Blocked streets, marches, police everywhere and WiFi in lots: this is how CELAC was born in Buenos Aires

Streets blocked by fences, police everywhere and silence. Thus was born the Retreat in view of the CELAC Summit which will take place this Tuesday at the Sheraton Hotel.

That neighborhood calm begins to fade the moment one crosses the heavily guarded gate set up for the pedestrian entrance to the summit headquarters and begins to walk the microworld of print, security and hustle and bustle which spreads everywhere.

While awaiting the arrival of the Presidents and Foreign Ministers participating in the VII Summit of Latin American and Caribbean Heads of State, the atmosphere at the Sheraton is nervousness and expectation.

Between the corridors they say

In overheard conversations, speculation about the reason Venezuela gave for the absence of its president, Nicolás Maduro, and questions about rumors never confirmed that Lula da Silva and the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz Canel, they went to the vice presidentCristina Fernández de Kirchner.

In the press room set up in the Pampa Hall, the different media camp out to broadcast. Cameramen, producers and journalists position themselves around the cordoned off area where they will give access to the coverage the parade of invited presidents.

There is only one waiter who takes care of the container of coffee and milk that is served to those who ask for something. In the stream of people that quickly begins to flood the press section, it becomes clear that the boy will soon be overwhelmed by the task and bets begin on how much I should get paid for such a thankless task.

Five hundred dollars collected by the Argentine Chancellery seems to be the fee that the majority seems to agree on.

What about wifi?

As perhaps it could not be otherwise, the state of the WiFi in the Salón Pampa It is a topic of eternal debate. A connection that seems to float from computer to computer in an eight inch space. Streaming is an odyssey.

A car with an apple icon fails to catch even one bar of signal, while a slightly more pedestrian model located in the front achieves full coverage. But that state only lasts a few minutes, and the wheel turns again, with other beneficiaries. WiFi lottery punishes and rewards.

For the already practically full room, spokesmen circulate who from time to time generate around them a circle of people anxious to know what the agenda will be like. Conversations are hushed and you have to strain your ears if you want to catch any details.

There are a few more details on some acts, but the news does not appear to be more than already known from the official communication, e some frustration is palpable with the televised nature of the event which occurs a few meters away.

On the televisions posted in the room, images of Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero receiving his peers begin to scroll, and the room lights up again while the various media begin to report the news.

protest marches

From the living room window you can see the marches and protests. A congregation of social movements protesting against the government, and a few meters away another Cuban living in Argentina marching against Cuban President Miguel Díaz Canel.

For a few minutes the attention is concentrated around the window, trying to decipher the extent of the demonstrations in the middle of the gaps that open between the trees and the police cordon.

The photographers and videographers stationed behind the entrance belt are already a crowd. And just as no one else appears to enter the narrow corridor where I’m stationed, the tape suddenly rolls in and they’re granted access to take pictures and film.

With the disappearance of the raid, the corridor is empty and suddenly seems to be bigger. The waiter in charge of the coffee is still stationed next to the container, only now looking from side to side in search of interested parties who are no longer there.