Military parade reappears in Argentina's Independence Day celebrations

Military bands from 10 countries took part in Argentina's Independence Day celebrations on Sunday, marking the first military procession in such celebrations in the country in some 15 years.

Organized by the Argentine Defense Ministry, the parade marking the bicentennial of Argentina's independence from Spain featured some 1,000 military musicians from Bolivia, Chile, Spain, the United States, France, Italy, Morocco, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

The military bands marched from the intersection of Libertador and Salguero avenues in the district of Palermo to the national polo field in Buenos Aires.

Defense Minister Julio Martinez stressed the "cultural" aspect of the parade, saying it helped cement relations with the guest countries.

It "allows us to bolster integration with the participating countries" and "strengthen the connection between the armed forces and civil society," he said.

The country's history of military dictatorship in the late 1970s and early 1980s had discouraged military procession of this kind.

Argentina's new government, headed by President Mauricio Macri, decided to revive the tradition.

The bands were escorted by about 4,000 Argentine troops on foot from the army, navy and air force, as well as war veterans. Starting at 11 a.m. local time (14:00 GMT), the parade concluded with a salute from Macri.

Some of the military contingents wore uniforms from previous periods in history.

The parade drew applause from civilians, many of them watching from balconies festooned with flags.

"It's very exciting," Maria Perez Salvadores, a 61-year-old civilian, told Xinhua. "In the past, such parades took place regularly, but then the tradition died out."

Perez said the parade reminded her of "the parades of my childhood" and "my grandfather, Antonio Perez, who took part in the Conquest of the Desert," a military campaign in the 1870s that established Argentina's control over the southern Patagonian region. Endi