1989 attack on La Tablada Regiment
Encyclopedia
The 1989 attack on La Tablada Regiment was an assault on the military barracks
located in La Tablada, in the province
of Buenos Aires
, Argentina
, by 40 members of Movimiento Todos por la Patria (MTP), headed by former ERP
leader Enrique Gorriarán Merlo
. 39 people were killed and 60 injured when the Argentine army retook the barracks. The MTP carried out the assault under the false pretense of preventing a military coup, allegedly planned for the end of January 1989 by the Carapintadas
, a group of far-right military officers opposed to the investigations concerning the "Dirty War
". The Argentine president of the time, Raúl Alfonsín
declared that the attack, with the ultimate goal of sparking a massive popular uprising, could have led to civil war. Given a life sentence and imprisoned, as fellow comrades, in high security quarters
, Gorriarán Merlo was eventually freed in 2003. He died in September 2006.
leader Enrique Gorriarán Merlo
) attacked the Third Mechanized Infantry Regiment barracks in La Tablada (Regimiento de Infantería Mecanizada Nº 3, RIM3). They broke into the barracks by ramming a stolen truck into the main gate. Several other vehicles followed it.
According to Clarín
newspaper, three different versions about the attack exist. Ten days before the assault, lawyer Jorge Baños and MTP member had declared in a conference that the Carapintadas
were planning a coup for the end of January. The Carapintadas were members of the Armed Forces that had rebelled against the national government three times in 1987 and 1988, protesting the investigations on human rights
abuses during the "National Reorganization Process
" (1976–1983). This has remained to this day the MTP's version, held in particular by the late Gorriarán Merlo who claimed that the MTP was fulfilling the constitutional
obligation of "bear[ing] arms in defense of the fatherland and of [the] Constitution".
The official report on the attack by head of the Army Francisco Gassino claimed in contrary that it was the MTP, formed of several former ERP members, that had planned a coup. A last version claims that the MTP was victim of a manipulation by intelligence services
. A sociologist and professor who published an investigation into the attack believes the MTP had wider aims: "They weren’t planning to put down a coup. They were creating the false image of a coup, to set the scene, but were planning to take the barracks and from there start a revolution."
The Argentine Army
, assisted by the Policía Bonaerense (a total of 3,600 personnel) was called on to counterattack, and undiscriminately used white phosphorus
(WP) in the zone, in violation of the Geneva Conventions
. The use of WP in combat is forbidden by international law
. In this case, it had the effect of completely burning the barracks and of carbonizing corpses. 39 people were killed and sixty injured during the attack (the majority by conventional weapons). Nine were military personnel, two were police officers and the 28 remaining were members of the MTP. In addition, 53 soldiers and police were wounded in the fighting.
The following day President Raúl Alfonsín
(UCR
, 1983–89) visited the site, protected by Argentine army commandos, along with federal judge of Morón
, Gerardo Larrambebere, who is today member of the court judging the 1994 AMIA bombing
.
" after being captured. In all, nine are thought to have been killed after capture. Five corpses were never identified. In addition, prisoners were allegedly torture
d immediately after capture, and then again while in custody of the Federal Police
and the Penitentiary Service.
Retired sergent José Almada, who had participated in the capture of the MTP members, declared in 2004 that Iván Ruiz and José Díaz had been tortured. According to sergent Almada, they referred to two persons who were not members of their brigade, and most probably SIDE
agents. He identified one of them as Jorge Varando, chief of security of HSBC
corporation in Buenos Aires during the December 20, 2001 events
. Furthermore, sergent Almada declared that he had clearly heard a radio conversation ordering to kill two of the captured prisoners. He also said that adjuvant sergent Esquivel, killed during the attack, had been in fact shot by the Army itself, after trying to get to his brother who had been taken prisoner. Sergent Almada explicitly denounced the OEA
report done by Jorge Varando and General Arrillaga, the highest official in charge of the repression, which aimed at disguising adjuvant sergent Esquivel's suspicious death.
