Argentina Opens its Dirty War Files

by **Gouda** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 12:18 pm

Argentina is finally opening the secret archives of the military (junta) which was responsible for thousands of political murders & kidnappings, waves of terror and violence during its "Dirty War". (I think robertdreed is the resident expert on the subject.) One of the few fiction pieces I've read in the last few years is by the great Spanish Catalan writer, Manuel Vasquez Montalban (writer of 'metaphysical gumshoe' novels, plays and essays from a leftist perspective.) It is called The Buenos Aires Quintet, featuring his erstwhile detective, Carvalho, the sensualist protagonist this time on the hunt for his rebel cousin in 1990's Buenos Aires. His cousin was a leftist insurgent during the Dirty War, and is still in hiding - this time from compromised ex-revolutionaries, dirty corporate interests, and even old friends. Excellent read and highly recommended. A dialogue from the book: <blockquote>Quote:<hr>"Are you still a Catholic, Girmenich?" "Yes, I am." And do you believe in the Virgin Mary?" "Yes" "And in the armed struggle?" ... "If we win, yes, I believe in the armed struggle. But if we lose...they won the struggle...and look at the way they did it." "What about reconciliation, Celia? Would you kill them if you had the chance?" Barone asks. "With these hands."<hr></blockquote> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4836128.stm">Argentina to open secret archives</a> <blockquote>Quote:<hr>Argentina has decided to make public all secret archives of the armed forces to help uncover human rights violations committed under military rule. The decision was announced by Defence Minister Nilda Garre. It comes on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the coup, by which the military seized power in 1976. Human rights groups say up to 30,000 political opponents of the regime were kidnapped, detained and later executed during seven years of military rule. The government issued a decree to guarantee unrestricted access to information on what it said were grave acts committed during the so-called Dirty War. It ordered all the branches of the armed forces and the Ministry of Defence to provide access their secret files when required. Recovered documents will be kept at the National Memory Archive, an institution created by President Nestor Kirchner three years ago. Correspondents say the secret files could play a key role in trials against former military officers accused of human rights abuses, after the Argentine Congress voted to scrap laws protecting them from prosecution in 2003. Some high-ranking officers such as Gen Rafael Videla - who seized power in 1976 - are under house arrest over the illegal adoption of children born to political prisoners during military rule. On Friday, President Kirchner is expected to lead an official ceremony to mark the anniversary of the coup. <hr></blockquote> Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=gouda@rigorousintuition>Gouda</A> at: 3/24/06 9:30 am

by **CyberChrist** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 12:45 pm

I was a kid when all this was happening in Argentina. We had to flee the country in 1979 due to a newspaper article that my dad wrote that was critical of the military junta there. It's good to see something coming out of what happened back then, but I can tell you that these fascist dictator fucks changed my life forever. I can also tell you first-hand that America is heading rapdily down the same fascist road. -- CyberChrist http://www.hackerjournal.org My brain is hung like a horse.

by **robertdreed** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:56 am

Thanks for the praise, Gouda. But in order for me to have a valid claim to expertise, I'd need to have a much better command of the Spanish language than what I'm able to muster at present. I presently have to rely on English-language accounts, or on material that's been translated into English. I appreciate you posting the news, and look forward to reading any new revelations in the documents.

by **robertdreed** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:04 am

By the way, I can recommend another novel that deals with the Argentine Dirty War- Imagining Argentina, by Lawrence Thornton. I thought it was quite good. I just did a search on the title, and found that it was made into a film in 2003. Made in English. Ruben Blades plays one of the starring roles.

by **CyberChrist** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 4:19 pm

Imagining Argentina is a decent enough rental, but it doesn't begin to tell the story of how bad it got during the war. Plus the ending is a tad limp. -- CyberChrist http://www.hackerjournal.org My brain is hung like a horse.

by **Gouda** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 4:35 pm

Maybe I can't chalk this up to AMAZING coincidence, but just the other day, literally 2 days ago, I espied and perused a used copy of Imagining Argentina on sale in a video rental shop. A trusty friend also recommends Garage Olimpo (1999) by Marco Bechis. And enjoy this: <a href="http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=3&no=282073&rel_no=1">english.ohmynews.com/arti...3&rel_no=1</a> <blockquote>Quote:<hr>Two days after the military coup, on March 26, 1976, Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America, William Rogers, informed Secretary of State Henry Kissinger that "we've got to expect a fair amount of repression -- probably a good deal of blood -- in Argentina before too long. I think they're going to have to come down very hard not only on the terrorists but on the dissidents in trade unions and their parties."<hr></blockquote>

by **tigre63** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 4:53 pm

Good timeline here at National Security Archives (GWU): <a href="http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB185/index.htm">www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSA.../index.htm</a> Operation Condor: The Machinery of the Dirty War May-October 1976 - Relacion de Requeridos del OPR-33 [OPR-33 Most Wanted List] [First page of the Uruguayan military intelligence report containing this list] Source: Documentation Center and Archive for Human Rights of the Paraguay Supreme Court, aka. "Archive of Terror." Collected by Carlos Osorio. The Uruguayan Army Intelligence Department II sent this list of OPR-33 most wanted members to intelligence services of the Southern Cone. Among those listed are Jorge Roberto Zaffaroni Castilla (Page 4, second from the bottom), and Maria Emilia Islas Gatti de Zaffaroni (Page 5, 4th from the bottom). The document was obtained from the Archive and Documentation Center for Human Rights (CDyA) of the Paraguayan Supreme Court, or "Archive of Terror" of the Paraguayan Secret Police where several unique documents have been found pertaining to the Southern Cone cooperation of intelligence services known as Operation Condor. Of the people listed in this document, many were kidnapped and tortured and twelve were disappeared at the hands of Argentine and Uruguayan security forces who coordinated their repression in the mid 1970's. Four children that were captured with their parents, or were born in captivity, were stolen and raised by their kidnappers--intelligence officers. end snip

by **robertdreed** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:32 pm

On a per capita basis, more citzens were disappeared in the Uruguayan dirty war than in any of the other neofascist regimes of the Latin American Southern Cone in the 1970s-early 80s. There's a real good book about it, the title of which I've forgotten. Anyone interested in the Argentine Dirty War ought to begin with the original testimony- found in the books Nunca Mas and The Disappeared.

by **sunny** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:46 pm

<a href="http://counterpunch.org/garcia03282006.html">counterpunch.org/garcia03282006.html</a> Wherein a young woman discusses her torture in Uruguay by thugs trained by CIA.

Argentina Opens its Dirty War Files

Argentina Opens its Dirty War Files

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Uruguayan Dirty War

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