I start with a personal story.

Every World Cup I would tell my friends that I have Brazil in my shirt pocket and England in my pants pocket. It has been this way for decades. In 1998, for the first time, Jamaica qualified for the World Cup. That year I had Jamaica in my shirt pocket, Brazil in my pants pocket, and England in my back pocket. Jamaicans had been closely entwined with the British for centuries, hence my support of England.

The National Stadium was called The Office in the lead-up to the 1998 competition. That was the venue where the country conducted its football business. Simultaneously, some friends from my football club operated a sports lounge in New Kingston called The Office. During the World Cup, we would all gather there to view the games.

One day there was a critical match being played between England and Argentina. I quickly realised that the majority of the patrons in The Office were backing Argentina. All except me. I was the only English supporter. I tried to rationally explain why, as Jamaicans, we should be supporting England instead of Argentina:

While we were historically joined at the hips to England, we had no such links to Argentina. We had economic ties to Britain and benefited from preferential trading partnerships; we were part of the Commonwealth and enjoyed many benefits because of this association; and Jamaica’s football team was chock full of English-born players.

To cut a long story short, the patrons at The Office were upset at my loud-mouthed rhetoric supporting England. Things got very tense, and I was advised by some friends to tone down my support or leave before there was trouble. So I reluctantly left to avoid a confrontation. I couldn’t understand my fellow Jamaicans’ blind support for Argentina.

Did they know the history of Argentina?

The entire region was originally a part of the mighty Inca Empire. Argentina, the country, later became a part of the Spanish New World with the arrival of explorers from Spain in 1516. The Spanish gradually settled the land and founded the town of Buenos Aires, or “Good Air”. At the time, Argentina fell under the viceroyalty of Peru, which supervised all its affairs. Settlers from Peru, Spain, Italy, and hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans eventually populated the country.

Argentina grew in importance and was eventually granted the separate viceroyalty status of Rio De La Plata. This gave Argentina a capital seat to supervise the affairs of surrounding provinces. As a result, Buenos Aires and other Argentinian seaport towns flourished and became the leading trade centres of the region. In 1810 a movement referred to as the May Revolution resulted in the overthrow of the viceroyalty, which later degenerated into regional fiefdoms and self-governing provinces.

Increased militarism led to warfare throughout the region, causing it to split into several countries, all demanding independence from Spain. These new countries included the provinces of Uruguay, Paraguay, and sections of Bolivia. Uruguay presumptuously declared its independence in 1811, followed by Argentina in 1816 and Paraguay in 1828.

An Argentine general, San Marino, was also instrumental in assisting Chile and Peru to attain their independence. Finally, however, Argentina joined with Brazil and Uruguay to wage war on Paraguay and annex some of that country’s territory.

As the then centre of regional trade, Argentina became one of the most prosperous countries in South America during the early 20th century, with Buenos Aires the shining light of Latin-oriented culture.

The country of Argentina first hit my radar when, as a highschooler, I discovered that its Government offered refugee status to German and Nazi elements after World War 11. I had two uncles who had fought in that war, and they described the horrific behaviour of the Germans and their murderous rampage throughout Europe. Yet Argentina discretely encouraged and provided accommodation to these scoundrels.

Not a good look.

The next time Argentina came to my attention was in 1982. Argentina and England were embroiled in a military spat over some coastal territories called the Falkland Islands. All Jamaicans watched this conflict closely, with the majority of citizens hoping for the victory of our adopted English motherland. I remember listening to the war reports daily and feeling pleased with England’s progress and eventual triumph. Our support for England was akin to what is referred to as Stockholm syndrome. Here, the “enslaved” root for the success of the “enslavers”.

Jamaicans’ love relationship with Argentina blossomed during and after the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. They had earlier fallen head over heels for Brazilian football in the 1960s. But, still, they grudgingly conceded Argentina’s also-ran status after they won their first World Cup in 1978.

The football game was introduced to Argentina in the 1860s by British sailors, private schools, and immigrants. As a result, an Argentinian national team was introduced in 1902 and won its first World Cup 76 years later (1978). The Argentinians have since graced football with exceptional talents like Antonio Sastre, Adolfo Pedernera, Mario Kempes, Diego Maradona, and Lionel Messi.

