President Javier Milei's culture secretary was booed and heckled by the audience on Thursday as he delivered a speech at the inauguration of the 49th edition of the Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires.
Cifelli, 54, saw his speech as a way to rebuild ties with the cultural sector after the government's absence from last year's event following a row between President Milei and its organisers, the Fundación El Libro.
But those plans fell flat as the audience repeatedly interrupted his speech with shouting, whistling and cries of "liar" — especially when he defended budget cuts and thanked Karina Milei, the President's sister and Presidential Chief-of-Staff, for her support.
"Partisan politics should not interfere in culture, and even less should it be a pretext for unnecessary spending," said the culture secretary, prompting boos from sections of the audience.
Tensions escalated when he snapped back at what he saw as a partisan crowd: "Was it you lot who got rid of [Argentina's] currency controls, or was it Milei?"
Despite the backlash, Cifelli insisted that "thanks to austerity and belt-tightening", the government had doubled the budget for a literary programme aimed at community libraries. He also announced an investment of more than 1.5 billion pesos for the publishing sector during this year's fair.
Full house
The opening ceremony at La Rural drew a full house, with publishers, diplomats, officials and members of the public packing the venue.
Organisers said the government's presence was made possible through an agreement with the National Library, which waived charges for stand installations.
Last year, Milei had refused to stump up the cash of the national government's stand and slammed organisers, pulling a planned appearance to launch one of his own books.
Theatre producer Cifelli defended the La Libertad Avanza administration's cultural policies during his speech, claiming it would "prioritise investment in culture while eliminating unnecessary spending" and work closely with the private sector.
His efforts to ease tensions with the literary world after a year of clashes underscored the rift between the government and much of the cultural community.
Juan Sasturain, the 79-year-old writer and former director of Argentina's National Library, delivered the keynote address, offering a literary and satirical critique of the current political climate.
He described the present as "these discepolian times: a jumble," referencing the tango lyricist Enrique Santos Discépolo, and warned of a degenerative social illness he dubbed "the Bierce Syndrome" — a nod to the American satirist Ambrose Bierce.
This ailment, Sasturain suggested, is marked by a "progressive loss of shame," spreading rapidly in recent times.
"Shame is health," Sasturain concluded, to resounding applause. He identified symptoms of the malaise as "growing aggression, verbal abuse, and disqualification," along with "flagrant irresponsibility" and "megalomania bordering on the ridiculous."
Rejected
Many in the audience rejected Cifelli's presence, including a group of writers who held up an iconic image of journalist and historian Osvaldo Bayer.
The protest continued at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, where writers displayed placards bearing Bayer's face and one of his best-known quotes: "We must shed light on our past so that it is never repeated."
Among those taking part were acclaimed authors Claudia Piñeiro, Sergio Olguín, Selva Almada and Guillermo Martínez.
The reference to the writer comes a month after government officials ordered the destruction of a monument to the writer at the highway entrance to the Santa Cruz provincial capital of Río Gallegos.
Bayer was most famous for his saga La Patagonia rebelde, which tells the story of an anarchist-led strike in Santa Cruz in 1921 was brutally repressed with over 1,500 executions. The book was later turned into a famous film carrying the same title.
The Buenos Aires International Book Fair is open to the public until May 12. Opening hours are Monday to Friday from 2pm to 10pm, and weekends and public holidays (May 1 and 2) from 1pm to 10pm.
This year's guest city is Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Authors from more than 40 countries — from South Korea, Ireland and Ukraine to Guatemala, Chile and Portugal — will take part in over 1,500 events, including talks, presentations, forums and readings.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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