A curious controversy is taking place in the municipality of Hurlingham, in the west of the Buenos Aires suburbs, based on the initiative of a former councilor to change the name of the city due to its “British origin”.
Marcelo Suarez Nelsonwho was a neighborhood councilor between 2005 and 2009, submitted a draft bill to the Deliberative Council to modify the name of the district and rename it “Partido de la Reconquista.”
The reasons? The city takes its name from the “Hurlingham Club”, an institution of British origin founded there in 1888. In its facilities the members practiced “hurling”, a sport of Irish origin. Hence the name.
“The name Hurlingham means absolutely nothing, it has no translation. It is supposedly referred to as well and may belong to a forgotten cemetery somewhere in England. But its meaning is uncertain,” Suárez Nelson expressed in the foundations of the initiative.
And he added: “Let us not forget that the British in our country dedicated themselves to the exploitation of our agricultural and livestock resources. almost exclusively so that Argentina is a solely agricultural-exporting country and take our resources to London, using the railway to the ports to achieve such purposes.”
This citizen cited the Malvinas War and those killed in combat and pointed out: “We cannot continue with an English identity that does not absolutely recognize our history, nor our claims, nor our identity.”
Indeed, in 1982 a similar initiative had already been promoted to change the name of the party given the district’s links with English culture.
For the author of the project, “The name Partido de la Reconquista would represent a tribute to those who fought in defense of Argentine territory, both during the English Invasions and in the Malvinas War”; It will mark an “indigenous” identity and symbolize “liberation from colonialism.”
Peronist internal
Currently, the municipality of Hurlingham, founded in 1994 after the division of the old Morón party, is governed by the mayor Damián Selcifrom La Cámpora. The president of the Deliberative Council is Miguel Quinterofrom Unión por la Patria (UxP).
The district was also fertile ground for palace inmates given the strong confrontation that Selci had with his predecessor in office, Juan Zabaletaformer Minister of Social Development of Alberto Fernandez and currently in charge of a mechanical workshop.
The internal inward direction of Peronism is sustained given the Zabaleta’s intentions to return to the ring and challenge Selci and La Cámpora for power. In the times of the Frente de Todos, ‘Juanchi’ knew how to be one of the promoters of Albertism.
Cradle of rock
The city was also, for example, the birthplace of the rock band Sumo, with Luca Prodan at the head, and from which Divididos and Las Pelotas would later emerge.
“Hurlingham Countryman” It is, in fact, one of the emblematic songs of the group led by Ricardo Mollo and integrate the disk The Era of Boludez (1993), one of the classic national rock albums.
