Plaza de Mayo
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Replacing [[Image:000_0239.jpg]] with [[Image:Monument_of_General_Manuel_Belgrano.jpg]] (by [[commons:User:Finnrind|Finnrind]] because: (incorrectly named) duplicate).
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[[Image:Buenos Aires-Plaza de Mayo-Overview.jpg|thumb|225px|Overview of ''Plaza de Mayo'']]
The '''''Plaza de Mayo''''' ([[Spanish language|Spanish]] for '''May Square''') is the main square in [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]] [[CBD|city centre]] at {{coor at dms|34|36|30|S|58|22|19|W|region:AR_type:landmark}}; it is flanked by Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets.
Several of the city's major landmarks are located around the Plaza: the [[Buenos Aires Cabildo|Cabildo]] (the city council during the colonial era), the [[Casa Rosada]] (home of the [[President of Argentina|executive branch]] of the [[politics of Argentina|federal government]]), the [[Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires]], the [[May Pyramid]], the current [[city hall]] or ''municipalidad'', and the headquarters of the Nación Bank. The Buenos Aires financial district (''microcentro''), affectionately known as ''la City'' (sic) also lies besides the Plaza.
==Political significance==
The Plaza de Mayo has always been the focal point of political life in Buenos Aires. Its current name commemorates the [[May Revolution]] of [[1810]], which started the process towards the [[Argentine War of Independence|country's independence]] from [[Spain]] in [[1816]].
On [[October 17]], [[1945]], mass [[Demonstration (people)|demonstrations]] in the Plaza de Mayo organized by [[Eva Perón|Evita]] and the [[Confederación General del Trabajo de la República Argentina|CGT]] [[trade union]] federation forced the release from prison of [[Juan Domingo Perón]], who would later become president of Argentina. For several years the [[Peronism|Peronist]] movement gathered every October 17th in the Plaza de Mayo to show their support for their leader (and October 17 is still "Loyalty Day" for the traditional Peronists). Many other presidents, both democratic and military, have also saluted people in the Plaza from the balcony of the Casa Rosada.
[[Image:Monument_of_General_Manuel_Belgrano.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Monument to General [[Manuel Belgrano]] ([[Argentina]]) in Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires, by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse and Manuel Santa Coloma]]
Years later, in [[1974]], Perón, then president for the third time, expelled from the Plaza the members of the [[Montoneros]], an armed organisation that tried to influence the political orientation of the national government.
Crowds gathered once again on [[April 2]], [[1982]] to hail ''de facto'' President [[Leopoldo Galtieri]] for starting the [[Falklands War]] ({{lang-es|Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur}}).
Since the late [[1970s]], the plaza is where the [[Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo]] have congregated with signs and pictures of ''[[desaparecidos]]'', their children, who were subject to [[forced disappearance]] by the [[Military of Argentina|Argentine military]] in the [[Dirty War]], during the [[National Reorganization Process]]. The Argentine military was anti-[[Communism|Communist]], and people perceived to be supportive of such ideas would be illegally detained, subject to abuse and torture, and finally murdered in secret. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo took advantage of the symbolic importance of the Plaza to open the public's eyes to what the military were doing.
Protests have continued on taking place, with the major last one being during the [[December 2001 riots (Argentina)|December 2001 riots]] when five protesters were shot to their deaths and several others injured by police as they [[riot]]ed around Plaza de Mayo.
Today, Plaza de Mayo continues to be a [[tourist]] attraction for those who visit Buenos Aires.
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[[Category:History of Argentina]]
[[Category:Plazas in Buenos Aires|De Mayo, Plaza]]
[[Category:Visitor attractions in Buenos Aires]]
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