Argentina’s ‘European’ self-image under renewed scrutiny after racist incidents in Brazil | Brazil

A woman celebrating her 32nd birthday on a train journey in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais was horrified when a passenger warned her that an unknown man was secretly filming her seven-year-old son.

The man, a tourist from Argentina, initially refused to show his phone when confronted. However, at the insistence of other travelers, the man admitted that he had sent the images to a WhatsApp contact.

Police later revealed that under the photographs was architect Eduardo Ignacio Murias (63) from Santiago del Estero province of Argentina. wrote: “He’s black, but he’s so cute. I could have him as a slave. I’m thinking of getting a slave, there are many here.”

The boy’s mother took a photo of the phone screen, and passengers held Murias inside the train until he reached his destination, where he was arrested for “racial insult”, a crime under Brazilian law.

The case reignited the debate both countries about racism, national identity, and Argentina’s long-held pride in its European heritage.

Murias became the third Argentinian to be arrested for racism in Brazil this year. save numbers of Argentine tourists travel to the country. In April, 67-year-old José Luis Haile He was arrested for allegedly making racist slurs Food delivery boy at a supermarket in Rio. He is awaiting trial.

In January, 29-year-old Agostina Páez arrested in Rio After he was filmed imitating a monkey to a waiter at a nightclub. Although he was later released, he was banned from leaving Brazil for two and a half months while the investigation continued. During this time he It was claimed on social media He said his rights had been violated and he was facing “persecution.” narrative echoed with Some sections of Argentine media.

Garson is suing Páez for non-pecuniary damages.

“Plaintiff is a Black man who faces daily a society that insists on pushing him back simply because of the color of his skin,” his attorneys wrote in the filing. “But he still had to hear degrading and animalizing words while he was doing his job.”

When Páez returned to Argentina in April while still facing legal proceedings in Brazil, Welcomed by far-right senator Patricia Bullrich is a close ally of Argentine President Javier Milei. Paéz’s father, Mariano Páez, was later filmed in a bar He pretended to be a monkey to celebrate his daughter’s return.

political scientist and African-Argentine activist Federico Pita He said none of the recent cases were a surprise given Argentina’s long history of racism.

“Racism is engraved in the project of the Argentine nation. Argentina is a constitutionally supremacist country,” he said. Referring to Article 25 of the Constitutionstates: “The federal government will encourage European immigration.”

Pita said Argentina continues to see itself as a “European” country while denying the existence of Afro-Argentines and indigenous peoples, according to the 2022 census. 1% And 3% of the population respectively.

But activists and researchers argue that these figures are likely underestimates. Experts believe The majority of the population is of indigenous origineven if they don’t identify themselves that way.

“An Aymara descendant born in northern Argentina is treated as a Bolivian, a Mapuche born in Argentine Patagonia is treated as a Chilean, a native of African descent from Buenos Aires is treated as a Uruguayan or Brazilian because the only thing that counts as truly Argentinian is whiteness,” Pita said.

In March, Argentina became the only Latin American country to vote against a UN resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade the “greatest crime against humanity.” Other countries that opposed the measure were the United States and Israel.

Although slavery was abolished in Argentina in 1853, descendants of enslaved Africans and their Influence of country culturefrom tango to language to food – it goes on.

Pita said comparisons between Argentina and Brazil are complicated. While black Brazilians make up a much larger share of the population, they also face disproportionately high levels of poverty, police brutality, and social exclusion.

“I don’t know which is more serious: a country like Argentina, which says it has no Black population, or Brazil, where a young Black man is killed every few minutes. These are just as serious,” he said.

Incidents of racism by Argentinians against Brazilians are not new; Brazil national football team players in 1920 He refused to play a friendly match After being portrayed as a “monkey” in a newspaper in Argentina. to this day Fans pretending to be monkeys were caught almost every match including clubs of two countries.

While there is no evidence that such incidents are becoming more common, social media has helped bring them to the forefront. Thanks by the way overvalued pesoIn 2025, the number of Argentinians traveling to Brazil will account for one-third of the 9.3 million foreign tourists.

Pita said it’s also important not to generalize about Argentines. “Not only have a large portion of Argentina’s population never been to Brazil, but they have also likely never left the country,” he said. “But they represent a deeper Argentina that is still struggling with racism.”