It smells delicious.
Look, I want to show you, this is the Cacho, of chicharron, it's pork. Give us a tour of your house, how is the situation here?
- I have the balcony.
Uff! look at this view.
I don't know where the line ends.
People were telling me "don't go!! to Fuerte Apache, it can be very dangerous", geniuses, the neighborhood is backing me up. -"The bullet rain that happened in Fuerte Apache that caused a death...
[News about Fuerte Apache] (Music) The Fuerte Apache
By Luisito Comunica How are you today Friends?
We've come to visit one of the popular neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
This is the neighborhood of Fuerte
Apache, which although may have a reputation of being one of the most dangerous neighborhoods,
it is also one of the neighborhoods where you can breathe the culture, breathe in the folklore of the Argentinian villas.
Color everywhere, impressive murals, tall buildings and low buildings, decorate this neighborhood of maybe 20, maybe 40 or maybe 60,000 inhabitants.
The census as such does not exist.
This neighborhood has a very interesting history, I'm going to summarize it for you. Around the 70s, a lot of migrant people began to arrive at the famous Villa 31 of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Villa 31 is also one of the neighborhoods
that has a reputation of being very dangerous. Overpopulation reached such a level in that Villa, that the authorities had to take the decision of displace the migrants who were arriving.
They started to build very tall buildings outside the capital city, which to this day are known as "Nudos".
High-rise buildings about more than 7, 8, perhaps 10 levels, that are connected by bridges to pass from core to core.
The new population managed to fill these buildings very quickly,
so they started to build other smaller buildings, which to this day are known as "Tiras".
These buildings are perhaps about 3 to 4 floors.
And there are also other type of buildings known as the "Monoblogs". Here the Popular culture of Cumbia Villera is lived a lot.
And also a lot of soccer culture.
There are teams of the neighborhood.
There is a very big soccer field where people go. There are big group of fans of local teams who stay here.
If it is a fairly fruitful experience, I would say, walking through these alleys.
I'm here with some local crack guides, that will take me through the streets, maybe getting me into some of the buildings, seeing what the houses look like, breathing in a little bit of how everyday life is like at one of the most famous neighborhoods in Buenos Aires.
The Fuerte Apache.
So let's go.
Nothing more to add, I'll keep telling you about in the way.
Join me! To enter the neighborhood it is advisable to come with locals.
Especially because if you don't, you can get lost.
I should mention that at each access point to the there are guard sites by the gendarmerie.
In order to try to regulate, in a certain way, criminal activity that might come to the neighborhood. Now it is worth to tell, that not all the neighborhood is dangerous.
Inside the neighborhood, there's a Villa that is known as "Villa Matienzo", that it is advisable not to go in. That's where the criminal activity could be afloat.
But in general in the neighborhood, which is pretty big enough.
You see people living their daily lives, going to school, going to work.
It is what it is, a colony, a neighborhood,
in which people are even quite warm, quite receptive.
A question that arises, why is it known as the Fuerte Apache?
Because its official name is "Barrio Ejercito de los Andes".
You'll see, around the 90s, a reporter came to record, like I am doing now,
and just as they were recording, it started to happen a crossfire confrontation.
So the reporter said "What's going on? This it's like an Fuerte (fort) Apache".
And from there the name stayed, to the point where colloquially it is known like that.
Although if you look it up on an official map it will say Barrio Ejército de los Andes. Although many people leave the neighborhood to work outside of it,
the reality is that inside the neighborhood there are a lot of economic activity.
You see a lot of kiosks, you see a lot of consumption centers.
Yes, inside the neighborhood has formed an economic cycle
that produces work and produces a flow of money. I was telling you that the soccer culture is very much rooted in the neighborhood, as in all of the Argentine territory, because this is the biggest field, is known as "El (the) Apache", where the good matches are played.
There are other courts that, are more, what is known as "canchas Potreras", this because they are like uneven land that many years ago were used for breeding and then they were transformed into soccer fields.
That's why it is known as "Potrero".
This is the biggest field that has the most emblematic one.
It has the name "El Apache", there is a mural.
The soccer player that we see
in that mural is Carlos Tevez, known as The Apache, who is one of the great icons here, because of the levels of soccer he has reached. You see him in many places and you hear his name a lot.
How are you Doña Narcisa? Are you okay? -Yes
I'm told she's well known here because she watches all soccer games.
Well, her house it's across the street so. Check it out, here we have the soccer field, this way, so she can watch all the games.
How not to do it?
When you love soccer, you watch the professional one,
the streets.
Soccer is nice anyway. My geniuses here have already prepared me my Fernet with coke.
