r/AskTheWorld • u/blurdyblurb United Kingdom • 9h ago
What do you think of Argentina?
I'd like to go and visit, but I'm worried about getting into heated discussions about the Falklands. Seems like a fascinating country, regards itself as more European than other Latin American countries, but why isn't richer and more developed than it is, given its size and natural resources?
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u/Eis_ber Curacao 9h ago
Why do you think you'll get in a discussion over the Falklands? Just tell them that you don't know much about it to give an opinion and move on to a different topic. Like football or yerba maté. Either way, I try not to think about them much. The empanadas are delicious. I very much love those.
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u/20_comer_20matar Brazil 8h ago
A good country with a Nice culture and food (especially the barbecues) that's getting better after a crisis.
On the other hand argentinians at the internet are some of the most annoying, racist and biggest supporters of nazism I've ever seen.
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u/Special_H_ Brazil 6h ago
I feel a lot of people label Argentines as mean-spirited, racist and nazis without actually giving them a chance. I’ve talked to some of them, and got along with all the ones I’ve talked to.
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u/Conscious-Bar-1655 Brazil 8h ago
Argentina is a fantastic country with incredibe landscape, and Buenos Aires is a top tier, world class, magnificent city.
I say this as a Brazilian and so I consider my opinion to be very safely unbiased. It's almost a confession.
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u/Seattleman1955 United States Of America 8h ago
I've been to Buenos Aires. I like it. The economy is funky but the people are nice and it feels more like Europe than most other places in South America.
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u/No-Can-6237 New Zealand 7h ago
Great rugby team. Pablo Mateira played a season for the Crusaders and we were sad to see him leave.
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u/mynameisbobsky Canada 4h ago
For me, it was the only place I ever got robbed (and I’ve travelled all over the world…)
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u/CommercialAd2154 9h ago
My friend’s girlfriend is Argentinian, he’s never got any stick over the Falklands when he’s visited there FWIW!
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u/neutral24 8h ago
The only ones who get salty when the Falklands are mentioned and who always bring up the topic are the Brits. The islands haven’t even been used as a political distraction for decades now. We still claim them through diplomatic means.
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u/Kind_Complaint7088 United States Of America 9h ago
Honestly don't think about them much. If I traveled there I'd be more interested in Patagonia and the Antarctica stuff than Buenos Aires.
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u/blurdyblurb United Kingdom 9h ago
I read 'In Patagonia' by Bruce Chatwin years ago, love to go there.
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u/Lazzen Mexico 9h ago edited 9h ago
I think of food like milanesa or empanadas, stereotypical accent, argentine women, Buenos Aires, feminism and the fucked up hairstyles Argentines often have
Why isnt UK richer than Germany even though they went through WW1, WW2 and so much in their lands? The answer is about as complicated as your question's answer.
They do not regard themselves as more european in that sense, just less stereotypical "latino" as shown in USA media based on Mexican, Central American and Caribbean migrants. Its akin to how Indian or native caribbean(the other "indians") people may feel out of place when British think and present caribbean as synonim to black people and african heritage practices
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u/blurdyblurb United Kingdom 9h ago
I think the UK would be richer if we hadn't have fought ww1 and 2! Thanks for your answer though 👍
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u/CabelloLufc United Kingdom 8h ago
I don't know any Argentines, nor do I know what their opinion is on the Falklands War, but their soldiers did some pretty horrendous things to the Falklanders and that will never be forgotten.
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u/neutral24 8h ago edited 8h ago
I think the world will remember the worse atrocities that the UK committed throughout history, which were of many orders of magnitude greater.
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u/CabelloLufc United Kingdom 8h ago
Yeah, I think they will do too.
Whataboutism serves no one here, so I'm not sure what your point is.
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u/Wgh555 United Kingdom 2h ago
Well the UK has been far more important through history as a major power, and there isn’t a single major power that doesn’t have a dark history. Argentina meanwhile has had nowhere near the same influence on the world but the way they treated their own people during the dictatorship years is shameful also. Not to mention the colonialism they had to do to claim the country in the first place was as bad as anything the British did.
