ARGENTINA-URUGUAY: Youths Seek Fate in Spain’s Barracks

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Jun 24 2001 (IPS) - The illusion of progress projected by Argentina’s middle class throughout the 20th century has been erased by a seemingly endless economic crisis. But amid the widespread disenchantment there are young people who have not given in to the situation, but instead, and with realistic ambitions, seek a better future beyond their country’s borders.

Such is the case of hundreds of Argentines ages 18 to 28 who hold dual nationality with Spain and have accepted the invitation to join the ranks of that European country’s armed forces. In exchange, they are to receive 350 to 600 dollars a month, plus room and board.

Spain’s Ministry of Defence launched the search, desperate since young Spaniards show little interest in joining the military, which offers low pay compared to the average salary in that country. And the government must fill the posts that until 2000 were covered by obligatory military service, a law that was repealed that same year.

So Spain is seeking recruits in Latin America, beginning with Argentina and Uruguay, two countries that provide fertile ground for this endeavour because there are many people with dual nationality – and because consistently high unemployment has left the younger population disillusioned.

Unemployment in Argentina hovers at approximately 15 percent of the economically active population, while among youths in the 15 to 19 age group, the rate reaches 34 percent, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses. These figures are repeated almost exactly in Uruguay.

Public opinion surveys conducted in Argentina last year revealed that 52 percent of young people polled (ages 18 to 29) who held jobs feared losing them, and 45 percent of university students indicated that they intended to emigrate after completing their degrees.

Spain sent its invitation to 27,000 Argentines and to 7,000 Uruguayans in a letter bearing the title “Looking for an opportunity?”

The solicitation, which in other years would not have been a very attractive offer, received responses from more than 600 young Argentines, 304 of whom were selected.

In Uruguay, the offer garnered another 600 responses, and 160 people were accepted. Last Tuesday, 80 Uruguayans with dual nationality left to enrol in the Spanish armed forces.

The profile of the candidates who applied for programme is surprising because the relatively low pay might lead one to think that it would attract young people from low-income sectors of the population, or with little training or those who already had a military career in mind.

But many of the Argentines chosen to take part in the initiative held a job or were university students – and several made it clear that they are reticent to carry weapons.

What is it then that led more than 464 young Argentines and Uruguayans to leave their families behind and embark on an experience that is so similar – at first glance – to they already have in their own countries? And one that may even be less attractive financially?

The answers are found in the words these new emigrants uttered at the time of departure: opportunity, progress, career, future, possibilities, fate.

Javier Saldaña, 22, was born in Madrid but has lived most of his life in Rosario, in the Argentine province of Santa Fe.

Saldaña, a systems analyst, said he would like to enrol in the Para-Trooper School of Madrid, pointing out that, “here, I didn’t have any opportunities for the future, but there, with my computer knowledge, I have much better chances.”

Also in Rosario, the Spanish military found two sisters with dual nationality, Rosalía and Silvina Kriwoj, who both accepted the challenge. “My grandparents arrived here fleeing the war, and now we are leaving because here we have no opportunities to grow,” said one.

For his part, Alfredo Yepes, from Argentina’s Córdoba province, explained that he accepted the offer to join Spain’s military because it gives him “prospects for life, for progress, something that Argentina currently does not provide, and even less for young people.”

“You graduate from university with a degree and then you end up working in just about anything else,” stated a sceptical Yepes, a second- year student of systems engineering at the National Technological University of Buenos Aires.

Yepes, who now dreams of specialising in telecommunications, will receive a salary in Spain of 600 dollars a month, retirement benefits, social security, room and board. After three years of military service, he will be able to seek work or continue his university studies in Spain.

Celia Niubo, a young attorney, is also a member of this group of new emigrants. “I like practising law and hope I can transfer my professional title to Spain and stay there once my two-year contract at the air force hospital ends,” she said.

Her travel companion, Cecilia Crespo, meanwhile, dreams of finishing her bio-technology degree in Spain, studies she already began in Buenos Aires, and then staying to work there.

For his part, Martín Rodríguez, an actor, expressed other worries. “Even if I were crazy I wouldn’t go to war,” he stated from the outset.

However, Rodríguez, 22, saw the Spanish government’s invitation as an opportunity. “I really feel like making a change my life, like building a future, and here in Argentina, I can’t see that happening.”

“There (in Spain) I can study afterwards, something like computer science or management, which is what I like,” added the young man from Córdoba who lived with his parents and siblings, practised martial arts, worked in a supermarket and, occasionally, found work as an actor in television commercials.

Rodríguez emphasised that he does not like weapons, that he has never held one in his hands, that he would be incapable of killing anyone, and, obviously, he would not like to put his life on the line.

Several Uruguayans expressed similar concerns before flying to Spain last week. José Pería, 23, admitted that he was “a little nervous” about what awaits him in his new destiny.

Pería said he had been a law student in Montevideo, but now he hopes to pursue studies in administration in the Spanish army and then, with diploma in hand, look for work in the country of his forebears.

The need to build a more financially secure future is a constant among the youths who left their homes in Argentina and Uruguay to head to Spain. Several of them even said they intend to retire there and live their older years with fewer worries than what their parents suffer today.

In Argentina, the income of the vast majority of pensioners is not enough to make ends meet.

“It’s sad because we are taking a piece of the future with us. But that’s the way it is. I don’t want to just survive, I want to live and feel useful. My friends and my siblings work many hours, have no time to study or do anything else, and on top of that, they earn very little,” explained Octavio Hortal, 18.

Hortal, having reached the Spanish city of Toledo, has already telephoned his mother in Argentina. He left his country last week with a head full of dreams.

“I am going to complete the two-year stint as soldier and then perhaps there will be opportunities for promotions, social security, housing credits, a good salary and many other advantages,” he commented prior to his departure.

“People in Spain retire at 53, and who knows? Maybe by then I could work as a custodian at a department store like El Corte Inglés,” added Hortal, imagining his future in 35 years.

But the young Argentine also points out that – make no mistake – he is not keen on the military career option.

The ambitions of these Argentine and Uruguayan youths do not appear to be farfetched. They are merely dreaming of a better future, just like their parents or grandparents did when they left Spain for South America. The cycle is starting up again, though this time in the opposite direction.