BUENOS AIRES — Street nomenclature can be a subtle way of expressing political loyalties here. A small street near the Argentine congress is officially named Presidente Teniente General Juan Domingo Perón, after the late populist leader. But his die-hard opponents insist on using its former name, Cangallo, a quiet refusal to honor the man they blame for ruining the country.

Ideological disagreements, of course, predate General Perón, but the divide between his supporters and opponents has been a structural component of Argentine politics since the 1950s.

Polarization has evolved and intensified significantly in recent years. The schism, known as “la grieta,” divides supporters of former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner from those of her successor, President Mauricio Macri. The two camps over the past decade have waged a scorched-earth political battle framed in Manichaean moral terms, more reminiscent of a holy war than democratic debates. It has been electorally profitable, however, and most analysts believed that “la grieta” would define the general election, to be held on Oct. 27.

Here, as elsewhere in our increasingly polarized world, it has become taboo to discuss politics in social circles that (miraculously) still include divergent ideological visions. Family members obsessively avoid discussing the elections, or just avoid one another. There are even Tinder-style applications that promise ideologically friendly hookups. (Because what’s worse than waking up with the enemy?) I avoid discussing politics with acquaintances of unknown political leanings, and close friends whose opinions I know all too well. This has made for banal exchanges in a year that is anything but.