Nunca más (Never Again) A common phrase uttered by Argentines when speaking about the atrocities of the Dirty War
Most of you are probably unaware, but I have spent most of my time in Argentina since 2006 and have run one of the most successful news and information portals here in English since 2007 [ Good Morning Buenos Aires ]. It is not big, or actively engaged anymore, but it remains one of the only credible sources here in English.
In my experience, people in the northern hemisphere are neither knowledgeable nor interested in the current state of affairs down here, much less the history. I have been working on a series of articles since 2009 covering United States involvement in the Argentine Dirty War and Operation Condor, which included other southern cone countries during the years of the dictatorships here in the ’70s and ’80s. [ Special Report: Argentina’s Dirty Wars ]
It is a given that the Catholic Church was knee-deep in the affairs of those military junta’s and there is more than ample documentary evidence of this fact. I literally have over 10,000 pages of documents on my computer I have been wading through as well as others through sites archiving such materials.
I live about 20 blocks from the Navy Petty-Officers School of Mechanics (in Spanish, Escuela de Suboficiales de Mecánica de la Armada) the most infamous detention camp of the Dirty War. The Navy Mechanics School was not just a secret detention center where torture was used, but also the operational hub of a complex organization which may have tried to hide the crimes it committed by exterminating its victims. It was an important center where a wide range of secret criminal operations were planned and organized. Although its activities were undertaken by a special unit, Task Force 3.3.2, they were not independent of the hierarchy and actually depended on the Navy’s normal command structure along with the backing of the junta.
Navy Petty-Officers School of Mechanics (in Spanish, Escuela de Suboficiales de Mecánica de la Armada)
To this day, crimes go unreported in Argentina for the most part due to fear of being tortured or disappeared if one goes to the police. People are afraid to go to the hospital on their own – lest their organs be harvested and sold, or given to ranking members of the government or the military.
Admiral Emilio Massera and Junta chief General Rafael Videla.
Additionally, the wheels of justice turn very slowly here and it took from 1985 until July of last year for General Jorge Videla, the last dictator, to be convicted and sent to prison. In my time here, Videla has pretty much been the only person successfully tried for crimes associated with the Dirty War. In other instances either key witnesses disappeared, never to be heard from again, or the accused somehow managed to poison themselves (typically with cyanide) while being detained for trial.
There is more than ample documentary evidence amassed by human rights commissions and investigative journalists to conclude there are serious questions regarding the Catholic Church and Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, and their involvement in the disappearance of literally thousands of innocent people. Known as “los desaparecidos or “the disappeared”, casualty figures from this period range from 9,000 to over 30,000 people. Victims of that bloody period of Argentine history included left-wing activists, intellectuals, students, journalists, trade unionists, Marxists and Peronist Guerrillas. Additionally, Gen. Videla himself admitted he worked with the aid of the Catholic Church and leading bishops during the Dirty War.
Rumors and speculation also abound regarding the role of the Church and Bergoglio in covering up sexual abuse by members of the Argentine clergy. In 2009 former Santa Fe Archbishop Edgardo Storni received a sentence of eight years, the minimum for aggravated sexual abuse and while Bergoglio did order an official investigation into the matter by the church, it was not until 8 years later that he actually forced Storni to resign. Storni was the fourth Argentine cleric to be convicted of sex crimes up to that time and Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) is widely blamed here by the people for turning his back and allowing this pattern of abuse to continue.
Pregnant Women’s Cell: Navy Petty-Officers School of Mechanics
In my opinion there is credible documentary evidence as well as confirmed eyewitness testimony raising questions about the involvement of the Catholic Church in general and Jorge Bergoglio in specific regarding the Argentine Dirty War. For a majority of the Argentine people this is not speculation – it is well-known fact and the only thing missing is accountability/justice.
I think this is important information and we should responsibly report on such matters. This is no different than the scrutiny we place on any political figure or world leader and as you all may recall, there was and continues to be widespread concern regarding the last Pope’s involvement with the Nazi movement as well as the Church’s work to cover up sexual abuse by clerics.
Is this controversial – you bet. Is it sensational – I cannot see how it cannot be on its face. However, to refer to it as sensationalism, dog whistling, and hyperbolic headlines designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator would be a stretch considering the massive evidence that has been well documented by human rights commissions and other investigative bodies. And it is not like other credible news agencies have not already covered this material and continue to report on it to this day. I would go so far as to predict a lot more interest in the upcoming weeks, months and years.
Sure there are those who might doubt this information, but there are those who doubt our President is American or that the Holocaust ever happened or in the theory of evolution, or gravity….
I think it important we take a leading edge when it comes to reporting on controversial subjects. We can and should ask questions that might be considered by many to be uncomfortable. We should step out and address the injustices of the world. For to ignore unpopular subjects can give them power through our silence. And as we have all heard before, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
The last stop for many detainees at the School of Mechanics detention center. Detainers were taken here, the basement of the main building for torture, were drugged, and then taken by airplane and dropped to their death in the Rio Plate (Silver River).
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