Argentina excited the world when with Diego Maradona as its captain, the country won the 1986 World Cup. It was at this time that Argentine football really came to the attention of Jamaicans. The impression created by Maradona has had a lasting effect, and many Jamaicans converted to fanatical Argentinian supporters.

Now, as I head down the rabbit hole of politics and race, many readers will say that sports should not be mixed with these occurrences. But sport is social, political, economic, and racial. Ask the millions of Jews, Gypsies, and people of colour who were massacred by the World War II Nazi war machine.

Are we expected to forget Argentina’s role in accommodating and hiding from the law some of the worst offenders of crimes against humanity like Erich Priebke, Josef Mengele, Adolf Eichmann et al?

It should be noted that, despite British and American pressure for Argentina to join the Allies in the fight against Nazi Germany, the Argentines mainly remained neutral throughout. Nevertheless, Argentina’s refusal to break with the Axis (Germany, Italy, and Japan) caused alarm to Allied leaders.

In addition, Argentina consisted of many Italian and German immigrants, and its military leadership hesitated to involve itself in a European war. Finally, things got so bad that European powers and some Latin American countries severed relations with Argentina because of its perceived support of the Nazis.

But, at the time, Argentina was one of the West’s most significant sources of agricultural and other food products during the war, and so their disloyalty was mainly ignored. Argentina eventually joined the Allies in 1945, near the war’s end, as a non-belligerent State.

However, as the war’s ending approached, Argentina surprised the world with the open admission to its shores of many Germans fleeing war-crime prosecution. Although several South American countries were guilty of this act, Argentina not only admitted the Nazis criminals, but the Government protected them from international prosecution. As a result, it is estimated that up to 12,000 Nazis fled to Argentina. This was mainly via a route through Spain and Italy called the ratline.

German SS officers (Schutzstaffel or protection squads) and Nazis began to refer to Argentina as the Cape of Last Hope.

Argentina’s approach to race relations was just as bad or maybe worse.

Unlike America, where one drop of black blood made a person black, in Argentina one drop of white blood made a person white. So, with this in mind, Argentina unveiled an ideology of erasing its black culture via an organised whitening process. Argentina remains the only country in this region that has deliberately adopted a policy of population whitening. Of course, it is one thing to enslave people under horrific conditions. Still, it is quite a different thing to attempt to change their colour and culture.

Do we turn our heads away from the knowledge of Argentina’s continuing attempts to eradicate sections of their indigenous population and all evidence of the country’s early African inhabitants? Jamaicans were at the forefront of the fight against apartheid in South Africa, but they seemed to have dropped the ball regarding Argentina’s racial infractions.

The Argentine military imprisoned, murdered, separated, and enslaved many people of African heritage in its attempt to preserve and promote a European heritage. This genocidal ethnic cleansing was accomplished in unison with massive Spanish and Italian immigration.

It was a systematic erasure of a people and culture.

Argentina has been very successful at whitening its population. In the 18th century Afro-Argentinians made up between 37 per cent and 50 per cent of the population. Today they make up less than 0.5 per cent as per a 2010 census. So to where did all these people of colour disappear? With the knowledge that a speck of white blood makes one white and eligible for opportunities, many blacks also inadvertently or deliberately participated in the programme in order to secure economic benefits.

The plan to whiten one’s population is a crime that reminds of Hitler’s playbook. Worst still, this whitening wasn’t instigated by European powers (England, Spain, etc) but by the resident colonists themselves.

Modern Argentinians say they have no blacks and, as such, no racism. So there is no way I can support Argentina, not even in sports.

Argentina is probably the only ex-colony that has never fielded a black person in football. So how does one support a country that deliberately shuts out its African heritage, even in sports?

Jamaica celebrates Brazil because of Pele and its many black players. I celebrate England because of its many Anglo-Jamaican players. Argentina’s magnificent football cannot wallpaper the country’s denial of the black man’s place in Argentinian society.

I admit Argentinians play excellent football, but the South Africans also played good cricket during apartheid.

Anyway, I suppose that if we can forgive the British atrocities, why not the Argentinians. The two crimes, slavery and ethnic cleansing, are indeed both despicable and against humanity. However, if a good football game can put those intransigences behind us, then so be it.

As such, I hope Brazil or England give Argentina a proper spanking in this 2022 World Cup or, as Jamaicans would say, “fix dem business praperly”.

Rohan M Budhai is a tax consultant, writer, and history enthusiast. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or mariobudhai@yahoo.com.