Argentine president sinks himself over boat quote

Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández might want to get on a boat and hide

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Argentina's President Alberto Fernández might want to get on a boat and hide. The left-leaning Argentine leader has been ridiculed across Latin America and beyond for trying to emphasize his country's European roots during a meeting this week with Spain's prime minister by saying: “The Mexicans came from the Indians, the Brazilians came from the jungle, but we Argentines came from boats, and they were boats that came from Europe.” It's perhaps the most racially charged version of an oft-quoted saying attributed at varying times to writers including Octavio Paz and Carlos Fuentes of Mexico and Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar of Argentina — though it may predate all of them — and none of those included any reference to “Indians” or “the jungle.” Fernández, in fact, initially attributed his quote to Paz. But it was far closer to the version in a 1982 recording by Argentine singer Litto Nebbia — “Indians” and “jungle” and all.