Maxima

¨Argentina’s First Queen,” and “A Throne for Princess Máxima,” newspaper headlines enthused about profiles of the couple and tributes to the royal consort as a “queen of hearts” and a monarch of “style and glamour.”

In January of this year, Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands (mother of Willem-Alexander) announced that she was stepping down because she believed ‘the responsibility should now lie in the hands of a new generation’. Queen Beatrix’s abdication has resulted in her first son’s accession to the throne as King Willem-Alexander. She has been an adored queen throughout her 33-year reign.

Queen Beatrix, centre, Willem-Alexander on the left and Maxima on the right

Today, Princess Maxima Zorreguieta became the first Argentinian to be a queen. She is now the queen consort to her husband, King Willem-Alexander of Orange and her official title is “Her Majesty Queen Máxima, Princess of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau.”

Today’s ceremony

The daughter of a wealthy landowner, Maxima was born on May 17, 1971, to Jorge Zorreguieta and Maria del Carmen Cerruti in Buenos Aires.  Educated at the English-style Northlands School in the city, she received a bilingual baccalaureat in 1988, going on to study economics at the Universidad Catolica de Argentina. After University, she worked as an investment banker for HSBC in both New York City and Deutsche Bank in Brussels.

Máxima met her future husband, Alexander, Prince of Orange at age 28 at a party in Seville in 1999. Willem-Alexander and Maxima announced their engagement on March 30, 2001 and she addressed the nation in fluent Dutch during the directly televised broadcast. Despite their scandalous relationship (due to her father being accused of wrong-doing during Argentina’s dictatorship), they married in Amsterdam on February 2, 2002.  Since then, she and her husband have had three daughters, the eldest Catherina-Amalia who is now Princess of Orange.

Wedding day

Family photo

Very popular in her home country and throughout Europe, Máxima is known for her beaming smile, her fashion-forward sense of style and involvement with various charities and causes. She is a member of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Women’s Participation, has a seat on the board of governors of the Chair on the Management of Diversity and Integration at the Free University of Amsterdam, she (along with her husband) is a patron of the Orange Fund, established to promote social welfare and cohesion in the Netherlands. She is also one of the few royals in the world to be an open supporter of gay rights.

This year´s Queen’s Day and the coronation have coincided. Queen’s Day is essentially a massive outdoor street party where you’ll see locals dressed in Dutch orange lining the canals or manning boats on the water.  Because the last few weeks have been filled with such excitement of the dual celebrations- the main streets of Holland have been filled with merchants selling scarves, mugs, pillows and even dishes with the new king and queen’s faces printed on them.

Today’s celebrations

After coronation ceremony

The high level program for April 30 was as follows:

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. – The official abdication of HM Queen Beatrix in the Royal Palace. The Queen signed the Act of Abdication which was then read by the Director of the Queen. Members of the royal family were present.

The abdication

10:30 a.m. – 10:50 a.m. – HM King Willem-Alexander, HM Queen Maxima and HRH Princess Beatrix appeared on the palace balcony. They waved to the crowds and the King and former Queen each delivered speeches. HRH The Princess of Orange, Princess Alexia, and Princess Ariane were present at the historic occasion.

Balcony wave

2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – HM King Willem-Alexander was sworn in during a session of the States-General of the Netherlands. The President of the Senate, Fred de Graaf gave a speech. Members of the States-General and delegates of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten took an oath.

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. – A reception was held for the members of the States-General at the Royal Palace.

6:00 p.m. -7:15 p.m. – The day’s celebrations culminated in a water pageant, with the king and queen sailing down Amsterdam’s River IJ, greeting the thousands of people lining the banks.

Water pageant

Becoming the Crown Princess of the Netherlands did not mean that Maxima, who has dual Argentine and Dutch citizenship, planned to lose her identity. She maintains: “I am Latin and I will continue being Latin in respect to some aspects of my culture. I dance, I sing – and I will keep on dancing and singing.”

The clash between Argentina and the United Kingdom regarding the Malvinas issue is being covered in all the newspapers. We from, Expanish Spanish School, Buenos Aires think it is a good idea to provide you with a small summary of the issue.

