The terrorist state and its margins: The repressive experience of subordinate personnel in the Armed and Security Forces in Operation Independence, Tucumán, Argentina, 1975-1977

GARAÑO, SANTIAGO

Journal of Perpetrator Research

Winchester University Press

Lugar: Utrecht; Año: 2023 vol. 6 p. 66 - 89

In this article, we will analyze a seldom-heard voice in the recent history of the Southern Cone: testimonies from soldiers and two former gendarmes who witnessed state crimes and, years later, found the courage to share their experiences in court. This is not a traditional approach to the issue of perpetrators, which prioritized public statements, official memories, and the experiences of career personnel in the Armed Forces. Instead, this research aligns with those works that seek to (re)think political disappearance from the margins and focuses on Operation Independence (Operativo Independencia), a military campaign carried out between 1975 and 1977 in the province of Tucumán. During this Operation, an institutional policy of forced disappearance of persons and the operation of clandestine detention centers was put into practice for the first time, which after the beginning of the military government on March 24, 1976, would be spread to the rest of the country. We will examine an intermediate category between victims and perpetrators, namely the low-ranking personnel that occupied auxiliary functions, and maintain that the stories analyzed were set forth from the margins of the terrorist State, but that they will allow us to access key aspects of the use of violence in that military campaign. The article appeared in JPR in a special sectionon “Perpetrators in Argentina,” co-edited by Dra. Valentina Salvi and Dr. Antonius Robben. JPR is an online interdisciplinary, peer reviewed, open access journal published bi-annually by Winchester University Press. All research articles go through a double-blindpeer review process.