On the night of September 17, 1976 ten students were “disappeared” by the military dictatorship of Argentina in what became known as La Noche de los Lápices (The Night of the Pencils). The same day twenty years later, under the supposedly progressive Kirchner government, Jorge Julio López disappeared just before his final testimony against the senior police officer, Miguel Etchecolatz.
A Heroic Witness
Miguel Etchecolatz was the Director of Investigations for the Buenos Aires Provincial Police from early 1976 until late 1977. His tenure saw the greatest number of disappearances, as students, workers, and activists were kidnapped by the military government. Many of those disappeared were taken for incredibly minor displays of dissent. This was the case during The Night of the Pencils, when 10 high school students were kidnapped in the night for their activism in a campaign asking for free bus passes to school. Of the ten students, six were never seen again and the other 4 were held in illegal detention centers and tortured. These four were released between 1978 and 1980.
In the same city of La Plata, a brick layer, Jorge Julio López was disappeared on October 21, 1976. He was then held without charges until June 25, 1979. Both of these series of kidnappings were under the jurisdiction of Etchecolatz. When the military government was changed in 1983, there were promises that those responsible for the Dirty Wars would be punished. In 1986, Etchecolatz was sentenced to 23 years in prison, but didn’t serve any time due to laws enacted to protect former military and police – the Full Stop Law and the Law of Due Obedience.
In June of 2005, these two laws were voided by the Argentine Supreme Court, allowing for charges to be filed again. In the trial against Etchecolatz, Julio López was one of the key witnesses. Knowing the potential danger of being a witness at this trial he went on to name 62 police and military officers. The day before his final testimony, and the 20th anniversary of the Night of the Pencils, was the last time Julio López was seen. Despite his disappearance, Etchecolatz was sentenced to life imprisonment, largely based on the testimony of López.
Since the disappearance of López, government officials have been quick to announce their optimism in the search and repeatedly mention their “successes”. But none of this progress has been demonstrated publicly. Kirchner’s faction within the legislature has even gone so far as to block projects aimed at finding López.
A Vigilant People
On another cheerless anniversary, 1 year since the disappearance of López, an estimated twenty thousand marched through Buenos Aires, with thousands more marching in La Plata, the hometown of López. We marched from the Congress building to the Plaza de Mayo with unionists, political parties, human rights organizations, and even three current presidential candidates.
We marched calling for the reappearance of López and the punishment of those involved with his disappearance. But the rally wasn’t only in remembrance of López, it was calling for an end to the state repression that has been common under the Kirchner government. There were a series of demands connecting the disappearance to other tactics currently used by the government reminiscent of the days of the dictatorship. Workers from the Hospital Frances demanded that the military and police occupation of their hospital end, we called for an end to the Anti-Terrorist law (similar to the PATRIOT Act in the US and pushed by the Bush Administration), and punishment to those involved – politically and materially – in the death of Carlos Fuenteabla.
It’s unclear the direction Argentina will take, both in the upcoming presidential elections and in the realm of actual democracy. Will the state continue to exercise power to repress the social movements of the nation or will Argentina begin to practice true democracy?
