Sawt Falasteen - Argentine Swifties shake off election bad blood at 'Eras Tour'

Thousands of young people queued for hours outside Buenos Aires's Estadio Monumental stadium in the springtime sun, singing, trading beaded jewelry and showing off outfits representing eras from the pop sensation's discography.

But for 21-year-old Sofia Ranui, seeing the political messaging at a concert just weeks ahead of the November 19 second-round vote wasn't surprising.

"You realize when you see the posters of (candidates Sergio) Massa and (Javier) Milei, that they take advantage of what's in fashion," she said.

"Being so close to the elections, they're going to see where the focus of attention is, and they're going to sink their teeth into it," she said, drawing a parallel with the relationship between Argentine football and politics -- and pointing to her own jersey with Swift's lucky number 13 on the back.

"I betrayed Messi for just a little bit," Ranui joked.

For days leading up to the show, a post from a group of anti-Milei Swifties began making the rounds on social media, blasting the right-wing ultra-libertarian who is taking on economy minister Massa.

Milei "is the representative of the anti-democratic right that is coming to take away all of our rights," cautioned the account, which was later suspended for unknown reasons.

Activists had plastered "Eras Tour" posters in the area around the stadium, replacing Swift's picture with an image of Massa and text reading "Massa, the presidential tour."

Some of the "Swiftie, don't vote for Milei" posters had the word "don't" crossed out, reflecting Argentina's deep political polarization. Other signs carried the hashtag "MileiIsTrump."

"She is against Trump and everything represented by Trump, who is sexist," 31-year-old fan Miriam Monllau said.

"Taylor's ideas go against what Milei would be."

- 'So make the friendship bracelets' -

The three dates in Buenos Aires are the second Latin American stop on Swift's latest tour, after she visited Mexico and before she heads to Brazil. Fans traveled from Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela to the Monumental stadium to watch the "Anti-Hero" singer on Thursday.

"It's incredible what she does as an activist -- so much with women's rights, gay rights, children's rights," concertgoer Milena Nunez said of the 33-year-old American mega-star, who only recently began commenting on politics despite a nearly two-decade-long career.

"I want to be on the right side of history," Swift said in her 2020 documentary "Miss Americana," around the time she endorsed Joe Biden for president over Donald Trump.

But her love for Swift isn't about politics, Nunez said.

"Her songs represent everything to us. If you're sad, if you've lost someone, if you've met someone, if you're happy or sad: Taylor has a song for that," the 23-year-old added.

Thursday was the culmination of months of waiting for Swift fans in Argentina -- some of them waited outside the stadium that can hold 30,000 people for a chance to be among the first inside, including 24-year-old Julieta Zavala.

She and 30 others took turns waiting at the front of the line starting in late May, before dates for this leg of the tour -- which began in the United States in March and is set to finish in Canada next December -- were even confirmed.

"They're with me, but I don't know they're political ideologies, because we don't talk about that," Zavala explained of her fellow line-holders.

"We're talking about how we're going to see Taylor and we're going to have a good time," she told AFP before heading inside.

For Ranui, the chance to sing and dance with other Swifties is the perfect opportunity to escape the tense political environment.

"Maybe the country isn't at its best at the moment, or maybe it never is," she said.

"So we're going to make (friendship) bracelets, we're not going to think about the elections, we're going to put on glitter, we're going to wear pink, and we're going to be with other young people, and we're going to feel super happy, because after these three days are over, the cloud that always hangs over Argentines will return again."

C.AbuSway--SF-PST