Glen David Short reviews The Myths of Argentine History

Argentina is perhaps the most European of all the
Latin American republics. Centuries of immigration
built a burgeoning southern hemisphere nation, which,
around a century ago, was one of the richest countries
in the world. But Argentina's march towards prosperity
has detoured and stumbled several times. Pigna's book,
sub-titled 'The Construction of a Past as a
Justification of the Present' challenges conventional,
hagiographic biographies of some of Argentina's most
revered historical figures, and their forgotten
influences in shaping the nation.

The re-evaluation begins with Christopher Columbus.
Pigna highlights Columbus' first voyage which,
although given royal approval by Isabella and
Ferdinand, was not actually financed by them. Rather,
an outstanding fine for smuggling owed by the Port of
Palos was nullified in return for the Palos'
provisioning of Columbus' three ships. Pigna notes
Columbus' crews were composed mainly of pardoned
criminals, and how the Admiral renigged on a reward
promised to the first sailor to sight land; Pigna
suggests Columbus Day is celebrated on the wrong date,
as Rodrigo de Triana was the first crewmember to sight
America, on the 13th October. Before leaving the
island of Hispaniola, Columbus had all his men swear
before a notary that they had not encountered an
island, but the coast of a continent, thus ensuring a
more favourable reception when he returned. Later,
enslaving the natives to work looking for gold, Pigna
quotes a Harvard historian's assertion that Columbus
severed the hand of any native that did not produce a
nugget. Towards the end of his sailing days, Columbus'
contemporaries questioned his sanity - he declared the
world was going to end in 1657.

Sebastian Cabot is the next to receive a revision.
Sent to conquer the Moluccas, he puts in at the Canary
Islands and takes prostitutes aboard. When he hears of
a 'White King' and incredible treasures from a
castaway on the coast of Brazil, he abandons his
Moluccas orders in a search across hostile lands for
the treasure that cost most of his men's lives.

Pages 54-55 give an interesting dialogue between a
chief of the Colombian Zenu nation and the Spaniards
that indicates the Indians saw through the Europeans'
imperial Requeriemento. Accusing the Spanish
king of wanting 'to stir up trouble' by arriving
unannounced and demanding immediate submission, the
chief replies the Spanish king 'must be a pauper' to
want lands that are not his. Another chief, being
readied to be burnt at the stake, refused conversion
to Christianity, as he had heard that Spaniards too
went to Heaven, therefore he himself would rather die
and go to Hell.

The horrendous mines of Potosi and Argentina's
clandestine role in smuggling African slaves to work
them is exposed, along the corrupt machinations of
certain Buenos Aires officials and traders who fought
to continue the lucrative trafficking no matter what
the cost. But Pigna does not limit his critique to the
Spaniards. On page 145 Pigna quotes a newspaper
article describing the indigenous rebel leader Tupac
Amaru's excessive use of pompous trappings including
wearing blue velvet trimmed in gold braid, riding a
white horse with an embroidered harness, escorted by
'two blond men of good appearance.' The English
looting of Buenos Aires in 1806 also cops some flack.
Pigna describes the arrival in England of more than 1
million pounds of looted silver pesos:

'' Once in London, the bounty was paraded on eight
coaches pulled by six horses aorned with blue lace,
while a band performed 'God save the Queen' and 'Rule
Britannia.' The procession stopped off in front of the
Admiralty, went through Pall Mall and St. James Square
and finally reached the building of the Bank of
England, where the Buenos Aires bounty was deposited.
This goes to show that sometimes the English lose
their usual composure and restraint and indulge in the
same kind of carnival they often criticize South
America for'' (pages 176-7)

Two men who survive Pigna's critical eye are Mariano
Moreno and Manuel Belgrano. Moreno's altruistic
political aims are cut short by his death at sea,
which Pigna blames on Moreno's political enemies
abetting the ship's captain to poison him; shortly
after Moreno embarked but well before he died, his
wife Guadelupe Cuenca received a package containing a
morning veil and black gloves along with a note saying
the anonymous author knew she was 'soon to be a
widow'.

Independence hero Manuel Belgrano championed equality
among the Spanish and the Indians, sought the death
penalty for landowners who cruelly whipped their
vassals, and fought for the free disbursement of seeds
and farming equipment, paid for by fines levied
against convicted cattle-rustlers. Belgrano died of
syphilis in 1820 and only one Buenos Aires newspaper
carried any mention of his passing, though his name is
far from forgotten today. One of his more radical
ideas was crowning an Inca as King of Argentina after
independence was won, but his proposal was ridiculed
and never enacted. Belgrano was also ahead of his time
in promoting free and compulsory education; after he
was awarded 40,000 pesos in gold for his leading role
in patriotic battles in the north of Argentina, he
donated the money in 1813 to establish free elementary
schools. Pigna investigates what happened to the
donation, tracing a convoluted money trail through
the hands of corrupt civil and banking officials right
up to the present; with interest calculated at 5%, the
amount would be worth over 133 billion pesos today.

When first published in Spanish, The Myths of
Argentine History shot to the top of the Argentine
non-fiction best-seller list, and Pigna penned a
second edition. While the book's target readership is
mainly Argentine, it would also interest any reader
with a moderate interest in Latin American history.
Pigna puts forward alternative interpretations,
augmented by explanatory footnotes and a useful
12-page bibliography. History revolves around
interpretations, and Pigna's interpretations, although
sometimes acerbic, provide food for thought.

The Myths of Argentine History, Felipe Pigna,
softcover, 413 pages, published by Grupo Editorial
Norma, Buenos Aires, 2005, ISBN 987-545-228-9.

- Glen David Short is the author of An Odd Odyssey.