Eve of 25th May Revolution

Celebration Milonga

Join the Perth Tango Club in celebrating with Argentina the 25th of May 1810 revolution when the city of Buenos Aires declared its independence from the Spanish. 

The week of Friday 18th to Friday 25th May 1810 was a series of events triggered by the invasion of Spain by the French Emperor Napoleon.  With the Spanish King overthrown, the colonials petitioned the Viceroy of the Rio de la Plata (nowadays Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay) for an open meeting to be held to decide the future of the Viceroy.  The petition was not granted so armed men and women occupied the Plaza de la Victoria (now called the Plaza de Mayo) demanding an open meeting and removal of the Viceroy.  The meeting was held on Tuesday 22nd May and resulted in voting on the Wednesday to form a Junta which whilst removing the Viceroy placed him as president of the Junta. On Thursday 24th May, the public protested at the Junta formation since the Viceroy as Junta president was the same as Viceroy itself.  On Friday 25th May, due to the military withdrawing support of the Junta and the public outcry, the President was forced to resign and the Junta dissolved.  As a result, a local authority was formed.

The 25th of May is now an annual public holiday to commemorate these events in Argentina's history. The week-long historical events are referred to as May Week.

(extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Revolution, 3 May 2008)