar). In two days, we visited San Ignacio Mini and Santa Ana in Argentina, and Trinidad and Jesus in Paraguay. Being more recent, Jesus and Trinidad are not only the best preserved, but they are most ornate. A complete mission tour should include São Miguel in Brazil.  Two additional days and a four-wheel vehicle are required. 


Hotels in the Jesuit missions regions are of little interest. Selective tourists have however the estancia alternative. Two large and traditional estancias are now welcoming guests.  We chose Santa Cecilia, which is located near San Ignacio and very much enjoyed the hospitality (www.santacecilia.com.ar).  Estancia Santa Ines is located further south.

The Jesuits gone, the region was forgotten.  The Iguaçu falls were also forgotten.  The “big water” in guarani language had been discovered by a Spanish colonial authority in 1541. His nickname was cabaza de vaca, “cow head” to probably reflect the flexibility of his mind.   The falls were only rediscovered in 1883 by an Italian explorer.  The falls which stretch over a 2.7 kms long semicircle are unevenly divided between Argentina and Brazil.  Most of the falls are on the Argentinean side, and the border cuts through the most breathtaking waterfall of all, the Garganta del Diablo.  For a memorable Iguazu/Iguaçu experience, one has to visit the two national parks, and stay at the Sheraton Hotel on the Argentine side, and the Tropical on the Brazilian one.  They are the only hotels built in the parks.  Our three days were packed with excursions, boat trip and walks.  Full moon periods are the best to enjoy the falls, and night walks are organized by rangers on both sides of the border (www.cataratasdoiguacu.com.br, www.iguazuargentina.com). 


We enjoyed the scenery and the free shower of the mighty Garganta del Diablo (or do Diabo in Portuguese) from both countries.  In English, Garganta translates as both gorge and throat.  The late American columnist Art Buchwald, never lost in translation would have appropriately coined the name Gorge of the Devil’s throat. True, the Garganta is the superlative waterfall, totally breathtaking.  The contrast between the gushing water and the tropical pristine surroundings is astounding. Legend has it that another famous American Eleanor Roosevelt, visited the falls and exclaimed “Poor Niagara. This makes it look like a kitchen faucet”.  Niagara’s “kitchen faucet” is renowned for its gaudy illumination show. Iguaçu modestly displays its signature rainbow.   


Many celebrities visit the waterfalls all year round.  When we were there we spotted no one in particular.  We were told that president Lula of Brazil likes to check the falls as a detour to his official visits to the Itaipu dam.  It seems that Lula kept his thoughts for himself.   In terms of dams, Itaipu is also a superlative. Too bad, it will soon loose its number one ranking when the Three Gorge dam in China gets into business.  So much gushing water!  
 


Beatrice Labonne, April 12 2007