It is part of a belief of the Argentine villages: the Gauchito Gil. Find out who he was and what his powers are, even today.
The Gauchito Gil belongs to the "santoral profano" meaning that he isn’t a saint recognised by the church, but he is recognised by part of the Argentine population, who, on the 8th of February each year gather around his tomb in the surrounding areas of Mercedes, in the province of Corrientes, to pay their homage.
The unanswered question is if the character is a myth, a legend or a saint. The only part that is actually known is that he forms part of popular culture. There is more than one version of how he lived, between the years of 1830 and 1870, and it is claimed that his real name would be Antonio Gil. He was a good person who was always willing to help.
During those years in the province of Corrientes, there was a political confrontation between the ‘reds’ and the ‘blues’. It is believed that the gaucho belonged to the reds, and this is why the shrines are decorated with red flags. Around 1850 the two sides came face to face in battles and the gauchito was called on to fight, but he refused to go saying that ‘there shouldn’t be fighting between brothers’. From that moment he was considered a deserter and in those times desertion was punished by beheading or execution by shooting.
It is said that he hid with a group of bandits who he directed, sharing the stolen loots with the poor.
The legend begins with his arrest: the gaucho was hung by the feet to be beheaded and it was in that moment that he said to the sergeant who was about to kill him “don’t kill me, my pardon is on the way”. It was true, but the sergeant answered “you won’t be saved anyway”. Gil then told his executioner that when the sergeant returned home after killing him, he would find his son dying. He should then pray in the name of the innocent man who he had just killed in order to save his own son. At home the sergeant, whose name is unknown, discovered that what Gil had said was indeed true. He called on the gauchito and the next day his son made a miraculous recovery.
The legend tells that even today the Gauchito performs miracles and has healing powers, and that on passing a shrine one should beep the car horn to avoid delays. It’s a matter of trying - a little toot of the horn and a little faith. |
