Definition of the Trelew Massacre

In 1972, Argentine society was going through a period of social upheaval and politics. The democratic forces opposed the military that had overthrown President Arturo Illia in 1966. As a reaction to the popular protests, a stage of repression began with illegal detentions, torture and a high number of disappeared. By then many citizens were arrested and imprisoned as political prisoners.

In a weather of popular resistance, a sector of the students opted for armed struggle to oppose the harsh measures imposed by the government of the nation.

At the same time, the youngest and some sectors of the working class sympathetically observed the Vietnamese struggle against the imperialism North American.

Finally, the figure of Che Guevara had become a symbol for the revolutionary ideals of Argentine society. In this context, several radical Peronist groups and various revolutionary groups emerged. These factors they generated a state of insubordination and social effervescence that influenced the Trelew Massacre.

On August 15, 1972, at the Rawson maximum security prison, a small group of six prisoners The politicians reduced the watch guards and this incident caused the death of one of the guards

The prisoners then managed to escape from the prison. After getting into a vehicle that was waiting for them, they went to the airport of a military base in the city of Trelew.

The escapees forced a pilot to set out for Puerto Montt in Chile with the intention of requesting political asylum in the neighboring country. Other prisoners managed to escape and reached the military base, but did not have the opportunity to leave the country.

When verifying that they had no escape options, they decided to surrender to the armed forces that had occupied the area of ​​the military airport. The captured prisoners were not taken back to the Rawson prison but were transferred to a unit of the Argentine army. There, 19 detainees were found who were finally machine-gunned by members of a patrol. Only three of them managed to survive the massacre, but in the following years they ended up being killed.

A crime against humanity that is part of the collective memory of the Argentine people

The three main officials of the Argentine Navy were sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2012 a court of law declared that the crimes committed belonged to the category from It hurts humanity established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Crimes against humanity involve a series of circumstances. First, an attack against the population civil. On the other hand, these crimes include a series of crimes: murder, torture and enforced disappearances.

Since 2007 the old Trelew airport has been a Cultural Center for Memory. In this place those who died as a result of state terrorism are remembered.