La Casa Rosada

Those of you who’ve been in Buenos Aires over the past year may have seen the work being done on the Casa Rosada. The last time the place got a fresh coat of paint was at the end of Menem’s term in 1999. The building, made internationally famous by Peron and Evita’s (and Madonna’s) theatrical flair, has been in sorry shape for too long.

After all, this is, or at least should be, the people’s palace. It’s also one of the country’s most prominent and memorable buildings. It’s among the first stops on every tourist’s agenda. It’s an iconic symbol of Argentina and everything that is good and bad about the country’s past, present and future.

But the Casa Rosada has been in less-than-splendid condition since at least the Plaza de Mayo bombing in 1955, when 34 Argentine Navy planes dropped nine tons of explosives on the plaza. The bombings, which preceded the eventual overthrow of Peron’s government, killed more than 350 people, leaving indelible scars both on surrounding buildings and the Argentine psyche. Look close enough today and you can still see bullet holes and other marks around the plaza.

Preoccupied by more pressing problems, De la Rua’s government let the building fall further into disrepair until December, 2001, when De la Rua abandoned the presidency (not just the building) in a roof-top helicopter. Painters later doused the facade with a fresh coat of pink, lending an air of respectability to the noticeably faded edifice. But nothing else was done until last December. For years the facade, which faces the Plaza de Mayo and its visitors, remained a perfect metaphor for Argentina: It was beautiful on the surface but a deeper look revealed uglier truths.

But now Oscar Parrilli, a Casa Rosada official under President Kirchner, is reforming the building. Parrilli ordered not only that it be repainted but also that the whole site be renovated from top to bottom. That includes replacing burned-out lights, oiling squeaky doors, cleaning up a smelly kitchen, polishing floors and replacing windows, among other things. It’s about time.

In April newspaper Clarin ran an article that detailed problems at the Casa Rosada. Its title? The House Is Not In Order. It took years for the government to start getting its literal home in order. With a presidential election just weeks away, is it too much to hope that this house-cleaning may serve as a new metaphor for a country in which there isn’t such a contrast between the facade and what lies beneath it?

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I took the picture last month.

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