Operation Massacre by Rodolfo Walsh, translation by Daniella Gitlin, foreword by Michael Greenberg, afterwood by Ricardo Piglia
Authors: Rodolfo Walsh, translation by Daniella Gitlin, foreword by Michael Greenberg, afterwood by Ricardo Piglia
Tags: History, True Crime, Argentina, Latin America, Secret, military coup, execution, uprising, Juan Peron, Peronist, disappeared, Gitlin, Open Letter to the Military Junta, montoneros
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the provisional government to adopt appropriate measures with calm energy to ensure public tranquility in the whole territory of the Nation and to continue to meet the goals of the Liberating Revolution, 15 it is decided that the provisional President of the Argentine Nation, exercising his Legislative Power, declares as law:
âArticle Number 1 â Let martial law be in effect throughout the entire territory of the Nation.
âArticle Number 2 â The current decree-law will be endorsed by his Excellency the Provisional Vice President of the Nation and by the ministers: secretaries of the State, the Airforce, the Army, the Navy, and the Interior.
âArticle Number 3 â Pro forma.
âSigned: Aramburu, Rojas, Hartung, Krause, Ossorio Arana and Landaburu.â 16
The second decree, taking into account the fact that martial law âconstitutes a measure whose application the public must be made aware of,â lays out the rules and circumstances according to which the law will be put into practice.
The captain has just finished listening to the announcement when they bring him the two prisoners. Just like the sergeant, the captain is surprised to see Troxler, whom he knows and likes.
âWhat are you doing here?
Troxler smiles, shrugging his shoulders, and explains what happened without making a big deal of it. It must have been a mistake . . . They talk for a few minutes. Then the captain gets a phone call.
âThey want you at the Department âthen he adds:â Hey, watch out, they could execute you . . . They declared martial law just a minute ago.
The two of them laugh.
But the captain is worried.
Footnotes:
15 DG: The Liberating Revolution began as a movement run by General Lonardi (see Note 5), who wanted to rid Argentina of Peronismâs corruption and economic policies while also reconciling with the traditionally Peronist unions. Less than two months after assuming power, Lonardi was forced to resign because his policies were considered insufficiently anti-Peronist. A more staunchly anti-Peronist General Aramburu took control of the Liberating Revolution in November 1955. The regime came to an end in 1958, when elections were held and Arturo Frondizi, of the Radical Civil Union party , triumphed (see Note 10).
16 DG: Teodoro Hartung, Julio César Krause, Arturo Ossorio Arana, and Laureano Landaburu were all ministers in President Aramburuâs cabinet. For Aramburu and Rojas, see Note 5.
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17. âCheer Upâ
12 : 45 a.m. They have let the prisoners off the bus at the District Police Department. They take them down a long corridor and lead them into an office on the left where there are a number of park benches, green ones, that the men start to sit on. The building appears to be under renovation. The walls of the room have been recently painted, and some of the painting materials are still around.
At first they donât pay attention to the prisoners, who are tossing around all kinds of speculations. Livraga sits down next to his friend RodrÃguez and the first thing he does is ask:
âBig Guy, are you involved in anything?
RodrÃguez shrugs his shoulders.
âI know just as much as you do.
Giunta and Mr. Horacio are perplexed. What intrigues them the most is that question theyâve heard repeated several times: Where is Tanco?
The three who were picked up on the streets, not at home, are falling to pieces in their explanations and regrets. One tirelessly repeats that he went to have dinner with some friends and on his way home, they grabbed him. Another was standing at the door of his girlfriendâs house saying goodnight . . . The night watchman at the piping plant, an elderly man who still has his rubber boots on, is mumbling in an unintelligible Italian.
Mario Brión is thinking about his wife, who doesnât know anything and must be waiting for him: he has never come home so late.
Does
âArticle Number 1 â Let martial law be in effect throughout the entire territory of the Nation.
âArticle Number 2 â The current decree-law will be endorsed by his Excellency the Provisional Vice President of the Nation and by the ministers: secretaries of the State, the Airforce, the Army, the Navy, and the Interior.
âArticle Number 3 â Pro forma.
âSigned: Aramburu, Rojas, Hartung, Krause, Ossorio Arana and Landaburu.â 16
The second decree, taking into account the fact that martial law âconstitutes a measure whose application the public must be made aware of,â lays out the rules and circumstances according to which the law will be put into practice.
The captain has just finished listening to the announcement when they bring him the two prisoners. Just like the sergeant, the captain is surprised to see Troxler, whom he knows and likes.
âWhat are you doing here?
Troxler smiles, shrugging his shoulders, and explains what happened without making a big deal of it. It must have been a mistake . . . They talk for a few minutes. Then the captain gets a phone call.
âThey want you at the Department âthen he adds:â Hey, watch out, they could execute you . . . They declared martial law just a minute ago.
The two of them laugh.
But the captain is worried.
Footnotes:
15 DG: The Liberating Revolution began as a movement run by General Lonardi (see Note 5), who wanted to rid Argentina of Peronismâs corruption and economic policies while also reconciling with the traditionally Peronist unions. Less than two months after assuming power, Lonardi was forced to resign because his policies were considered insufficiently anti-Peronist. A more staunchly anti-Peronist General Aramburu took control of the Liberating Revolution in November 1955. The regime came to an end in 1958, when elections were held and Arturo Frondizi, of the Radical Civil Union party , triumphed (see Note 10).
16 DG: Teodoro Hartung, Julio César Krause, Arturo Ossorio Arana, and Laureano Landaburu were all ministers in President Aramburuâs cabinet. For Aramburu and Rojas, see Note 5.
Â
17. âCheer Upâ
12 : 45 a.m. They have let the prisoners off the bus at the District Police Department. They take them down a long corridor and lead them into an office on the left where there are a number of park benches, green ones, that the men start to sit on. The building appears to be under renovation. The walls of the room have been recently painted, and some of the painting materials are still around.
At first they donât pay attention to the prisoners, who are tossing around all kinds of speculations. Livraga sits down next to his friend RodrÃguez and the first thing he does is ask:
âBig Guy, are you involved in anything?
RodrÃguez shrugs his shoulders.
âI know just as much as you do.
Giunta and Mr. Horacio are perplexed. What intrigues them the most is that question theyâve heard repeated several times: Where is Tanco?
The three who were picked up on the streets, not at home, are falling to pieces in their explanations and regrets. One tirelessly repeats that he went to have dinner with some friends and on his way home, they grabbed him. Another was standing at the door of his girlfriendâs house saying goodnight . . . The night watchman at the piping plant, an elderly man who still has his rubber boots on, is mumbling in an unintelligible Italian.
Mario Brión is thinking about his wife, who doesnât know anything and must be waiting for him: he has never come home so late.
Does
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