“Torturers are not born that way: someone educates them, trains them and supports them.” This statement belongs to a report by Amnesty International as part of its campaign to eradicate torture. The same report states that there are over 150 military training centres in the world whose job it is to provide training to foreign armed forces. Protected by secrecy and without any independent control, these centres have the potential to “facilitate human rights violations”.

Latin America and the SOA (image courtesy of N.ree.K)

Such is the case of the infamous School of the Americas, a US Army education facility aimed at training members of Latin American armed forces which has been operational since 1946. Many of its graduates have taken part in military dictatorships throughout the continent and have been accused of committing crimes against humanity using the counter-insurgency methods they were taught at the school. The School of the Americas is not an anomaly, but an integral part of US foreign policy that reached as far south as Argentina.

As we commemorate a new Día de la Memoria por la Verdad y la Justicia (the anniversary of the 1976 coup d’etat) this Saturday 24th March, it is worth remembering the role the School of the Americas played in the country’s recent history.

The Cold War And The National Security Doctrine

“America for the Americans” is a phrase commonly used to summarise the so-called ‘Monroe doctrine’. In his State of the Union address in 1823, US president James Monroe set out what would become the US policy towards the rest of the American continent to this day: by rejecting the intervention of the European powers in the continent, America would become part of the US’s sphere of influence.

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the political, cultural, economic, and military influence of the US on the continent expanded. The onset of World War II accelerated the process, already underway, of military cooperation, and favoured a common defence policy based on continental solidarity. Thus, the 1947 Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance stated that any foreign attack on one of the signatory states would be deemed an attack on all of them.

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and John Fostor Dulles, mastermind behind the 1954 coup d'etat in Guatemala (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

In the 1960s, US policy towards Latin America shifted as the Cold War intensified and the success of the Cuban revolution brought the communist threat to its backyard. The fight against communism -or any political movement identified as such- became the number one objective for the US. The role of the Latin American armed forces within the continent and even within their own countries was then redefined to achieve this objective: their main aim became to guarantee internal stability.

The National Security Doctrine, whilst not written down or systematised, is considered to be a military doctrine developed by the US government and instilled into Latin American soldiers through training centres such as the School of the Americas. Many trace its origins to the counter-insurgency teachings of the French military, who developed their own doctrine to fight against the resistance of the independence movements from their former colonies in Algeria and South East Asia.

The most important aspect of the National Security Doctrine, the one which shaped all the policies developed under it, was the idea that social conflict and armed struggle in Latin America (and the so-called Third World in general) was not the result of internal factors, but of communist infiltration by groups backed by the USSR. This way, all internal conflicts were redefined as being part of the bigger threat of the Soviet Union against the US, thus justifying US intervention. This intervention, however, was not direct. As military involvement by the US was generally not supported at home, especially after the Vietnam War, the training imparted to Latin American soldiers and the redefinition of the role of the armed forces sought to prepare them to carry out their job as regional ‘police’ within their own borders.

‘Torturers Are Not Born That Way…’

Leopoldo Galtieri (Argentina), Roberto Viola (Argentina), Hugo Banzer (Bolivia), Manuel Noriega (Panama), Juan Velasco Alvarado (Peru), Omar Torrijos (Panama). What reads like a ‘who’s who’ of Latin American dictators is but a small fraction of the long list of graduates from the School of the Americas.

Leopoldo Galtieri, graduate of the School of the Americas and Argentine dictator during the Dirty War (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

The School, ran by the US Army, first opened its doors in 1946 in Panama. Back then, it was called Latin American Training Center, Ground Division and its objective was to train Latin American soldiers in war and counter-insurgency techniques. In 1950 it was moved to its definite location in Panama, Fort Gulick, and Spanish was adopted as its official language. It would remain in Fort Gulick until 1984 when it was relocated to the US. In 1963 it was renamed United States Army School of the Americas, the name by which it would become internationally known.

According to the NGO SOA Watch, since 1946 the school “has trained over 64,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics”. Many of these were involved in military regimes across the continent in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. More recently, graduates from the school participated in the attempted coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in 2002, and the coup that deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya in 2009.

What exactly did the soldiers learn in their visits to the School of the Americas? In 1991, seven Spanish-language Army manuals, based partly on lesson plans used by instructors since 1982, were released to the US Congress and in 1992 two CIA manuals used for training in Latin America were added. These texts included material from CIA and US Army manuals written in the 1950s and 1960s and had titles such as ‘Revolutionary War and Communist Ideology’, ‘Terrorism and the Urban Guerrilla’, ‘Handling of Sources’, and ‘Interrogation’.