José Almada said that he had tried to inform his hierarchy about these human rights violations, in accordance with article 194 of the Military Justice Code, but that they ignored him. He notably tried to inform General Martín Balza. He also informed head of Argentine Army, General Bonifacio Cáceres, also telling him about his concerns that his neighbours were insulting him, saying that they were responsible of new cases of desaparecidos. Moreover, in his complaint before justice, he also said he had informed former head of the Army Ricardo Brinzoni
. After Cáceres's retirement in 1989, colonel Gasquet threatened José Almada of 40 days of arrest — he was finally given two days of arrest on charges of wearing a beard, and then sent him to Paraná, Entre Ríos
. Later, he was again sentenced to 30 days of arrest, confined to Crespo
near Paraná and finally forced to retire. He has claimed that to this day he is still being "persecuted."
The MTP guerrillas were also accused of human right violations. As a conscript serving in the 3rd Infantry Regiment, Eduardo Navascues was taken prisoner early in the assault and suffered shrapnel wounds in the fighting. Despite having later been shot in an attempt to silence him, he has given testimony in a recent court case alleging human rights abuses including physical and mental torture at the hand of the attackers. Another conscript, Private Víctor Eduardo Scarafiocco claims that he and others were used as human shields by the guerrillas and that Private Héctor Cardozo was killed as a result.
Enrique Gorriarán Merlo was given a life sentence, and his ex-wife, Ana María Sívori, was sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment.
During the oral and public trial, Gorriarán put in question the legitimity of the process and objected the circumstances of his capture in the suburbs of Mexico
in October 1995, which he called a "kidnapping
" (secuestro). He was charged of being co-author of qualified illicit association, rebellion
, usurpation, homicide
with aggravated circumstances , aggravated illegal privation of freedom and reiterated injuries. His ex-wife Sívori was charged of co-author of qualified illicit association, and secondary participant to offenses of rebellion, doubly aggravated homicide, tentative of homicide, aggravated theft, reiterated injuries and co-author of the use of false identity documents.
Most of those convicted in the attacks were placed in a maximum security cell block
on the eighteenth floor of the Caseros prison
in Buenos Aires
.
Finally, President Fernando de la Rúa
(Alliance for Work, Justice and Education
, 1999–2001) commuted the prison sentences. And two days before Néstor Kirchner
's access to his functions, Interim President Eduardo Duhalde
(member of the Justicialist Party
) freed Gorriarán Merlo, on May 23, 2003, after 14 years of prison in high security quarters, who declared that it was "an act of justice". Gorriarán Merlo died of a cardiac arrest
at the Hospital Argerich
in Buenos Aires, while he was about to be operated of an abdominal aortic aneurysm
, on 22 September 2006, at the age of 64.
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
located in La Tablada, in the province
Provinces of Argentina
Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...
of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, by 40 members of Movimiento Todos por la Patria (MTP), headed by former ERP
People's Revolutionary Army (Argentina)
The Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo was the military branch of the communist Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores in Argentina...
leader Enrique Gorriarán Merlo
Enrique Gorriarán Merlo
Enrique Haroldo Gorriarán Merlo was an Argentine guerrilla insurgency leader, born in San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Buenos Aires Province....
. 39 people were killed and 60 injured when the Argentine army retook the barracks. The MTP carried out the assault under the false pretense of preventing a military coup, allegedly planned for the end of January 1989 by the Carapintadas
Carapintadas
The were a group of mutineers in the Argentine Army, who took part in uprisings during the presidency of Raúl Alfonsín in Argentina.In December 1986, the Ley de Punto Final was introduced...
, a group of far-right military officers opposed to the investigations concerning the "Dirty War
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
". The Argentine president of the time, Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
declared that the attack, with the ultimate goal of sparking a massive popular uprising, could have led to civil war. Given a life sentence and imprisoned, as fellow comrades, in high security quarters
Supermax
Supermax is the name used to describe "control-unit" prisons, or units within prisons, which represent the most secure levels of custody in the prison systems of certain countries...
, Gorriarán Merlo was eventually freed in 2003. He died in September 2006.
The January 1989 attack
On 23 January 1989, a group of approximatively 40 members of the Movimiento Todos por la Patria (All for the Motherland Movement, "MTP", founded in 1986 by former ERPPeople's Revolutionary Army (Argentina)
The Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo was the military branch of the communist Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores in Argentina...
leader Enrique Gorriarán Merlo
Enrique Gorriarán Merlo
Enrique Haroldo Gorriarán Merlo was an Argentine guerrilla insurgency leader, born in San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Buenos Aires Province....
) attacked the Third Mechanized Infantry Regiment barracks in La Tablada (Regimiento de Infantería Mecanizada Nº 3, RIM3). They broke into the barracks by ramming a stolen truck into the main gate. Several other vehicles followed it.
According to Clarín
Clarín (newspaper)
Clarín is the largest newspaper in Argentina, published by the Grupo Clarín media group. It was founded by Roberto Noble on 28 August 1945. It is politically centrist but popularly understood to oppose the Kirchner government...
newspaper, three different versions about the attack exist. Ten days before the assault, lawyer Jorge Baños and MTP member had declared in a conference that the Carapintadas
Carapintadas
The were a group of mutineers in the Argentine Army, who took part in uprisings during the presidency of Raúl Alfonsín in Argentina.In December 1986, the Ley de Punto Final was introduced...
were planning a coup for the end of January. The Carapintadas were members of the Armed Forces that had rebelled against the national government three times in 1987 and 1988, protesting the investigations on human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
abuses during the "National Reorganization Process
National Reorganization Process
The National Reorganization Process was the name used by its leaders for the military government that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as la última junta militar or la última dictadura , because several of them existed throughout its history.The Argentine...
" (1976–1983). This has remained to this day the MTP's version, held in particular by the late Gorriarán Merlo who claimed that the MTP was fulfilling the constitutional
Constitution of Argentina
The constitution of Argentina is one of the primary sources of existing law in Argentina. Its first version was written in 1853 by a Constitutional Assembly gathered in Santa Fe, and the doctrinal basis was taken in part from the United States Constitution...
obligation of "bear[ing] arms in defense of the fatherland and of [the] Constitution".
Sistema de Inteligencia Nacional
Sistema de Inteligencia Nacional is the official denomination of the Argentine national intelligence community.The National Intelligence System consists of the following agencies and its dependencies:...
. A sociologist and professor who published an investigation into the attack believes the MTP had wider aims: "They weren’t planning to put down a coup. They were creating the false image of a coup, to set the scene, but were planning to take the barracks and from there start a revolution."
The Argentine Army
Argentine Army
The Argentine Army is the land armed force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of the country.- History :...
, assisted by the Policía Bonaerense (a total of 3,600 personnel) was called on to counterattack, and undiscriminately used white phosphorus
White phosphorus (weapon)
White phosphorus is a material made from a common allotrope of the chemical element phosphorus that is used in smoke, tracer, illumination and incendiary munitions. Other common names include WP, and the slang term "Willie Pete," which is dated from its use in Vietnam, and is still sometimes used...
(WP) in the zone, in violation of the Geneva Conventions
Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...
. The use of WP in combat is forbidden by international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
. In this case, it had the effect of completely burning the barracks and of carbonizing corpses. 39 people were killed and sixty injured during the attack (the majority by conventional weapons). Nine were military personnel, two were police officers and the 28 remaining were members of the MTP. In addition, 53 soldiers and police were wounded in the fighting.
The following day President Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
(UCR
Radical Civic Union
The Radical Civic Union is a political party in Argentina. The party's positions on issues range from liberal to social democratic. The UCR is a member of the Socialist International. Founded in 1891 by radical liberals, it is the oldest political party active in Argentina...
, 1983–89) visited the site, protected by Argentine army commandos, along with federal judge of Morón
Moron
Moron may refer to* Moron , disused term for a person with a mental age between 8 and 12, and a common insult for a person considered stupid * "Moron" * "Moron"...
, Gerardo Larrambebere, who is today member of the court judging the 1994 AMIA bombing
AMIA Bombing
The AMIA bombing was an attack on the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina building in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994, that killed 85 people and injured hundreds. It was Argentina's deadliest bombing...
.
Alleged human rights violations
In their newspapers and in the Argentine press, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo denounced the way the security forces had handled the La Tablada incident, making a connection between what had happened to their children and the treatment endured by the MTP guerrillas.At least two MTP members reported as killed, among whom Claudia Deleis, are suspected of having been "executed" after surrendering, and there was evidence that at least three others "disappearedForced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
" after being captured. In all, nine are thought to have been killed after capture. Five corpses were never identified. In addition, prisoners were allegedly torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d immediately after capture, and then again while in custody of the Federal Police
Policía Federal Argentina
The Policía Federal Argentina is a police force of the Argentine federal government. The PFA has detachments throughout the country, but its main responsibility is policing the Federal District of Buenos Aires...
and the Penitentiary Service.
Retired sergent José Almada, who had participated in the capture of the MTP members, declared in 2004 that Iván Ruiz and José Díaz had been tortured. According to sergent Almada, they referred to two persons who were not members of their brigade, and most probably SIDE
Side
Side was an ancient Greek city in Anatolia, in the region of Pamphylia, in what is now Antalya province, on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey...
agents. He identified one of them as Jorge Varando, chief of security of HSBC
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
corporation in Buenos Aires during the December 20, 2001 events
December 2001 riots (Argentina)
The December 2001 uprising was a period of civil unrest and rioting in Argentina, which took place during December 2001, with the most violent incidents taking place on December 19 and December 20 in the capital, Buenos Aires, Rosario and other large cities around the country.- Background :The...
. Furthermore, sergent Almada declared that he had clearly heard a radio conversation ordering to kill two of the captured prisoners. He also said that adjuvant sergent Esquivel, killed during the attack, had been in fact shot by the Army itself, after trying to get to his brother who had been taken prisoner. Sergent Almada explicitly denounced the OEA
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
report done by Jorge Varando and General Arrillaga, the highest official in charge of the repression, which aimed at disguising adjuvant sergent Esquivel's suspicious death.
José Almada said that he had tried to inform his hierarchy about these human rights violations, in accordance with article 194 of the Military Justice Code, but that they ignored him. He notably tried to inform General Martín Balza. He also informed head of Argentine Army, General Bonifacio Cáceres, also telling him about his concerns that his neighbours were insulting him, saying that they were responsible of new cases of desaparecidos. Moreover, in his complaint before justice, he also said he had informed former head of the Army Ricardo Brinzoni
Ricardo Brinzoni
Ricardo Brinzoni was an Argentine military officer, serving as Argentina's Chief-of-staff.Born in Buenos Aires, Brinzoni entered Military School on 1963, and trained as a paratrooper, qualifying in December 1964. He built a career in the military and reached the rank of Brigadier General in 1990...
. After Cáceres's retirement in 1989, colonel Gasquet threatened José Almada of 40 days of arrest — he was finally given two days of arrest on charges of wearing a beard, and then sent him to Paraná, Entre Ríos
Paraná, Entre Ríos
Paraná is the capital city of the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, opposite the city of Santa Fe, capital of the neighbouring Santa Fe Province...
. Later, he was again sentenced to 30 days of arrest, confined to Crespo
Crespo, Entre Ríos
Crespo is a city in the Argentine province of Entre Ríos, some 40 km from the provincial capital Paraná. It has around 18,000 inhabitants , most of whom are descendants of Volga Germans who migrated from Russia to Argentina from 1875 onwards. The town's German heritage is reflected in the annual...
near Paraná and finally forced to retire. He has claimed that to this day he is still being "persecuted."
