In Argentina we are marking this year of 2020 the 200th anniversary of the death of one of its central heroes: Manuel Belgrano. Lawyer, statesman, journalist and military commander when the situation demanded it, he dreamed of a fair nation, where everyone had a decent place. In pursuit of that ideal, he died poor and forgotten.

Manuel Belgrano was a "criollo". That is, a white man born in the territories of the Spanish Colonies in the New World. He studied law at the University of Salamanca in Spain. When he returned, he was one of the most active minds in the promotion of the process of independence of the territories that then formed the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century.

One of his letters gives a clear picture of Belgrano's figure: "My spirits were broken, and I knew that nothing would be done for the provinces by men who put their interests before those of the common people".

He spent his personal fortune, his health and his private life fighting for freeing the people from Spanish dominion. His goal, despite the disappointment with the infighting that followed the birth of the Nation and the liberation process, always remained, in his own words: "to sow the seeds that would one day be able to bear fruit, either because some people were encouraged by the same spirit engaged in planting those seeds, or because the very order of things made them germinate".

He died on June 20, 1820. Poor and alone. Criticized by those who did not share his idea that criollos, aboriginal peoples and blacks were a founding part of nascent Argentina. He was only 50 years old and could only pay his doctor with a watch that a hundred years later was stolen from a museum in the city of Buenos Aires.

Two hundred years after his death, there are many Argentines still sharing the dream of Manuel Belgrano for a more inclusive Argentina, something that's just merely a slogan for many.

As part of this year's homages to Belgrano, RAE-Argentina to the World wishes to share with its listeners this clip of the song "Sube", to honor the creator of the Argentine flag. This is a joint production by Argentina's National Radio based on the song written by Víctor Heredia and famously sung by Mercedes Sosa.

Translation and VO: Fernando Farías
Text: Silvana Avellaneda
Web Production: Julián Cortez