One of the most striking features of these texts is the lack of distinction between legitimate and legal opposition movements and armed guerrillas. The ‘Counterintelligence’ manual defines as potential counterinsurgency targets any groups or political parties “that have goals, beliefs or ideologies contrary or in opposition to the National Government” or the US. It then recommends the creation of black lists to include “enemy agents” and “subversive persons”, including political opposition leaders and “collaborators and sympathisers of the enemy”. The suggested solutions to the enemy presence include infiltrations into enemy groups and population control techniques such as curfews, military checkpoints, house searches, issuance of ID cards and rationing. Detention procedures compliant with the rule of law are ignored. According to the analysis carried out by NGO Latin American Working Group (LAWG), “throughout the manuals there is discussion of detaining suspects without mention of proper procedures for arrest, obtaining admissible evidence, trial and conviction. There is no mention of warrants or the right to contact an attorney or any comparable local laws. In fact, it is recommended throughout that detainees be kept in isolation and not be allowed to contact anyone.”

WHINSEC Change of command ceremony in 2010

The declassified CIA manuals are even more crude. Whilst the Army manuals try to keep up appearances by making references to documents such as the Geneva Convention, the CIA’s “Human Resource Exploitation Manual” has an entire chapter dedicated to coercive interrogation techniques. The aim of these techniques, they explain, is to induce psychological regression in the prisoner, defined as “a loss of autonomy, a reversion to an earlier behavioural level”. The “three major principles involved in the successful application of coercive techniques” are physical weakness, dependency and intense fear and anxiety. To achieve this, the manuals indicate that suspects should be held incommunicado and should be deprived of any kind of normal routine in eating and sleeping. Interrogation rooms should be windowless, soundproof, dark and without toilets. Causing fear by threatening the prisoner is included as a technique in this chapter, as the manual indicates that the threat to inflict pain is often more effective than the feeling of pain. Other coercive techniques discussed in the manual include prolonged constraint, prolonged exertion, extremes of heat, cold, or moisture, deprivation of food or sleep, disruption of routines, solitary confinement, deprivation of sensory stimuli, hypnosis, and use of drugs or placebos.

This type of training has had serious consequences for hundreds of thousands of people. US backing for Latin American dictatorships has been widely documented, but what the manuals from the School of the Americas show is the true and chilling extent of the intervention. It did not only consist of political support: it went as far as teaching the soldiers how to torture prisoners.

Even those who did not suffer the application of these ‘coercive techniques’ on themselves or their loved ones, those who were oblivious to it all or those who had not been born yet suffered the consequences of State-sponsored terrorism. The social and economic outcomes of the Latin American dictatorships are still being felt by many to this day. The techniques taught at the School of the Americas were but a means to an end: to subjugate the opposition to the massive social and economic changes introduced by the dictatorships from the 1970s onwards.

‘Different Name, Same Shame’

In 1984, Panamanian president Jorge Illueca denounced the School of the Americas as the biggest base for destabilisation in Latin America and evicted the US army from Fort Gulick, a step which was part of the broader process put in motion by the Panama Canal Treaty and which involved the progressive withdrawal of US forces from Panama.

Protesters hold up crosses with the names of the disappeared at SOA Watch's annual vigil. (Photo: Carolyn Scorpio)

The School of the Americas was then reopened in Fort Benning, in the US state of Georgia. In 2001, and after the public outcry caused by the release of the training manuals, the school closed down and was replaced by the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). SOA Watch and other human rights NGOs have been publicly denouncing WHINSEC ever since, as they consider it to be “the School of the Americas under a different name”. There has been no critical assessment of the way the school was conducted and therefore no real changes to its objectives, procedures and lack of independent control.

Many NGOs advocate for the closing of WHINSEC, with SOA Watch at the forefront of the struggle. The sole purpose of SOA Watch, based in Washington DC and with offices in Latin America, is to push for the closure of the School of the Americas, under whatever name it may be called. Founded in 1990 after the massacre of six priests and two women by School of the Americas graduates in El Salvador, this NGO has been working relentlessly through demonstrations and nonviolent protest to achieve their goal. Last November, during a yearly vigil, a SOA Watch activist was arrested for breaking into the grounds of WHINSEC in Fort Benning, and later condemned to six months in prison. Unlike the school educators, hundreds of anti-WHINSEC activists throughout the years have had to face justice and serve prison time.

