Horacio Verbitsky
Encyclopedia
Horacio Verbitsky is a prominent Argentine
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...

 investigative journalist and author. He writes for the left-leaning Argentine newspaper Página/12
Página/12
Página/12 is a newspaper based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Página/12 was founded on May 25, 1987, by journalist Jorge Lanata in association with writer Osvaldo Soriano and investigative journalist Horacio Verbitsky...

and heads up the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), an Argentine human-rights organization.

He is also a member of the Directive Board of Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...

/Americas, and of the New Iberoamerican Journalism Foundation created by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...

, as well as an active member at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism.

Life

Since 1960, Verbitsky has earned national acclaim for his writings and political columns, focusing primarily in the unmasking of political corruption and the promotion of a free press, denouncing any government policies that may affect the counstitutional rights of free speech to journalists and citizens. He has also become known under the nickname "el perro" ("the dog").

Years as militant

During the seventies he was a member of Montoneros
Montoneros
Montoneros was an Argentine Peronist urban guerrilla group, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The name is an allusion to 19th century Argentinian history. After Juan Perón's return from 18 years of exile and the 1973 Ezeiza massacre, which marked the definitive split between left and right-wing...

, a guerrilla organization. Verbitsky y su militancia en Montoneros: "Participé en enfrentamientos armados y, por suerte, no murió nadie", interview of H. Verbitsky, in Perfil
Perfil
Perfil is an Argentine tabloid newspaper based in Buenos Aires.- History :The newspaper was first launched by Jorge Fontevecchia on 9 May 1998 as a daily newspaper, but poor sales forced its closure on 31 July of the same year....

, November 4, 2007
According to him, he participated in shootings, but during which "luckily" nobody died. He also stated that he had no important functions in the Montoneros organization

Conferences

  • In Atlanta, (July 1992), with James Carter
    James Carter
    Jimmy Carter , the 39th President of the United States.Jimmy Carter also may refer to:- Public officials :* James G...

    .

  • In the OEA, Washington DC, with Raúl Zaffaroni; (February 2, 1995).

  • In Washington DC, by Freedom Forum
    Freedom Forum
    The Freedom Forum was created in 1991 under the direction of Al Neuharth, former publisher of USA Today newspaper. Funding was provided by a foundation started by publisher Frank E. Gannett in 1935, called the Gannett Foundation...

    , «La situación de la prensa en la Argentina»; with Kenneth Freed, from Los Angeles Times
    Los Angeles Times
    The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

    (September, 1995).

  • In Ghana
    Ghana
    Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

    , Africa
    Africa
    Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

    , with Freedom Forum
    Freedom Forum
    The Freedom Forum was created in 1991 under the direction of Al Neuharth, former publisher of USA Today newspaper. Funding was provided by a foundation started by publisher Frank E. Gannett in 1935, called the Gannett Foundation...

     and ex director of The New York Times
    The New York Times
    The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

    , organized by Committee to Protect Journalists
    Committee to Protect Journalists
    The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...

    , from New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

     (August 1998).

  • In the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, conference «La deshonestidad: la diferente actitud de las empresas en el hemisferio norte y en el sur» (November 1998).

  • In Venice
    Venice
    Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

    , Italy
    Italy
    Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

    , with Amnesty International
    Amnesty International
    Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

    : Per non Chiudere Gli Occhi (December 10, 1998).

  • In the Central European University
    Central European University
    For other uses, see European University Central European University is a graduate-level, English-language university offering degrees in the social sciences, humanities, law, public policy, business management, environmental science, and mathematics...

    , Budapest
    Budapest
    Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

    : «El Derecho a la Justicia y a la Verdad en Transición», organized by the Open Society Institute (May 1999).

  • In the OEA, over Human Right, Washington (1999).

  • In the Columbia University
    Columbia University
    Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

    , New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

    , (March 2001).

