ABSTRACT
These two powers were exercised under political circumstances that differed greatly from each other, and produced major changes in the way of living and experiencing the city. The military dictatorship (1976-1983) imposed State terrorism, converting the city’s everyday spaces – streets and squares, bars and avenues, factories and universities, workshops and barracks – into wastelands of fear, capture, clandestine imprisonment, torture, death and disappearances. The chosen instrument was silence, concealment and the visible appearance of a fictitious normality, broken only by the filtering through of the horror employed as a mechanism for imposing fear and discipline on the whole of society. On the other hand, the five days of celebrations of the Bicentennial of Argentina, organized by the national presidency from 21 to 25 May 2010, along what was named ‘Paseo del Bicentenario’ (The Bicentennial Promenade) on 9 de Julio Avenue, brought together a
human tide of six million people who, with the unexpected magnitude of their presence and festive commemoration, covered, relived and transformed the customary landscape of the Buenos Aires downtown and nearby areas. For five days, these ceased to be a congested and bustling commercial and financial centre and turned into a packed arena of peaceful coexistence, partying and collective commemoration of shared history.