Despite their efforts, an average of 1,000 students per year (mainly Latin American) continue to attend WHINSEC for training on counterdrug, urban terrain, major combat and joint operations. The school receives a budget of US$14m annually.

The most promising gesture regarding the School of the Americas has not come from the US, but from the Latin American governments. Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay, and Bolivia have all decided in recent years to stop sending soldiers for training at Fort Benning. This goes to show that, whilst changing the 200-year long foreign policy of a world super power may not be easy, only the autonomous decisions of a strengthened and united continent can save millions from being at its mercy.

When a dog feels stressed, what is there to do? Take it to a psychiatrist. Obviously.

Dogs in therapy play-fight on the couch. (Photo: Lili Kocsis)

It is hard to miss the hoard of dogs that evade the streets of Buenos Aires – the four-legged, tail-wagging, tongue-dangling creatures are absolutely everywhere. A survey released this year by Mars, world leader in pet food manufacturing, reveals unsurprising statistics that prove Argentina to be the Latin American champ of the nations for indulging in pets.

Eight out of ten households in Argentina house a pet, 63% of which are dogs. From individual walkers to ‘paseadores,’ it seems the city is but a playground for canines.

But however fun Buenos Aires is, cities can be difficult places to live in. The endless hustle-bustle, being cooped-up in small apartments, and the ever-looming cloud of pollution is stressful even for us humans. Dog psychiatrist, Ricardo Bruno, argues that for most of these miniature urban dwellers, the city is detrimental.

Dog Whisperer Ricardo Bruno with two patients (Photo: Lili Kocsis)

It probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that in a country where visiting a therapist is as part of a daily routine as the gym, and where nine million dogs are domesticated, that psychiatry has been elevated from its originally human realms to those of dogs.

Bruno is one of ten pet psychiatrists in Buenos Aires, resolving issues with aggression, fear, and compulsive symptoms, ultimately socialising troublesome cats and dogs. And not just by dog whispering. “I am a doctor, I medicate animals with anti-depressants such as Paroxetine and Lorazepam,” he explains.

Isolation vs. humanisation of dogs

Over thousands of years, dogs have been domesticated to instinctively relate to their human families as being part of their pack, but there is a fine balance between needing to be socially involved in family life and being considered too much to be like a human. Various factors create festering problems in pets, which eventually need treating.

For one, dogs bought for security tend to be left alone in backyards, away from crucial human contact. All the dog’s instincts tell it to be part of the pack, causing it anxiety and stress.

“We have a large problem with security, so many people buy dogs for security rather than love, but in the end the dogs attack them. It is the same as people buying a gun for security, but end up shooting themselves in the foot, literally,” Bruno laughs.

The problem also persists with dogs that are bought just for show, many owners do not have time for their dogs, leaving them alone in the house for extended periods of time.

Dogs left alone tend to break everything, explains Bruno, which escalates into a larger problem as ‘destructive’ dogs then become further isolated, left on a terrace where they are unable to destroy things in the family home.

“People in Europe are more conscious when they are thinking about buying a dog; they think first. Here, they first buy the dog, and then they think.”

Although dogs thrive on companionship, owners can also run the risk of involving them too much in the family. Dogs are often accepted into a family like a human being, along with human expectations and without training.

Bruno theorises that people often feel alone in a city like Buenos Aires, so they take on dogs, and they love them like humans, and with such high expectations, owners get frustrated when their dog ‘misbehaves’, creating a confusing relationship for the dog. “Often, the problem is that the owner does not understand that they must be the leader. People see humans in their dogs. But they are not humans: they are dogs.”

Most dogs in Buenos Aires are not born with mental disorders – the conditions of living in an urban environment cause them, argues Bruno. “If you put any one of them in the countryside, they would be fine.”

So has Buenos Aires’ dog-crazy population created monsters out of canines?

Dog behaviour specialist, Mariana Bontosela, believes that Buenos Aires’ dogs are not doomed; though admitting to an Argentine pet ownership problem, she is much more optimistic. “Dogs have been domesticated for the last 16,000 years, they have long since adapted to living with humans and within cities.”