  • In Sweden
    Sweden
    Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

    , (March 2001) in:
    • Estocolmo University
    • Lund University
      Lund University
      Lund University , located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden, is one of northern Europe's most prestigious universities and one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research, frequently ranked among the world's top 100 universities...

      .

  • In New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

    , with Mark Malloch Brown
    Mark Malloch Brown
    George Mark Malloch Brown, Baron Malloch-Brown, KCMG, PC is a former Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British government with responsibility for Africa, Asia and the United Nations...

     (PNUD), and others from United Nations
    United Nations
    The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

    . (January 17, 2002).

  • In USA: in the Americas Conference, organized by The Miami Herald
    The Miami Herald
    The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...

    ; with Peter F. Romero
    Peter F. Romero
    Peter F. Romero previously served as the United States Ambassador to Ecuador and as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and was appointed by President Bill Clinton in the Fall of 1993....

     (Assistant Secretary of State) and Susan Segal (president from Council of Americas); (September 2004).

  • Italy
    Italy
    Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

     (May 2006):
    • In the Book Fair Turín
      Turín
      Turín is a municipality in the Ahuachapán department of El Salvador....

      , with The silence.
    • In the University of Milan
      University of Milan
      The University of Milan is a higher education institution in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Europe, with about 62,801 students, a teaching and research staff of 2,455 and a non-teaching staff of 2,200....

      .
    • Seminar organizated by the University of Rome y the Latinoamerican Institute from Italy.

  • In Norway
    Norway
    Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

    : conference «América Latina – Sobrevivir a la dictadura», in Kapittel Festival; Stavanger (September 15, 2007).

  • In Spain
    Spain
    Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

    : Casa de América and the Festival de la Palabra de la Universidad de Alcalá, by Juan Gelman
    Juan Gelman
    Juan Gelman is an Argentine poet. He has published more than twenty books of poetry since 1956. He won the Cervantes Prize in 2007, the most important in Spanish literature...

     (April 22, 2008).

  • In Madrid
    Madrid
    Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

    : seminar organized by FNPI (Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano) of Gabriel García Márquez
    Gabriel García Márquez
    Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...

     (June 2008).

  • In Bruselas: United Nations
    United Nations
    The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

     and the European Union
    European Union
    The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

     by 60° of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; conference «Los defensores toman la palabra», (October 2008).

  • In the University of Florence
    University of Florence
    The University of Florence is a higher study institute in Florence, central Italy. One of the largest and oldest universities in the country, it consists of 12 faculties...

    , conference «Giustizia e Desaparizione» in Polo delle Scienze Sociali (October 23, 2008).

  • In Washington DC, in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) (November 2009).

  • In Washington DC, in the Inter American Dialogue (November 2009).

  • In Columbia University
    Columbia University
    Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

     open to International Conference "Voces del Sur en la Agenda Global de Derechos Humanos" with Oscar Vilhena Vieira (directory of Conectas Dereitos Humanos) and Maja Daruwala (directory of The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative en India -CHRI-). in Jerome Greene (Law), 410 West 117th St., New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

     (March 23, 2011).

  • In Washington DC, conference over DD.HH., organized by the American University (April 28, 2011).

  • In Italy
    Italy
    Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

    : seminar over the Catholic Church (September 2011).

  • In the University of York
    University of York
    The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...

    , United Kingdom
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

    : Conference “Forced disappearances in 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...

     during the last dictatorship (1976-1983)
    ” (Thursday 10 November 2011).

  • In the Universitat Ramon Llull, FC Blanquerna, (Barcelona
    Barcelona
    Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

    ); Spain
    Spain
    Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

    . Conference: "Els reptes del periodisme actual" (November 15, 2011).

  • In the Casa Amèrica Catalunya, (Barcelona
    Barcelona
    Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

    ); Spain
    Spain
    Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

    . Conference: "Un any sense Néstor Kirchner" (November, 15 2011).

Work

He quickly attained to international fame when he published the account of the 1976–1983 dictatorship's brutality
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...

, courtesy of a confession by naval officer Adolfo Scilingo
Adolfo Scilingo
Adolfo Scilingo was an Argentine naval officer who is currently serving 30 years in a Spanish prison after being convicted on April 19, 2005 for crimes against humanity, including extra-judicial execution.-Charges:Scilingo was charged under Spain's universal jurisdiction laws by investigating...

. The subsequent book – The Flight: Confessions of an Argentine Dirty Warrior – became a bestseller and was internationally praised for its accurate insight into the inhuman methods used by the armed forces, which included the dumping of naked prisoners into the Atlantic Ocean from airplanes, a system that Scilingo claimed to have been approved by the Church. The book was republished following Scilingo's trial and conviction on human rights abuses in Spain, and translated into English in the United States, to a warm response, and in French, Portuguese and Italian.

By The Flight, Mike Wallace
Mike Wallace (journalist)
Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....

, from 60 minutes, say:
"This is as Watergate".


See also Time (magazine)
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

, March 27, 1995; pp 16-17: "A voice from the past", by Paul Gray.
In his country, Verbitsky plays a major role in the uncovering of corruption in political affairs. In 1991, his story on the brother-in-law of ex president Carlos Menem and his maneuver to obtain a bribe from a company for the granting of a tax exemption, resulted in the nationwide "Swiftgate" scandal. Verbitsky was questioned by Menem but the accusations were found to have solid grounds, and the ex president was forced to change half his cabinet in an attempt to regain the lost political credibility.

Verbitsky was also active in organizations promoting the free press, such as Periodistas, the former Latin American organization for the free press, which he helped found.

Recently, Verbitsky has worked hand-in-glove through his reporting in Pagina/12
Página/12
Página/12 is a newspaper based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Página/12 was founded on May 25, 1987, by journalist Jorge Lanata in association with writer Osvaldo Soriano and investigative journalist Horacio Verbitsky...

 to promote the political agenda of the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner , commonly known as Cristina Fernández or Cristina Kirchner is the 55th and current President of Argentina and the widow of former President Néstor Kirchner. She is Argentina's first elected female president, and the second female president ever to serve...

 heading into the 2011 elections.

He wrote for the newspaper El País (Spain); The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....

and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

(USA).

To this day, Verbitsky has published twenty books, besides his journalistic work.

Books in Spanish

  • Prensa y poder en Perú, Extemporáneos (México), 1975.
  • La última batalla de la Tercera Guerra Mundial, Editorial Legasa (Buenos Aires, Argentina), 1984.

  • Ezeiza, Contrapunto, (Bs. As.) 1985. Available in Spanish here
  • La posguerra sucia, Sudamericana (Bs. As.) 1985. ISBN 978-987-503-429-7 (13).
  • Rodolfo Walsh y la prensa clandestina 1976-1978, Ediciones de la Urraca (Bs. As.), 1985.
  • Civiles y militares: memoria secreta de la transición, Ed. Contrapunto (Bs. As.), 1987.
  • Medio siglo de proclamas militares, Editora/12 (Bs. As.), 1987. ISBN 950-9586-15-3.
  • La educación presidencial: de la derrota del ’70 al desguace del Estado, Editora/12: Puntosur (Bs. As.), 1990. ISBN 950-9889-55-5.
  • Robo para la corona: los frutos prohibidos del árbol de la corrupción, Planeta (Bs. As.), 1991. Available in Spanish here. ISBN 950-742-145-9.
  • Hacer la Corte: la construcción de un poder absoluto sin justicia ni control, Planeta (Bs. As.), 1993. ISBN 950-742-394-9.
  • El vuelo, Planeta (Bs. As.), 1995. Available in Spanish here ISBN 950-742-608-6.
  • Un mundo sin periodistas: las tortuosas relaciones de Menem con la ley, la Justicia y la verdad, Planeta (Bs. As.) 1997 ISBN 950-742-886-0
  • Hemisferio derecho, Planeta (Bs. As.), 1998. ISBN 950-742-953-0.
  • Malvinas: la última batalla de la Tercera Guerra Mundial, Sudamericana (Bs. As.), 2002. ISBN 950-07-2231-3.
  • El Silencio: de Paulo VI a Bergoglio: las relaciones secretas de la Iglesia con la ESMA, Sudamericana (Bs. As.), 2005. ISBN 950-07-2035-3.
  • Doble juego: la Argentina católica y militar, Sudamericana (Bs. As.), 2006. ISBN 978-950-07-2737-2 (13).
  • Cristo vence: la Iglesia en la Argentina: un siglo de historia política (1884-1983). I, Sudamericana (Bs. As.), 2007. ISBN 950-07-2803-4.
  • La Violencia Evangélica, de Lonardi al Cordobazo. II. Sudamericana (Bs. As.), 2008. ISBN 978-950-072-918-5.
  • Vigilia de armas. III. Del Cordobazo de 1969 al 23 de marzo de 1976, Sudamericana (Bs. As.) 2009. ISBN 978-950-07-3049-5.
  • La mano izquierda de Dios. IV. La última dictadura (1976- 1983). Sudamericana (Bs. As.) 2010. ISBN 978-950-07-3275-8 (Diario Perfil).

  • AAVV (1998). Diario de la CGT de los Argentinos. Quilmes: UNQ- Ed. La Página. ISBN 987-503-046-5.

Books in English

  • The Flight. Confessions of an Argentine dirty warrior. The New Press (New York), 1996. Afterward by Juan Méndez, General Counsel, Human Rights Watch.
  • The Flight. Confessions of an Argentine dirty warrior. The New Press (New York), 2005. Afterward by Juan Méndez. With a new preface by judge Gabriel R. Cavallo and a new afterword by the author.
  • The Silence, extract transl. in English made available by Open Democracy: http://www.opendemocracy.net/content/articles/PDF/2709.pdfBreaking the silence
    Breaking the silence
    Breaking The Silence is an Israeli Non-Governmental Organization established by Israel Defense Forces soldiers and veterans who collect and provide testimonies about their military service in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem during the Second Intifada, giving serving and discharged...

    : the Catholic Church in Argentina and the "dirty war"], July 28, 2005 (concerning the Cité catholique
    Cité catholique
    The Cité Catholique is a Traditionalist Catholic organisation created in 1946 by Jean Ousset, originally a follower of Charles Maurras and Jean Masson , not to be confused with Jacques Desoubrie, who also used the pseudonym Jean Masson...

     fundamentalist group, etc.).

Awards

  • Latin American Studies Association Media Award (LASA), (USA, 1996)
  • Konrad Adenauer Fundation and Centro de Estudios Unión para una Nueva Mayoría, (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...

    , 1997)
  • Hellman/Hammett Grant, (USA, 1998)
  • Martín Fierro to the best journalist on TV (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...

    , 2000)
  • One of four winners of the CPJ International Press Freedom Awards
    CPJ International Press Freedom Awards
    The CPJ International Press Freedom Awards honour journalists around the world who show courage in defending press freedom in the face of attacks, threats or imprisonment. Created in 1991, the awards are administered by the Committee to Protect Journalists....

    http://www.cpj.org/awards01/verbitsky.html for his reporting and his work in defending press freedom in 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...

     (USA, 2001)
  • Commission Nationale Consultative des Droits de l’Homme, for the Center for Legal and Social Studies in 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...

    . "por el proyecto de despenalización de 'calumnias e injurias' en casos de interés público". (Francia, December 2009). Eduardo Febbro, París, Página/12
  • Award Gruber, for the CELS, by the National Constitution Center
    National Constitution Center
    The National Constitution Center is an organization that seeks to expand awareness and understanding of the United States Constitution and operates a museum to advance those purposes....

    , of Philadelphia (October 2011).

See also

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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