In the province of Corrientes, Argentina, the new sanctuary of Gauchito Gil was inaugurated. The new sanctuary is located just a few meters from the place where the rebellious and deeply popular gaucho was killed in 1878 after deserting the army to refuse to spill his brothers' blood during the civil war. While an almost endless line of hundreds of people, pilgrims full of hope with their stories and figurines in tow, snaked across the entire grounds to enter the sacred enclosure, thousands of others celebrated in traditional chamamée peñas or along route 123 around small, brightly improvised shrines, surrounded by candles, offerings, and red ribbons. Nothing could stop the popular celebration, not the suffocating heat of the coastal summer, nor the storm of water and lightning (which was announced but never arrived), and much less the motorized police that threw their fury upon the dancing bodies on the blocked road, vainly trying to extinguish the fire. For those who have visited the sanctuary on these dates, they know that the traditional celebration to greet and honor this saint and protector of the people is on January 8th, but the magic that brews by the roadside begins to happen much earlier and does not end with the midnight fireworks display, but continues for many more hours to the rhythm of chamamée, sapucai, and cheers for the protective gaucho. 148 years after his murder at the hands of the police, around 300 thousand devotees, male and female, promise-keepers from all over the country brought their thanks and renewed their faith by fulfilling promises for the favors and miracles received.
