Milei puts a property for sale where a clandestine detention center operated

( Spanish) – The Government of Argentina put up for sale, through a decree, a property that was used as a clandestine detention center during the last civil-military dictatorship (1976-1983) in the province of Córdoba. He also included in the list of future auctions a property that was identified as a possible clandestine center, and another where a memory space already operates. In Argentina, memory spaces are sites linked to the dictatorship that were recovered and converted for cultural activities and the promotion of human rights. Some of them are part of ongoing investigations.

Decree 950/2024, published at the end of October, indicates that the Executive authorizes the State Property Administration Agency “to dispose, dispose of and/or transfer real estate of the national State”, with an annex that obtains 309 lands or lots at the national level.

Among those consigned are the land where La Perla Chica is located, a place that was marked as a site of memory in November 2023. According to the National Human Rights Secretariat, it functioned as an annex to the detention, torture and “La Perla” extermination, the largest clandestine center outside of Buenos Aires.

La Perla Chica, adds the Secretariat, had “a central role temporarily housing people who were in captivity in other clandestine detention centers during the 1978 Soccer World Cup,” during the visit of the International Red Cross that same year and the visit of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 1979.

After the publication of the decree, the Provincial Working Group for Human Rights of Córdoba issued a statement rejecting the possible sale. “The importance of this place transcends its heritage and cultural value; “It is a recognized and marked site of memory, which is testimony to human rights violations and our recent history,” the organization indicated. They also highlighted that it is “a key site for different cases of crimes against humanity pending in the Federal Justice, and must be preserved to ensure justice and truth for the victims of state terrorism and their families.”

For its part, the human rights group HIJOS Córdoba (acronym for Sons and Daughters for Identity and Justice against Forgetfulness and Silence), of which several members have participated as plaintiffs in the trials against the dictatorship, expressed in a statement: “We deeply reject this action by the national government of Milei and (Vice President Victoria) Villarruel, which once again denies and trivializes State Terrorism and its crimes.”

contacted the Ministry of Justice, to which the Secretariat of Human Rights depends, to find out if it has a reaction to the statements or a position on the sale, and is awaiting a response.

Milei’s government is the first since the recovery of democracy to openly question the condemnation of crimes against humanity committed during the military dictatorship in Argentina. On March 24, 48 years after the last coup d’état, the Casa Rosada released a video that relativizes state terrorism and denies that there have been 30,000 missing persons, as claimed by human rights organizations and that it is an estimated figure for graph the magnitude, as happens with other horrors, such as the Holocaust, where it is impossible to determine an exact number.

Federal prosecutor Facundo Trotta, who participated in trials on crimes against humanity in La Perla and La Perla Chica, stressed that cases regarding events committed in that place are still pending, and that for this reason the Prosecutor’s Office requested that a measure be declared to avoid modifications in the area. “We could not accept that there was a possibility that that property could be sold, because it could affect the investigations,” he said in statements to Radio Villa María.

According to Law 26,691, enacted in 2011, the Memory Sites are intangible, while the national Executive Branch guarantees “the preservation of all Sites for the purposes of facilitating judicial investigations, as well as the preservation of the memory of what happened during “state terrorism in our country.”

The support of the Milei Government in the Official Gazette indicates that the initiative is part of “measures aimed at making the role of the State more efficient” since, as based on the norm, the properties in question “are unnecessary.” In addition, it points out that these goods generate “costs and expenses that must be avoided” in order to “help overcome the crisis facing our country’s economy.”

The annex to decree 950 also contains land in the province of Buenos Aires that largely overlaps with the Puerta 8 area, which was part of the Campo de Mayo military garrison, a huge territory where they functioned during the last dictatorship. several clandestine detention centers through which it is estimated that between 3,500 and 5,000 people passed through, many of whom remain missing.

After the publication of the resolution, the Undersecretary of Human Rights of the province of Buenos Aires indicated that “the Puerta 8 Communications Detachment, also known as the Puerta 8 Radio Station of Campo de Mayo, would have operated in that place,” and they stressed that He is under investigation for the possible commission of crimes against humanity.

Although that area is not declared a Site of Memory, the Buenos Aires Government told that “Puerta 8 was identified as a possible clandestine center only last year, based on new information that was incorporated into the Campo de Mayo case.” , and that as a result of that judicial protection was issued.

The statement indicates that the precautionary measure of “not innovating” issued on December 19, 2023 implies “the prohibition of modifying, moving, altering, and/or introducing changes in the area.”

According to the provincial government source consulted by , federal judge Alicia Vence, who signed that precautionary measure in December, sent a notification this week to the Ministry of Defense and the State Property Administration Agency to inform them of the measure. is trying to contact the judge’s office to get her reaction.

The property also appears as a future auction on the website of the State Asset Management Agency, where the land is not identified as part of Campo de Mayo.

Although the decree does not include it in the annex, the resolution indicates that the Agency will promote similar procedures decreed by the Government of Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) that did not come to fruition. Among them is 345/19, which identifies the Former Infantry Regiment No. 9 of the province of Corrientes as a property suitable for promoting a Coastal Urban Plan. Thus, the property is also already listed on the website of the State Asset Management Agency as a future auction.

A clandestine detention, torture and extermination center operated in that place between March and December 1976, and between February and July 1977, which is why it was also declared a Site of Memory and has legal protection.

Macri’s 2019 decree also generated rejection from social organizations and ultimately its sale did not materialize.

This property may be the most attractive of the three for sale, since it is located right on the Corrientes coast. However, a Memory Space already operates there with guided tours. In 2022, during the Government of Alberto Fernández, the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense was disaffected and the space was assigned to the Secretariat of Human Rights for the purposes of developing dissemination, promotion, preservation and research activities.