Bontosela does, however, agree there lacks a culture of education here – dogs are not typically taught tricks or even simple things such as ‘sit’. But she adds that as long as dogs are trained for their function, it is unlikely there will be problems. As an example, she uses security dogs, which function just fine left outside of the house; if trained properly, they should not present problems.

This dog, Max, stares out the window. (Photo: Poppy Wright)

“For pet dogs, contact is vital,” she adds, reiterating Bruno’s concerns, emphasising that an increase in pet-owner interaction is essential.

But generally, she believes that respect for dogs in Argentina is on the up: “People have been a lot more careful in the last few years, with zoological awareness on the rise. It is true that humanisation of dogs is still a problem, but Argentines really love their dogs, and attempt to treat them well.”

Both Bruno and Bontosela believe that the way to change the behaviour of Argentina’s pet dogs is through adapting interaction between pets and owners. Owners need to further understand their dogs, working with them. Though the allocation of drugs is essential for some, medication should only be assigned with an increase in human attention.

“It is really important to make people understand their pets, it interests me more to speak to the owner, because I want the people to understand the meaning of their dogs,” Bruno explains.

“If a dog keeps jumping onto people, give it special attention when its feet are on the ground. Although there are different variations of behavioural correction, this forms the crux.”

Dominique Gutierrez and Ryan Long, dog psychology first-timers, took their misbehaving pup, Joey, to Bruno for help earlier this year. “Sometimes a switch would go, and he’d get really angry,” they explained. They were convinced Joey’s constant snapping and aggressive tendencies could not be changed, but they could not put up with his disruptive behaviour any longer.

Bruno prescribed him female hormones for a month, assigned the dog a special lead, and told the couple “you can deal with this,” telling them to show Joey who was boss. Through Bruno’s various methods, the couple have seen huge improvements in Joey’s behaviour.

The message is clear, in a city of undeniable dog lovers, it is best not to smother or ignore pets, but to create a healthy balance. Though most of the city’s dog owners have their hearts set in the right place, more attention needs to be given to the way they interact with their dogs. Love is simply not enough.

In the city of Buenos Aires, not a day goes by that you don’t hear the rumbling of a city bus, trundling noisily down the street, or the sound of delighted laughter erupting from restaurant tables in the posh neighbourhoods of Palermo and San Isidro, where friends gather to debate, discuss, and air their passions for politics and the news. Yet beneath all the noise of the city, inaudible to the world, are the voices of an unrepresented, unheard population — the residents of the villas, the shantytowns of Buenos Aires.

On the busy streets of Villa 31 (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

Mundo Villa was developed with the mission to give a voice to those who need it the most. It’s purpose is to provide the residents of the villa with a publication featuring their own current events, and to show the people from the other neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires window into the lives of people living side by side with them, yet living a very drastically different reality.

Writing a New Chapter

The villas of Buenos Aires are known by many to be dangerous, poverty-stricken neighbourhoods, burdened with the stigma of insecurity, drugs, and violence. This overpowering scarlet letter often prevents people looking from the outside into the villa from seeing the other face, and the other reality of the lives of the villa residents. For the last five years, Mundo Villa has not only helped these people voice their needs, but also has raised general awareness for everyone — on the inside or out.

This was the beginning of a dream for Adams Ledezma and Victor Ramos, who collaborated together to create the villa-wide publication, Mundo Villa. “We asked ourselves, ‘Why not create something for our own? Why are we always looking outside instead of looking at what is with us?’ So the idea started from that foundation,” explained Ruth Torrico de Ledezma, the wife of the late Adams Ledezma.

The villa residents, despite lacking many of the basic necessities, wanted to stay informed and did not want to lose their voice in the community. And these deficits in both needs and communication did not sit well with the Mundo Villa group. Through the publication, many fundamental problems have been brought to the surface and are being addressed for people living inside — sending a message to those on the outside.

Ruth Ledezma from Mundo Villa (Photo: Andy Donohoe)

A Look from the Outside

Ruth Ledezma firmly believes in the good that resonates through her neighbourhood of Villa 31, where she has resided for the last 15 years with her family. She has an undeniable passion for her late husband’s dreams for Mundo Villa and is proud of the work that has been accomplished — Mundo Villa’s news not only acts as an informant for villa residents, but also shows a side the other media rarely disclose.

“People from outside of the neighbourhood get a chance to realize that we are not all thieves, delinquents, con-men, drug dealers, and murderers, as they portray us from the outside,” said Ruth. “There are also people who work, who get up at 3am and get to go home at 9pm — people who want to get out of their situations and prosper.”