The Malvinas Islands (Falkland Islands), currently controlled by the UK government, are being claimed by Argentina since the Falklands War, which occurred in 1982. The dispute between the two countries ended in victory for the UK, which already had possession of the territory before the war. Since then, Argentina is fighting for the right of the islands, stating that the island is Spanish heritage and it should be a part of Argentine territory.
The last major event of this dispute took place last Thursday (09-02-2012), when the Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner made a formal announcement stating to the United Nation (UN) that they are militarizing the South Atlantic. The request was made after the UK announced plans to send the destroyer HMS Dauntless, one of their most modern warships, to the region very soon.

The British government denied that it is militarizing the area and that the act was planned for over a year. The spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said that the British defenses in the region remained unchanged. According to the Minister of Defense, Philip Hammond prince William, who currently is in the Malvinas, is not on the island to provoke, but to do a training regime.

Furthermore Cristina Kirchner announced the opening and evaluation of the Rattenbach report, a report that covers the actions of the Argentine dictatorship during the Falklands war. At that time, the defeat in the war helped undermine and remove the military regime in power. The conclusion will be announced during the course of March.

There are several reasons why countries fight for the regime in the Malvinas (Falklands). In addition to credibility, the area did not only become a major point of maritime traffic, but also very valuable for oil exploration.

Nearly 30 years (the war took place between April 2^nd and June 14^th 1982) after the Falkland conflict, the problems still remain. The war resulted into the death of 255 British soldiers, 649 Argentine and three local residents. In the recent denunciation made by Argentina, the UN Assembly in 1965 adopted resolution 2065, recognizing the dispute between the two countries and called on both countries to seek a peaceful agreement.

Argentina is in favor of the UN’s position; however it is rejected by the United Kingdom, which refuses to open a dialogue. If the complaint is rejected by Argentine UN Security Council (as a permanent member, Britain has the right to veto any resolution against itself, which would result in rejection of the waiver), a possible next step of the Argentine government may be the presentation of the subject in the UN General Assembly, in which all countries that are part of the organization have direct voting and no veto.

In December of 2011, the Argentinean government won the support of Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and since then, the countries decided to prevent access by vessels with flags Malvinas in its ports.

This October, Argentinians make use of their right to vote and elect a new (or re-elect the same) president. The re-election is something relatively new, since Carlos Menem changed the law and made it possible to be re-elected for a third term. He did this as he wanted to be re-re-elected, but fortunately that did not happen in 1999. Even if you are living in Argentina, the whole political process and parties can be a bit confusing, so we wanted to put together a quick guide to the candidates for 2011.

Running for president:

Cristina Kirschner – She is the current president, belongs to Frente para la Victoria, one of the three branches of the Partido Justicialista (PJ). With supporters like Madres y Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, CGT (General Confederation of Workers) and Hugo Chavez, Cristina´s plan is oriented towards popular needs (Modelo Nacional y Popular).

Eduardo Duhalde – He is ex vice-president, ex-intern president, ex-Governor of the Province of Buenos Aires, belongs to Union Popular, another branch of the PJ. In his speeches, he talks about “peace, order, and respect of the law” and is an admirer of Michelle Bachellete and Jose Mujica.

Alberto Rodriguez Saa – He is ex-governor of San Luis and belongs to Peronismo Federal, the third branch of PJ. He has said he wants to implement the same politics that made San Luis so success compared to the whole country.

Ricardo Alfonsin – He is the son of the ex-president Raul Alfonsin. His plan consists of improving industries, erradicating extreme poverty and decentralizing the resources.

Hermes Binner – He is part of the Socialist Party. He is trying to position the democratic left by partnering with Norma Morandini, a journalist with a strong connection to the left.

Elisa Carrio – She is a current congresswoman for the Coalicion Civica. Her plan includes a reform of the education laws and the proclamation of a Co-Participation Law, which aims to eradicate corruption. In her words, hers will be the first Government without corporate or syndical ties.

Jorge Altamira – He is the historic head of the Partido Obrero and belongs to the Frente de Izquierda y los trabajadores, an alliance including the many, many left political parties. Their motto for the elections is “Let the crisis be paid by the capitalists”.

The October elections are presidential and legislative. In addition to voting for president and vice president, Argentinians will renew half of the Chamber of Deputies and Governor for the provinces.

The big day is Sunday, October 23. On November 20, there could be a runoff, or ballotagge. This runoff election could be avoided if a candidate obtains 45% of the vote in the first round or 40% with at least 10% margin over the second place candidate.

So, Saturday 22, remember to stock up anything you need food or drink wise and do not make huge plans for the night since bars and clubs are supposed to close early and watch democracy with all its glory and imperfection.