Operation Massacre (8 page)

 

15.
Valle's Rebellion

Far from there, the real uprising is now raging furiously.

In June of
1956
, the Peronists that had been overthrown nine months earlier staged their first serious attempt to regain power through a revolt led by military officers, with some active civilian support.

The proclamation signed by Generals Valle and Tanco explained the root of the uprising by giving an exact description of the state of things. The country, it claimed, “is living under a harsh and merciless tyranny”; people are being persecuted, imprisoned, and exiled; the “majority party” is being excluded from public life; people are living under the “totalitarian monstrosity” of Decree
4161
(which prohibited even mentioning Perón); the Constitution has been abolished so as to get rid of article
40
, which prevented “the surrender of public services and natural resources to international capitalism”; the aim is to subject workers to “the will of capitalism” through starvation, and “to have the country regress to its most ruthless colonial period by handing over its most basic economic resources to international capitalism.”

Stated in
1956
, this was not just accurate: it was prophetic. Valle's proclamation was unusual in its lack of hypocrisy. It did not make the usual pleas for Western and Christian values or any jabs at communism, but it also did not overlook the attack on unions by “elements known for agitating in the service of ideologies or international interests.”

Compared to this analysis, the policy portion of the proclamation was weak. It sacrificed, perhaps inevitably, ideological content for emotional impact. In short, it proposed a considered return to Peronism and Perón by transparent means: elections within no more than
180
days, with all political parties participating. The economic policy of the platform, unsurprisingly, contradicted its previous criticism by assuring that there would be “full guarantees for foreign capital that is either already invested or will be invested,” etc.

The proclamation illustrated the two elements that characterized Peronism in those early days of the resistance: first, it had a clear ability to perceive the ills that it suffered due to its being the popular majority party; second, it was remarkably ambiguous when it came to diagnosing the causes, to turning itself into a true revolutionary movement, and to leaving campaign slogans and pretty words to the enemy once and for all.

Of course Valle acted, and gave his life, which means more than words ever could. Understanding his actions is easier today than it was ten years ago; it will be even easier in the future. Valle's figure will continue to grow and take the place it deserves in the people's memory, together with the conviction that his movement's success would have saved the country the shameful phase that followed, this second
década infame
that we are now living in.
13

The story of the uprising is short. Less than twelve hours pass between the time that the operations begin to when the last rebel group is defeated.

In Campo de Mayo, the rebels—led by colonels Cortínez and Ibazeta—have taken control of both the NCO academy infantry group and the services group of the first armored division. The occupation of the NCO academy fails after a short shoot-out, though, and the attack is left isolated.
14

At eleven o'clock at night, a group of NCOs revolt in the Army Mechanics School, but have to retreat after a shoot-out.

In Avellaneda, in the surrounding area of the Second Military Region Command, rebels and policemen engage in two or three skirmishes. The police arrest some of the rebels. Next they burst into the Industrial School and surprise Lieutenant Colonel José Irigoyen, who is with a group trying to set up a command there for Valle and a secret transmitter. The repression is devastating. Eighteen civilians and two military officers are sent to a summary court-martial in the Lanús District Police Department. Six of them will be executed: Irigoyen, Captain Costales, Dante Lugo, Osvaldo Albedro, and two brothers, Clemente and Norberto Ros. Leading this operation is the second-in-command at the district police department, Lieutenant Commander naval pilot Salvador Ambroggio. Chief Inspector Daniel Juárez is the one administering the coups de grâce at will. For the purposes of intimidation, the government announced at daybreak that eighteen people had been executed.

In La Plata, a bomb thrown at a shoe store downtown appears to be the sign the rebels are waiting for. In the Seventh Regiment, Captain Morganti calls the company under his command to action. Groups of civilians take over the telephone exchanges. Astounded passersby along the main streets see a number of Sherman tanks go by, followed by troops in armored trucks that are headed at full speed to the Second Division Command and the police station. There are barely twenty guards, not well-armed, at the station. Not even the police chief or second-in-command are there: the former is inspecting Mr. Horacio di Chiano's furniture in Florida, and the latter is leading the repression in Avellaneda and Lanús.

The most spectacular battle of the entire attempt at rebellion is about to begin. Around a hundred thousand shots will be fired, according to an unofficial calculation. There will be a half-dozen killed and some twenty wounded. But the rebel forces, whose superiority in terms of military equipment at first seems overwhelming, will not come away with even the most fleeting success.

Ninety-nine out of every hundred people in the country are unaware of what's going on. In the very same city of La Plata, where the shooting continues incessantly all night long, there are many who keep sleeping and only find out about it the following morning.

At
11
:
56
p.m. State Radio, the official voice of the Nation, stops playing Stravinsky and puts on the marching song that they usually use to end their programming. The voice of the announcer bids his listeners goodnight until the following day at the usual time. At midnight the broadcast is interrupted. All of this is confirmed on page fifty-one of State Radio's registry book of announcers that was in use at the time and is signed by the announcer Gutenberg Pérez.

Not a word has been uttered about the subversive events of the night. Not even the slightest allusion has been made to martial law, which, like any law, must be declared and publicly announced before coming into effect.

Therefore, at midnight on June
9
,
1956
, nowhere in the Nation's territory is martial law in effect.

But it has already been applied. And it will be applied later to men who were arrested before it was instated, and without the excuse—like the one they had in Avellaneda—that they had been caught with weapons in hand.

Footnotes:

 

16.
“Watch Out, They Could Execute You . . .”

