Street artist sketches Diego Maradona in La Boca, Buenos Aires. Photo: Camila Escalante (2025)
Argentina is now in the World Cup final and false information is circulating, portraying the only remaining non-European nation in the tournament as white supremacist, Zionist, and whatever else.
Some complexity was lost as Argentina became the tournament’s most despised contender.
Argentina, like the rest of Latin America, was shaped by European colonialism, capitalist development, and mass immigration from Europe and elsewhere. Throughout post-independence history, Argentina has been exploited by Western powers.
Street vendor serves pre-match grub in La Boca, Buenos Aires. Photo: Camila Escalante (2025)
Today, the British occupy a quarter of Argentina’s territory. The UK has for 193 years maintained an illegal and militarized occupation of the Malvinas Islands. It was there that 649 young, poor Argentinians were killed by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s Malvinas war. The Brits are stealing hundreds of thousands of fishing resources annually, with plans to extract hundreds of millions of barrels of oil in the coming years while searching for diamonds and gold.
During these same years, US-backed military dictatorships killed 30,000 people—more than in any other country in Latin America during that period. This paved the way for the looting that has continued through the institutions controlled by Washington, like the IMF.
While that wealth is extracted by an imperialist power, the minimum monthly salary is just over $200 (223 USD). As inflation rises and conditions worsen, the majority of Argentines couldn’t imagine raising tens of thousands of dollars to purchase FIFA World Cup match tickets for a holiday trip to the U.S.
Economists at CELAG report that 48%—nearly half of the Argentine population—lives in poverty. An additional third of the population is in the ‘almost poor’ category.
Everyday Argentinians are victims of imperialism.
Yes, there’s racism in the country, promoted by the elites through their media and right-wing political factions. The current government of Javier Milei is as right-wing and pro-‘Israel’ as it is unpopular.
Working-class Argentinians have been out in the millions fighting against Milei and what he represents—from the neoliberal model of economic, labour, and social exclusion to a subservient foreign policy that promotes U.S. dominance in the region and world, while rejecting Latin American unity.
The trending narrative lumps workers into the same box as the ruling class that they’re fighting against.
(Center): Retiree protests in front of the Argentine congress against pensions that put seniors below the poverty line. (Right): Street artist sketches Maradona in La Boca. Photo: Camila Escalante (2025)
Argentina is home to one of the last truly working-class football cultures, with the ultras of all the major clubs coming together to join the anti-Milei protests on the streets from the moment he took office. This is the permanent culture of Argentina: It was here before Milei and it’ll be here after he goes. It’s led by the legacy of Diego Maradona, the maximum and most loved figure within the country.
Reducing a population of forty-six million to the actions of an unpopular government and the country’s elite is patently mistaken.
Maradona and Chávez on a wall across from Radio Gráfica in Buenos Aires. Photo: Camila Escalante (2025)