How do you take it guys?
-70-30
(Man talking) (Man talking)
It's a debate
I really like my Fernet with half coke half Fernet.
But people like it more 70-30.
What team are you guys?
The truth is this is delicious.
This is one of the special glasses, look it's from Boca Junior and I liked this other one because it looks like it is the bottle, the coca-cola bottle broken in half. Do you know who made me one like this,
once?
The L-Gante Keloke, he did cut me the bottle we did there all.
It is so good, the truth.
So how about a little Fernet, to cool off we continue exploring.
As at many Latin American neighborhoods, in Fuerte Apache you see many murals and memorials of people who died involved in some criminal way.
The most famous cases, that in fact has two big murals, is the one of Nahuel.
That is told, he died at police hands.
You see a lot of cases like this one, you see street art, on every block of someone who died either from gang conflict, with the law, etc, etc.
We are going to go up now to the Nudo number 5.
One of these buildings, by the way, already made a good group of people here.
Originally, there were 13 Nudos in the neighborhood, that is tall buildings are known as Nudos (knots),
because they are connected with bridges,
they generally have three or four bridges that are connected between different levels,
to go from one side to the other of the housing unit.
There were 13, and they had to demolish two of them.
The eight and nine Nudos, had to throw them down because they were already bad in their structure, and already at risk of jail I would imagine. Now we're going into Nudo number 5, to see the inside of these buildings.
To see what it's like hundreds, in fact thousands, yes thousands of people live in the Nudos.
This knot has an elevator.
Here we got a local genius.
Thanks daddy for letting us in.
How big!
-Practically half the buildings are all that's left with elevators.
That have elevators, the same locals take care of this, right? -Neighbors set up a commission, a referent per tower, so they can collaborate with each other and maintain. Of course and pay the maintenance because this things can break down.
The neighbors themselves agree to set a use schedule, so it doesn't deteriorate too much and also to take care of the consumption of light.
So let's enter, we are going to see one of the elevators. I will confess that it is a nerve wracking experience.
Have this ever fallen off? -No no no!
It doesn't happen!
[Noise]
There are some Guachines waiting here.
We reached the 7th floor right?
This is quite high.
And here it doesn't tremble right?
-When they run, yes! But here in this Argentine region, there are no earthquakes.
But look, it's still good that they are constantly monitoring it.
Now we're going to get through one of the walkways, one of the bridges that connects the two sides of the housing units.
This one connects the building A with the B and then to C.
Okay, I thought it was going to be more a shaky experience honestly.
But no! This is feeling pretty stable.
-They can live in like five or seven people, sometimes when you have a friend who is in a street situation, another one also comes in.
How many rooms are in these apartments?
On average, two rooms Two rooms of two bedrooms, a dining room that also forms a room, so it would be three rooms.
How much is the monthly rent of an apartment here?
-25.000-30.000 Argentine pesos.
That at today's exchange rate.
Uff! It is difficult to determine it according to the exchange rate, it might be 60- 100 dollars.
But more or less, to give us an idea of the monthly average of the rent cost. Another one came out of the building to say hello.
How are you doing guys?
What a pleasure, thank you.
I'm already scared to death that the building collapse, ha ha ha!
The stairs are full.
What a pleasure guys, what a pleasure. Just down the stairs we meet Dylan.
Who is inviting us to come into his home so we can get a little bit of the essence of what the houses are like on the inside.
What's up my good Dylan? Genius. Thank you for letting me into your home.
Give us a tour of your home.
How's the situation? -Here I have the balcony.
Uff! Look at this view!
Good view and you have good natural light here at your apartment. I see that you have a small altar here.
Tell me a little bit about it.
Actually it's not mine, it's my brothers. He left it here but now he's not here.
Oh, okay.
It is just there lightning, but it is used. This symbolize the Holy death.
But that's something very peculiar that I have analyzed here in the neighborhood.
You see a lot of altars here of the Holly Death.
What you see on most of the altars here is of the Gaucho Gil, which in fact is in most of Argentina.
Especially in highway areas I would say that it is normal to see the Gaucho Gil.
People leave him money, leave him cigars, a little alcohol, all kinds of offerings, and they ask him for things.
He's like not 100% recognized saints by the conservative church, let us call it,
that we have them all over the place.
So yes, Dylans brother is devoted to this figure, and lefts him his offering here.
Okay, here's your fridge case, your surround sound, tremendous.
-Yes it's good, neighbors complain about it.
How can they not complain?
Well yes with tremendous scandal.
You can throw clandestine parties with this.
-Yes we did have a few.