“There is insecurity everywhere, but there it is higher there because of the structural implications — there is no water, no light, so for these reasons, it is completely dark at night here,” explained Joaquín Ramos, Mundo Villa’s Managing Editor. “It is a fundamental problem, and it is a fight to get these things for the villa, but it is a social integration effort.”

Mundo Villa is heavily involved in this integration effort to not just bring the fundamental services to the villa and to help change the image of the villas that is portrayed by many of the other publications and media sources in Buenos Aires.

Turning New Projects into New Realities

Mundo Villa is still a growing publication, and currently has 14 correspondents from each one of the Buenos Aires villas. Each correspondent is in charge of reporting the news from their neighbourhood, and every day Mundo Villa grows stronger through the unity of the villas.

As the current correspondent from Villa 31, Ruth, herself admits there is a great profoundness to the operations of Mundo Villa. “Being a correspondent asks you to go deeper into this world, and for me to get deeper inside the neighbourhood is something that I really like, it is important,” said Ruth. “That way I can actually know the people better, I see the reality of their needs. I can also see the absence of some authority, or where the authorities fall short inside the neighbourhood.”

Mundo Villa has also given birth to a number of new neighbourhood projects for the villas of Buenos Aires. These projects are aimed at educating and inspiring the youth of the villas to find their passion, to pursue their interests, and to begin creating a new image of the possibilities of life.

Currently there are many programmes for youths ages 14-18 in journalism, film, graphic design and logo making, and the programme leaders offer workshops in news-casting, correspondence, correspondence for show business, and sports.

These programmes are made possible through the work of Mundo Villa and SOS Discrimination, an international organization aimed at the social integration, acceptance, and promotion of diverse peoples from around the world. Editor of Mundo Villa, Victor Ramos, not only operates as the paper’s editor, but also works with SOS Discrimination to help achieve the same dream in Argentina. Along with help from the Secretary of Culture for the Nation, these programmes for the youth of the villa are not only making a difference in the lives of many adolescents, but helping them to realize their potential by pursuing new aspirations.

“There are people with a goal ahead of them that they are trying to reach — a new reality, a future,” said Ruth on the benefits of the programmes and the diverse interests of the villa population. “We have over 280 kids signed up for our workshops, and the neighbourhood is quite involved in its development.”

Continuing to grow and to prosper, Mundo Villa’s vision is also beginning to reach out to villas across Buenos Aires from Villa 1-11-14 to Rodrigo Bueno, not just for news, but to spark the curiosity of the young generations and fuel their enthusiasm for building a new future.

Adams Ledezma smiles for the camera. (Photo courtesy of Mundo Villa)

Persevering a Legacy

Over the course of five years, Mundo Villa has grown and changed many lives inside and out of the villa. Adams Ledezma was not only one of the founding fathers of Mundo Villa, but was also a delegate for the 99th block in his neighbourhood, the former Villa 31 correspondent, and was to be the director of the new venture for the televised Mundo Villa Channel.

However, on the tragic early morning in September 2010, Adams was brutally murdured outside of his home in Villa 31. Ruth Ledezma recounts every detail of the obscurity of his murder and the work he was doing for the residents of Villa 31. Although investigations have yielded no connective motive, she does not give up fighting for his justice, or for his dreams and visions for Mundo Villa. “He taught us a lot, and he left a lot of good stuff behind in the neighbourhood. It is for those reasons that I want to walk in his steps”

Assuming her husband’s role as the Villa 31 correspondent, Ruth continues to teach others, lead workshops, report, and build the dream that her husband once carried, all while caring for their six children. “He was very passionate about his job, he really loved what he was doing — so much so, that on that fateful night, he left without fear,” she said, holding a folder of Mundo Villa papers pressed close to her. “He wanted to create a world out of the villa, a world outside the normal. A world, a community where everybody collaborates and helps each other, if a neighbour was in need for help, he could turn to his neighbour and the other would come to his assistance.”

The Future of Mundo Villa

One of the most important and new projects that Mundo Villa has taken on is cultivating a televised program for their news station. Currently the start-up news channel has acquired two cameras and is working on obtaining a third.