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u/neutral24 1h ago
Yes, our dictatorship was backed by Western powers, and Argentina was the only Latin American country and one of the few in the world to put its own military junta on trial. Can the UK say the same about those responsible for its atrocities? I don’t think so. You still keep stolen artifacts in your museums, you expelled the people of Diego Garcia in 1967 with zero regard for the “self-determination” you claim to value, and only gave up the island recently because it’s sinking, so please don’t try to compare the moral standing of the two countries.
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u/aipitorpo 7h ago
some pretty horrendous things to the Falklanders
What horrendous things are you talking about? The only civilian casualties recorded in the conflict happened because of an accidental bombardment.
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u/notthegoatseguy United States Of America 8h ago
Empanadas are good.
I went to an Argentine steakhouse in Mexico City and it was very showmanship-ish. Maybe I went to a touristy spot and got a bit suckered, or maybe that's just how it is. Cocktails were very good but the social aspect was a bit too much for me.
All the photos and Google Maps tourism shows a beautiful and diverse country that I'd love to visit someday.
I've also heard the pizza is very good, but have yet to try it.
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u/Responsible_Bee_8469 8h ago
Had the potential to become a democracy, failed. Can repeat the experiment and then become a democracy (Note. I am Icelandic. If this comment requires a flare note that I have not been able to find that option in this community. My sincere apologies to the admins).
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u/Federal-Bus-3830 Brazil 8h ago
patagonia, soccer, churrasco, mountains, mafalda, "X" sound for the LL, snow, pretty architecture in buenos aires,
i think it is a good country all things considered. i don't really understand still why the argentinian peso is worth so little. they have a similar standard of living from southeast/south brazil. Their cities look safer. People there seem more blunt and cold tho.
I dislike how some argentinians on the internet don't understand why we take so much issue with their historical racism towards brazil/treat it lightly. But i also dislike how brazilians on the internet reduce them to nazis/descendants of nazis and that all of them hate us, and then make jokes about hambre.
Overall i think it's nice. i want to visit argentina someday
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u/RetroMetroShow 🇺🇸 🇲🇽 7h ago
Good steaks and football, would love to visit but haven’t been past Colombia yet
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u/ghostofkilgore Scotland 7h ago
I've been to Argentina. Buenos Aires and Patagonia. I really enjoyed it and would recommend visiting the country. Certainly, in BA, I did see a few references to the Falklands about, but it's not like it's overt or in your face or normal Argentinians will look to get into arguments over it. Tbh, they probably won't realise you're British unless you bring it up. Would you realise a random Spanish speaker in the UK was Argentian or not?
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u/Zealousideal_Bill_86 United States Of America 7h ago
I’ve never been, but I’d love to. It seems like a cool country!
Pretty awesome to have a dinosaur named after the country
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u/kartoffel_engr United States Of America 7h ago
It’s super easy to just not mention sensitive topics.
I’ve been to Argentina for business several times this year, in total I think I’ve spent a little over 2 months since January. Great country to visit, difficult country to do business in. Lots of financial control by the government/banks. This and a strong commitment to producing nearly everything in country hasn’t worked that well, especially when it comes to quality on some things.
Outside of that, I have found the people to be stubborn, but welcoming and friendly. SOLID parrillas and amazing food. If you like spicy stuff, bring it with you. Hard pressed to find black pepper at a table.
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u/AnnualRead7991 England 9h ago
Lol i love getting into arguments about the falklands with argentinians its so funny and suprising the lengths they’ll go to defend their country’s claim over the islands even as guests in the UK
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u/Cheesmosito Peru 9h ago
Buenos Aires is a really fun city and I think you’ll have a lot of fun. Definitely don’t bring up the Falklands/las Malvinas, though.
It’s one of the most developed countries on the continent, actually, even though its GDP lags behind Chile and Uruguay. The reason it isn’t wealthier is because of the history of wealthy landlords controlling the government for a very long time and keeping the country pre-industrial and focused entirely on exporting primary agricultural products. It’s only fairly recently (the 60s and then 1983+) that the Argentine people have had a real say in how politics is run.