Argentines ask folk cowboy saint Gauchito Gil to help cope with galloping inflation

Thousands of faithful Argentines flock every year to the northern city of Mercedes to ask folk cowboy saint Gauchito Gil for protection and to thank him for past favors

MERCEDES, Argentina -- Watching his savings being eaten away by Argentina’s rampant inflation, Jorge Zabala turned to what some might consider an unexpected place for financial help: Argentina’s folk cowboy saint Gauchito Gil.

Zabala is among thousands of faithful Argentines that flock every year between Jan. 6 to Jan. 8 to the northern city of Mercedes to ask for the pagan saint’s protection and thank him for past favors.

But this year, a deepening economic crisis and drastic political shifts in the South American nation seemed to dominate the celebration. Zabala, a bricklayer, said soaring prices added an extra level of hardship to their yearly pilgrimage.

Zabala cradled his young son in his arms, bare-chested with a tattoo of the saint winding down his back and wearing a rosary around his neck.

“This (year) was quite complicated because of the economic problems. But we made the sacrifices we had to so we could participate,” he said. “We had to borrow money. It’s barbaric how much prices have gone up.”