Meanwhile, the bus filled with prisoners picked up in Florida has headed southwest. It leaves the district of Vicente López and enters that of San Martín. The behavior of the guards escorting them is proper, which is to say indifferent. Some of the prisoners talk to each other.

—Why do you think they've taken us? —one asks.

—What do I know . . . —another answers.— Probably for playing cards.

—Something doesn't smell right. The big guy said something about a revolution.

Mr. Horacio and Giunta are the most baffled of all. Because they weren't even playing cards. Gavino, who doesn't know them but could enlighten them, keeps quiet. Dazed and disheveled, wiping the blood away from his lip, he does know why they have been taken.

They arrive in San Martín and, leaving behind the station and the main square, stop in front of a building on Nueve de Julio Street with armed guards at the door. Some have already figured out where they are. They are at the District Police Department. The trip has lasted less than twenty minutes.

They stay seated in the bus for twenty minutes, maybe even half an hour more before they are told to get off. They see people leaving the nearest movie theater. Passersby look at them curiously. There are no signs of unrest anywhere.

At
12
:
11
a.m. on June
10
,
1956
, State Radio surprisingly resumes its broadcast on the official station, airing a selection of light music for the next twenty-one minutes. It is the first official sign that something serious is happening in the country.

In the meantime, the fateful house in Florida comes to claim two unexpected victims. Julio Troxler and Reinaldo Benavídez stop by looking for a friend who they think is there. They do nothing more than walk down the corridor and ring the bell at the back apartment—which is strangely silent and dark—before the door suddenly opens and a sergeant and two guards appear, pointing their guns at them.

Though surprised, Julio Troxler hardly bats an eye. He is a tall, athletic man who will demonstrate an extraordinary calm at every turn that night.

Troxler is twenty-nine years old. Two of his brothers are in the Army, one of whom carries the rank of major. He himself might feel a certain military calling, which he channels poorly, seeing how he ends up joining the Police Department of the Province of Buenos Aires. He is strict and austere, but still, he does not tolerate the “methods”—the brutality—that he is expected to employ, so he resigns when Peronism is in full bloom. From then on, he throws his discipline and his ability to work into technical studies. He reads as many books and magazines as he can find on specializations that interest him—motors, electricity, refrigeration. He actually begins to do quite well for himself with a refrigerator repair shop that he sets up in Munro.

Troxler is a Peronist, but he doesn't talk much politics. Those who tried to describe him suggested that he is an extremely laconic and pensive man who resists arguments at all costs. One thing's for sure: he is familiar with the police and knows how to deal with them.

The description we can give of Reinaldo Benavídez is even more superficial. Average height, around thirty years old, he has an honest and pleasant face. At that time he is co-running a grocery store in Belgrano and living with his parents. Something incredible is going to happen to Benavídez, something that, even on this night of extraordinary events and experiences, seems as though it was taken from some outrageous novel. But we'll come back to that.

By an extraordinary coincidence—which will come up again later—Julio Troxler knows the sergeant who is facing him and pointing his gun at him. That may be why they have both stood still for a moment, observing each other.

—What happened? —Troxler asks.

—I don't know. I've got to take you both with me.

—What do you mean you've got to take me with you? Don't you remember me?

—Yes, sir. But I've got to take you with me. I have my orders.

The sergeant steps away for a moment. He goes to the apartment in front to ask for instructions over the phone. The two detained men are left alone with the guards. It's true that they are unarmed, but if they set themselves to the task, they may be able to overpower them and escape. Hours later, in more difficult, nearly impossible circumstances, both of them will act with exceptional decisiveness and sangfroid. At the moment, they are calm. Clearly they don't suspect anything too serious.

And they let themselves be taken away, just like that.

All police stations have been in a state of alarm since earlier in the day. In his office at Florida's Second Precinct, Captain Pena has tuned in the receiver.

At precisely
12
:
32
a.m., State Radio interrupts the chamber music to announce, across all the stations in the country, that a communiqué from the Presidential Press Secretary's Office will be read, declaring two decrees.

The dramatic announcement is as follows:

“Since the situation caused by elements that are disruptive of public order is forcing the provisional government to adopt appropriate measures with calm energy to ensure public tranquility in the whole territory of the Nation and to continue to meet the goals of the Liberating Revolution,
15
it is decided that the provisional President of the Argentine Nation, exercising his Legislative Power, declares as law:

“Article Number
1
– Let martial law be in effect throughout the entire territory of the Nation.

“Article Number
2
– The current decree-law will be endorsed by his Excellency the Provisional Vice President of the Nation and by the ministers: secretaries of the State, the Airforce, the Army, the Navy, and the Interior.

“Article Number
3
– Pro forma.

“Signed: Aramburu, Rojas, Hartung, Krause, Ossorio Arana and Landaburu.”
16

The second decree, taking into account the fact that martial law “constitutes a measure whose application the public must be made aware of,” lays out the rules and circumstances according to which the law will be put into practice.

The captain has just finished listening to the announcement when they bring him the two prisoners. Just like the sergeant, the captain is surprised to see Troxler, whom he knows and likes.

—What are you doing here?

Troxler smiles, shrugging his shoulders, and explains what happened without making a big deal of it. It must have been a mistake . . . They talk for a few minutes. Then the captain gets a phone call.

—They want you at the Department —then he adds:— Hey, watch out, they could execute you . . . They declared martial law just a minute ago.

The two of them laugh.

But the captain is worried.

Footnotes: