They came from all over Latin America, places reserved, even physically occupied, for months. And for Argentinian fans, Taylor Swift’s concert Thursday evening in Buenos Aires is an opportunity to escape a heavy electoral context, or even to send a message against a presidential candidate perceived as “macho”.
The pioneers, the heroines, had camped there for five months, guard tours organized with Excel spreadsheets and meals delivered on site to have the privilege of being at the foot of the stage on D-Day. Thousands of others “just” waited about fifteen hours since Wednesday night. At the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires (80,000 seats), the 33-year-old American megastar gave on Thursday the first of three concerts on the Eras Tour, a world tour launched in the United States in March, and which will end in December 2024 in Canada.
But in Argentina, for her first visit to the country, Taylor Swift was caught up in politics, ten days before an undecided second round of presidential elections, between a Minister of the Economy, Sergio Massa (center), and an “anti-system” ultraliberal, Javier Milei, often compared to Donald Trump for whom he expressed his admiration. “Swifties (Swift fans, editor’s note) don’t vote for Milei!” throws a sign (pink) that Miriam Monllau takes a photo of in the overwhelmingly female queue. Glitter atmosphere, sequins, country hats, looks evoking the different “eras” of the star.
For Miriam, 31, employed in the digital marketing sector, there is no doubt: “Taylor’s ideas go against what Milei would be (…) I see a fairly strong parallel between him and Trump,” assures she told AFP. “But she is against Trump, against everything he represents, a macho, patriarchal being.” Because in truth, it was Taylor Swift who caught up with politics, more than the other way around. The trigger, for many fans approached by AFP, was the documentary Miss Americana (2020), in which after having refused to talk about politics for a long time, the star opened up and said she now felt “the need to be good side of history.
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At the same time, she supported candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the presidential election, affirming that they would help America “start to heal” after Trump’s mandate. In the wake of the “new” Taylor, Argentine fans recently bounced back, creating an account on X (formerly Twitter) in October called “SwiftiesContraLLA” (Swifties against La Libertad Avanza, Javier Milei’s party). The account, which in a few weeks had gathered some 3,600 fans, called for “not to vote for Milei” on November 19, in the face of “the danger he represents, mainly for women and diversity”. He has since been suspended. “Taylor is on the side of diversity, of women. And Milei has this, let’s say dominant, way of expressing himself, he goes straight to the clash, and Taylor speaks out against that in his documentary,” explains Sofia Ranui, a 21-year-old student.
However, we don’t come to see Taylor Swift for her political ideas but because she “means everything to us. Whether you are sad or happy, whether you have lost someone, or met someone, she has a song for everything,” marvels Milena Nuñez, 23, who arrived from Uruguay. Julieta Zavala, 24, one of the early “campers” (since May 31) within an organized group of 30 people, does not want to hear about politics. “Off topic, nothing to see here,” she smiles at AFP while making “friendship bracelets”, a little themed costume piece of jewelry, inspired by the songs of her idol and which has become a cult object for Swifties around the world. . “It’s not like we’re all against Milei. Everyone will vote for him, or not,” she says.
And after all, the vote is in ten days “and tonight is the time to say: we make little bracelets, we make ourselves beautiful, we dress in pink, we get together,” reasons Sofia. Because in three days (of concert) “it’s over, the cloud that always hangs over the Argentines will return. There, it’s our crazy passion, it’s a cozy little nest, an escape.”