Oh yes, it has happened. Here's your pretty cool bathroom, this is your room... -No my brother.
Your brother was here.
And what else do we have, let's see.
-Other rooms. But they're a little bit dirty.
It's okay, we don't have to go in, but there are two rooms.
I mean you have three rooms.
-Of course.
What a lucky guy!
Dylan came out more bastard than pretty.
Let's see here a little bit of what the kitchen looks like.
Oh, smarty pants, he has a washing machine here.
-I do have everything
This bro has everything huh.
The heater here, the stove.
Well your apartment is very nice You rent here or...?
-No, my grandma lived here but she died and left me this house.
That's very interesting, and I've talked with people here in the neighborhood that it's normal that the properties
are inherited.
And the people who rent, obviously yes, it's
a significant percentage, but it is not the majority, most of them are properties that the family has already owned for a long time.
Once again, the neighborhood is backing you up.
The grandma backed you up. And of course, street food is something that can't be missed here in the neighborhood. Marcelo and Edgardo here, how are you?Well well!
They invited me to stop by to see their tortilla stall
parrichera is the name of this torta parrillera is the torta parrillera What does the recipe consist of?
recipe What it has in it contains water flour salt fat and it is what it is inside it does not put
nothing nothing no no kneading machine and this later yes you want to take it home you can put a piece of fresh cheese of the
piece of fresh cheese to make sandwiches. man it sounds gross but this is chicharron.
inside Well okay let's see I want to buy one of good chicharron. How many years have they been putting them in
here and already this year it's going to be 23 years 23 little years No a whole life there eh it's tremendous
smells delicious look I want to show you this one it's the Cacho de chicharrón de por pork yes de
I like this one, I like this one. No I don't want to teach anymore because I'm from the outside
leave it to the neighborhood so we can get to points to connect more efficiently the people of the neighborhood.
Usa the ones that are called truchitos will be so called because they are, so to speak, taxis without permits because they are
cab without permits because they are trucho they are and there are some with very creative designs.
check this one with the gaucho Gil here in the box what a brutality a while ago we saw one
also with the Argentine flag with the sun that said Argentina champion get creative
the drivers of the truchitos Oigan y algo que is happening is that people in the street are giving me
soccer shirts look at this one is from Apache this one it's from Boca Junior eh how about here the 10 they are giving me
I'm giving away from all the papers this one T-shirts soccer of all A mí me dijeron me cuidado con ir al
I was told beware of going to Fort Apache because they will rob you and look at that I'm coming out with more stuff than you brought with you
here I wasn't robbed here I was given [Music]. and we're going up now to the roof of this
building of this knot so that we can appreciate the neighborhood from above in all of its splendor.
I don't know anymore my I don't know where the line ends anymore eh the literal definition of the neighborhood backs me up Here
people were telling me no I didn't do it I didn't no don't go to the strong Apache that that can be very dangerous
genius capos here the neighborhood is backing me up to to get up to the terrace we have to use this ladder
from here if it's steady Órale Vámonos Uff what a view here eh No no no no no no no no Wow from up here
we can capture the imposing Fort Apache that's not 20,000 people but no way
that there are a lot more people just look at the buildings all the homes that have been built and know that there are
and know that there's also housing that little by little are going to be incorporated
is enough for us to realize that yes the population of 60,000, this is an issue of the
housing that's coming up is an issue. interesting and that is that in what was originally
in the Urban Plan were green spaces now people are building houses are
smaller homes obviously nothing else of one to two levels and if they are emerging as a product of overpopulation
as a product of overpopulation and equally as a result of we can see where some of the gendarmerie barracks are
gendarmerie barracks right where that one is. water tank I am told that down there is where the big trucks are
is where you usually see the big trucks come in where the water tank is. I can even see where some of the watchmen sleep.
let's call them that are overseeing the activity that happens here Well basically so that it doesn't get out of control borgo This is an old
out of control borgo This is a former container for water is really not in use anymore and there we are
watching as a guy climbs in but it's quite visible. young man Wow How dangerous here my guides are telling me that they
that when they were kids they used to go up there but that the police would take them down, right because
no no no what risk eh no no they don't try it at home [Music] so we conclude our tour with
our visit through the neighborhood of fort apache in Buenos Aires Argentina look what I can
that I can say that here you can breathe a lot of what we is the local culture here you can see how deeply rooted
what the villera culture is all about. soccer culture and above all the people are very warm, very cool people.
Here so "Copada" they would say.
Very cool very "piopla"
That's the word " re piola".
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Please in the coments below.
We say goodbye here with our friends.
Come over here!
See you in a few days with a new video.