The Chosen and the Monsters: Memories of retired officers of the Argentinean Army that participated in Operation Independence?

SALVI VALENTINA

Londres

Seminario; Seminario ?Memory and Politics: Provocations from Argentina and Beyond; 2012

British Academy/University of London

The strong disagreement that exists between the image that the officers of their generations have of themselves and the image that the Argentinean society has constructed over the military man that were officers during the dictatorship is expressed in this ex-officer?s words. The political and moral senses that the human rights organizations, educational institutions and an important part of media associate with the violence perpetrated by the army during and before the dictatorship differs radically to the ones of this generation of officers. This disagreement is sustained in the difference ? that was fundamental in the Argentinean transition ? between the military narratives framed by a discourse of war and a heroic account of the ?winners?, and on the other hand the notion of State Terrorism that, canonized in the ?Never Again? book, denounces human rights violations and recognizes victims and repressors.  From the mid 80?s, the generation of officers who were contemporary to the repression was confronted with questions and criticisms that invaded, corroded and splintered a self-centered narrative premised upon their ?heroic task of saving the homeland from the Marxist enemy?. This article takes into account the ways these tensions and disagreements are inscribed and confronted in the memory of the officers that participated in operation Independence.