Despite the difficulties of maintaining Mundo Villa financially, Ruth Torrico de Ledezma and her colleagues have no intentions of giving up on their dream that gives a voice to so many. “We do everything we can — sometimes we give money from our own pockets, sometimes we ask for donations,” said a fervent Ruth. “Sometimes there is money, sometimes there isn’t. In a way, the Mundo Villa group is also fighting for its means.”

What once began as just a seed planted in the heart of the villas, Mundo Villa has grown into a movement to bring news and necessities, to break preconceptions, and to let the voice of another side of Buenos Aires become heard.

In the last decade, Argentina faced one of the worst economic crises in history, the effect of which has rippled through the years to cause staggering unemployment rates and poverty. Determined to change the work culture and spawn a surge in economic growth, Monica Dicembrino began Saber Trabajar, a civil association based in Buenos Aires that promotes employment through education.

Saber Trabajar Sewing workshop (Photo/Beatrice Murch)

Established in 2008 through a government grant, the directors aimed to prepare its students with an indispensable skill, which, coupled with a certain ‘know-how’, would translate to overwhelming success in the job market. Saber Trabajar holds three-week long workshops that not only teach a skilled trade or craft, but also focus on the emotional and physical effects of job hunting.

“A lot of the time, it’s just as important to know how to market yourself as it is to be qualified for a job,” said Lucila Troillet, Director of Institutional Relations at Saber Trabajar. “What we offer is the basic capability to do something, and then we hold classes to teach people how to use their skills effectively.”

Saber Trabajar offers workshops in a variety of fields, from the beauty industry to the construction, electrician and keymaking industry. They also offer courses in waiting tables, sewing, and typing. The workshop is a multi-faceted studio, with rooms designed to teach: the outdoor area, for example, has a space for building drywall and sawing wood. The teachers are volunteers who work in the industry and are committed to making a difference in the Argentine social structure. Classes are held twice a week for three weeks, at which point students receive a certificate of completion and a reference letter.

Saber Trabajar teacher explaining how to properly hold a tray (Photo/Beatrice Murch)

On day one of the workshop cycle, students sat around in a circle and listened to presentations made by their teachers about how important it is to have not just a skill, but a desire to work and persevere. Everyone then introduces themselves and explains why they’ve come to Saber Trabajar and what they hope to gain out of this experience, before breaking off into their respective workshops.

“For the last decade in Argentina, there has been an excluded population that doesn’t know the value of work, especially adolescents. We hope to teach them to take pride in their work, that working earns dignity and respect,” says Troillet.

The majority of Saber Trabajar’s alumni are adolescents between the ages of 16-25, who are sent to Saber Trabajar by institutional organisations like juvenile detention and rehabilitation centers. The remainder of students are either immigrants from Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay looking for work, or simply people walking on Avenida Rivadavia searching for a new opportunity. In the last quarter the association reported a 30% alumni employment rate, which Lucila assures has jumped even higher this quarter.

Unfortunately, the association’s government grant expires in 2011, and it may be difficult to sustain the organisation with private donations alone. They intend to target particular organisations, from within the country and abroad, as well as corporations and governmental organizations.

“Obviously, we want to continue our work because we’ve changed people’s lives: not just because we helped them find work, but because we helped them find a sense of security, happiness and pride,” says Troillet. “Everyone should have this opportunity.”

For more information on Saber Trabajar and to find out how you can help, please visit www.sabertrabajar.org.ar.

Cricket has a long history in Argentina. The first game was played in 1806 and from then on clubs began to appear across Buenos Aires province. The Argentine national side has had sporadic success over the years. The golden era for the game was from 1900 to the Second World War, when Argentina was considered amongst the top six cricketing sides in the world. Unlike in India, whose game at that time was developing at a similar pace, cricket’s popularity in Argentina waned considerably from the 1950s onwards, leaving football to overtake and develop as the country’s national past time. However, the Argentine Cricket Association (ACA) is committed to ensuring that Argentina gets back up there with the top cricketing nations. Joining the team, as coach to the national side, is British recruit Toby Bailey. Toby is an ex-professional cricket player from the UK, who has a passion for developing the game abroad.

Photo by Pavel Ezrohi

Toby Bailey

So how did you become the coach of the Argentine national cricket team?

Well, I saw it advertised on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) website and applied. As soon as they offered me the job, I was out here. I didn’t hesitate, I resigned from my job and six weeks later I was over here and I absolutely love it.

Have you always been involved in cricket?

I used to play professional cricket at Northamptonshire. I did that for ten years and then I went to work for a bank in London. I always thought I’d come back to cricket. I played cricket for the ICC and went on tour to Mozambique. While I was there I did a lot of coaching and from that I realised that I wanted to go back into cricket, not in the UK, but for a country where cricket is developing. Because in developing countries you get more out of cricketers, it’s not so easy, more of a challenge.

What did you know about Argentine cricket before you came out here?

I knew the history of Argentine cricket and I thought it might be a little bit more English out here, but it’s better that it’s not. I’m coaching Argentines not ex-pat/English players, which is fantastic.

Why do you think cricket didn’t become the national sport of Argentina?

I think cricket went into decline over here because until the 1970s it was an ex-pat sport. Even though players were second generation Argentine they weren’t developing new talent within the Argentine community. Some of our players have very Anglo names so some people perceive that it’s still a game for ex-pats, that it’s just for embassy staff on a Sunday. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Ninety-five percent of our players are Argentine and we’re very proud of that. It is critical that we get more Argentines involved and interested if the sport is going to progress.

How does your coaching role differ here to in the UK?

In the UK if I was working in an academy, the players would be perfect. They’d all rock up on time and I wouldn’t have to drill them. They would be rough diamonds that just needed shining up a bit. Over here you’ve almost got to cut the diamonds!

Photo by Pavel Ezrohi

The North-South game.

In the UK the structure is in place, people are taught how to bowl from an early age.  Over here they don’t have that structure, but they’ll watch, pick up a bat and get it almost straight away. They’re very talented.

What language is spoken out on the field?

You get lots of ‘spanglish’; out on the field. There are some cricket terms that you just can’t translate so most players use a combination of English and Spanish.

Do you find yourself having to explain what cricket is a lot of the time?

Yes! So many people think I mean croquet! I remember I was in a pizza place in Hurlingham chatting away to this lady. When I explained that I was a cricket coach the woman gave me a funny look, up and down, and then started making the actions of playing croquet. I usually say that it’s like baseball to avoid confusion.

Do you get to go to some exotic locations?

Yes, we travel all around South America. The men’s national team played in Darwin in 2007 and  are off to the UK and Italy this year. The ACA is keen to go to other South American countries and run coaching clinics and coach coaches. We want to be able to play against Chile, Brazil and Uruguay. We want to develop their standard of cricket too. It’ll take a long time, but we see that as a big responsibility for us.

What is women’s cricket like out here?

Women’s cricket is growing fast here. The national team recently beat Bermuda and the US and narrowly missed getting through to the World Cup qualifiers. In theory women’s cricket is new worldwide, although there was actually a women’s world cup before the men’s.

What’s the cricket social scene like? Is it all cucumber sandwiches and Pimms?

Everyone knows each other out here, it’s a small community, so people stick around for a beer after the game. Mixing Fanta with beer seems to be the thing over here which is new to me and they’ll have masses of empanadas or an asado after the game.

What do you like about living out here?

I love it because it’s so different. Everything is new. I’m getting used to things not quite working in the same way and now I’m more relaxed about it. In fact the best thing is that it’s so relaxed. Also, the food is unbelievable and the wine is out of this world. The people are really friendly: they take their time to say hello and good bye and really mean it here when they ask how you are. Things do go a lot slower, but it means you can appreciate the smaller things in life. I have no plans to leave. If I left after a year I wouldn’t  have done the job properly. I’m really excited about the young players coming through but it’ll take time to achieve what I want to do.

Do you find any cultural differences when you’re coaching?

I sometimes have to be careful with the culture. I can’t coach the same way here as I would in the UK. I can’t use the ‘stick’ approach here. It just wouldn’t work. When they train here, they train really, really hard. I just have to use a different way to get people to respond. In the UK if someone isn’t turning up to practise then you drop them and they get the message. I can’t do that here – it wouldn’t work.  It’s the biggest cultural difference I’ve found in my work.

I have no complaints about how the guys train though, they’re focused and brilliant. Organising stuff is the hardest thing to do. Getting 15 players to turn up on time can be tricky. When they turn up 15 minutes late I ask them why they aren’t on time and they answer that they are. It’s just different. I can’t bring my culture over. I can’t change that, so I don’t bother.

If you are interested in playing, umpiring or supporting cricket in Argentina you can contact the ACA on admin@cricketargentina.com. More information about the ACA, matches coming up in 2010 and the history of Argentine cricket visit www.cricketargentina.com