Chu Rodríguez, the Uruguayan communicator who lived the Argentine crisis from the inside and now resides in Mexico, answers to the controversy that ignited social media: “Countries do not fit in the comments of a reel. The algorithm is making us believe that the one who shouts represents an entire people. And we’re believing it.”
A journalist speaks badly of Mexico and, suddenly, “all Argentines” think the same. Chu Rodríguez posts a video about a virtue she learned while living in Argentina and, suddenly, “she stopped loving Uruguay.” The Uruguayan communicator, followed by more than a million people, chose to respond with a question that unsettles every side equally: since when do we accept that an entire country fits in the comments of a TikTok?
“How easy it is for us to put millions of people into the same bag,” Rodríguez declares, who lived in Argentina between 2022 and 2023 — first in Rosario, then in Buenos Aires — before settling in Mexico City. Far from dodging Río de la Plata folklore, she faces it head-on.
The rivalry between Argentina and Uruguay is as old as the two countries themselves: they contend over dulce de leche, the roast, Gardel, and, above all, football, where every derby of the Rio de la Plata is lived as a small fraternal war. Rodríguez knows that code from inside: “Obviously videos that celebrate Uruguay being knocked out of a World Cup make me angry — though to be fair: it’s only a few. I grew up hearing the line ‘Uruguay is a province.’ But one thing is folklore, that historical jab between brothers that defines us as much as mate, and another entirely is believing that represents an entire country.”
Her defense of Argentina doesn’t stem from football — “I practically know almost nothing about football,” she admits, though she watched the World Cup at the champion’s house and celebrated as if it belonged to her — but from the less glamorous front line that exists: making ends meet.
“For two years I did groceries to fill the pantry because I didn’t know how much prices would rise the following week. If I managed to save anything, it would be at most one hundred dollars. And yet I saw people continuing to come up with solutions, starting ventures, helping each other, laughing in the midst of the chaos.”
From those two years she carries a memory worth more than any statistic: “I have a friend, Pablo, who the day I moved to Mexico spent hours helping me pack up my life without asking for anything in return. That is also Argentina. That’s why my video never talked about football. It spoke of resilience.”
But Rodríguez’s true target isn’t a journalist or a country: it’s the machinery that amplifies conflict. “Social media is making us believe that one journalist represents all Argentines. That one comment represents all Uruguayans. That one video represents all Mexicans. And no. Countries do not fit into a headline or into the comments of a reel. You get to know countries by living them: sharing a table, making friends, making mistakes and letting yourself be surprised.”
“If there’s one lesson Uruguay, Argentina, and Mexico have taught me, it’s that it’s always the one who shouts who makes more noise than the one who embraces,” she concludes. “And if you ever have the chance to live in another country, go for it. Not because you’ll stop loving your own, but because you’ll return loving it even more… and understanding others much better.” Rodríguez is currently preparing “No More Crumbs” (Nunca Más Migajas), her international tour that will travel through Latin America from August to December 2026.
Source: Chu Rodríguez is a Uruguayan communicator, author, and speaker based in Mexico City. Founder of the online school RTV (Rediscover Your Value).