The MTP guerrillas were also accused of human right violations. As a conscript serving in the 3rd Infantry Regiment, Eduardo Navascues was taken prisoner early in the assault and suffered shrapnel wounds in the fighting. Despite having later been shot in an attempt to silence him, he has given testimony in a recent court case alleging human rights abuses including physical and mental torture at the hand of the attackers. Another conscript, Private Víctor Eduardo Scarafiocco claims that he and others were used as human shields by the guerrillas and that Private Héctor Cardozo was killed as a result.
Convictions
Twenty surviving members of the MTP were later convicted and given sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment. They were judged under the Ley de Defensa de la Democracia (Argentina) (Defense of the Democracy Act) which deprive them of a right to appeal and to a new trial.Enrique Gorriarán Merlo was given a life sentence, and his ex-wife, Ana María Sívori, was sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment.
During the oral and public trial, Gorriarán put in question the legitimity of the process and objected the circumstances of his capture in the suburbs of Mexico
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
in October 1995, which he called a "kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
" (secuestro). He was charged of being co-author of qualified illicit association, rebellion
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
, usurpation, homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
with aggravated circumstances , aggravated illegal privation of freedom and reiterated injuries. His ex-wife Sívori was charged of co-author of qualified illicit association, and secondary participant to offenses of rebellion, doubly aggravated homicide, tentative of homicide, aggravated theft, reiterated injuries and co-author of the use of false identity documents.
Most of those convicted in the attacks were placed in a maximum security cell block
Supermax
Supermax is the name used to describe "control-unit" prisons, or units within prisons, which represent the most secure levels of custody in the prison systems of certain countries...
on the eighteenth floor of the Caseros prison
Caseros Prison
The Caseros Prison was a panopticon prison in Parque Patricios, a neighborhood in the southern part of Buenos Aires, Argentina.Caseros Prison was conceived by the military dictatorships of the 1960s, originally intended as a short term holding station for prisoners awaiting trial. It was built...
in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
.
Finally, President Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa is an Argentine politician. He was president of the country from December 10, 1999 to December 21, 2001 for the Alliance for Work, Justice and Education ....
(Alliance for Work, Justice and Education
Alliance for Work, Justice and Education
The Alliance for Work, Justice and Education was a party coalition in Argentina around the turn of the third millennium...
, 1999–2001) commuted the prison sentences. And two days before Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
's access to his functions, Interim President Eduardo Duhalde
Eduardo Duhalde
-External links:...
(member of the Justicialist Party
Justicialist Party
The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...
) freed Gorriarán Merlo, on May 23, 2003, after 14 years of prison in high security quarters, who declared that it was "an act of justice". Gorriarán Merlo died of a cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
at the Hospital Argerich
Hospital Argerich
Hospital Argerich is a hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina....
in Buenos Aires, while he was about to be operated of an abdominal aortic aneurysm
Abdominal aortic aneurysm
Abdominal aortic aneurysm is a localized dilatation of the abdominal aorta exceeding the normal diameter by more than 50 percent, and is the most common form of aortic aneurysm...
, on 22 September 2006, at the age of 64.
See also
- History of ArgentinaHistory of ArgentinaThe history of Argentina is divided by historians into four main parts: the pre-Columbian time, or early history , the colonial period , the independence wars and the early post-colonial period of the nation and the history of modern Argentina .The beginning of prehistory in the present territory of...
- CarapintadasCarapintadasThe were a group of mutineers in the Argentine Army, who took part in uprisings during the presidency of Raúl Alfonsín in Argentina.In December 1986, the Ley de Punto Final was introduced...
- Enrique Gorriarán MerloEnrique Gorriarán MerloEnrique Haroldo Gorriarán Merlo was an Argentine guerrilla insurgency leader, born in San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Buenos Aires Province....
- Dirty WarDirty WarThe Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
- ERPPeople's Revolutionary Army (Argentina)The Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo was the military branch of the communist Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores in Argentina...
- White phosphorus (weapon)White phosphorus (weapon)White phosphorus is a material made from a common allotrope of the chemical element phosphorus that is used in smoke, tracer, illumination and incendiary munitions. Other common names include WP, and the slang term "Willie Pete," which is dated from its use in Vietnam, and is still sometimes used...