"In the world there are times of revolutions and of counterrevolution." "Those were times of revolution" "It was 1972." "There was a huge confrontation between democratic forces and the military who 'd overthrown President Illia in 1966" "Peronism was banned as from 1955 and the social climate was of increasing insubordination," "the Cordobazo, Tucumanazo, Mendozazo, Rosariazo the chain of massive social explosions accelerated the growth of armed organizations" "Popular sectors saw the armed organizations in their struggle against Lanusse 's dictatorship, as anti-imperialist vanguardists for democracy and social justice" "Lanusse understands the great challenge to the system and the bourgeoisie put forward by mass protests and the presence of armed organizations." "The disappearances begin" "And torture is widely used" "It was difficult to report tortures and to have them investigated" "The prisoners arrived in bad conditions." "Rodolfo Mattarollo:" "Political prisoners' lawyer We were lawyers of political prisoners, of guerrillas, of combative union leaders" "I never asked the prisoners which political party they belonged to or about their ideas." "Hipólito Solari Irigoyen Political Prisoners' lawyer" "Many political prisoners were taken to Rawson or to Chaco" "Eduardo Luis Duhalde Political Prisoners' lawyer" "The reason was to alienate the revolutionary leaders" "from places where they could have contact with the outside world, this contact was much harder at the Rawson's jail." "In a prison where it was impossible to escape due to its geographical location." "People from d¡fferent armed organ¡zat¡ons:" "Montoneros, FAR, ERP, w¡ll rejoin the struggle, for us, th¡s ¡s a huge success" "What solut¡on do the armed organ¡zat¡ons give to the country?" "We 'll cont¡nue The revolutionary war." "Always through violent means?" "The means aren 't set by us, but by the regime." "It 's been proved that the regime always has some trap, the dom¡nant classes need to maintain a s¡tuation of pr¡v¡lege over those that are exploited" "Since we are in Patagonia, we conceive this struggle as the continuation of the struggle of the rural and industrial workers who were murdered by the Army ¡n 1921." "We are their followers After the first Independence we enter a second one free¡ng ourselves from yankee ¡mperialism to bu¡Id a Socialist fatherland" "From the province of Chubut and Trelew airport where one of the events that shocked public opinion took place yesterday" "Were they in uniform or dressed in civilian clothes?" "In civilians clothes, some with caps with a red star." "How did things begin?" "By surprise" "The rapid action of military Personal allowed..." "This area has been declared in emergency" "The militaries control Every piece of luggage" "Was there any attempt to resist?" "A cold and rainy morning" "I told him he was a Santucho (little saint)" "But not enough as to put him in a altar." "Did they threaten you?" " No" " where were you all day?" " I was..." "Not the airplane or the crew were in condition to fly to Cuba." "To my Aunt Celia" "When the prisoners began to arrive and we read that Rawson would be a maximun security prison" "for political prisoners, our reaction was:" ""They are bringing us a problem that isn 't ours."" "Trelew was an isolated place." "¿what could happen?" "Isabel Miele Trelew citizen One day, the press said they had brought the Mena brothers, Pujadas, Alberto Camps," "María Antonia Berger." "They were 17 or 18." "We were small town folks, but we started" "Santiago Chiche López Trelew citizen getting in touch with their relatives, and lawyers." "Someone would come with a necklace that read FAR, all they told us about these groups were a novelty." "They came from all over the place:" "Tito Barone Trelew citizen Chaco, Tucumán, Córdoba." "I ' m María Angélica Sabelli 's aunt" "My mother was 72 years old, and used to go to Rawson 's jail" "She said: "I learned things I didn 't know existed"" ""How can one live otherwise"" "I 'm Soledad," "Eduardo Capello 's mother." "In those times we owned a Citröen" "The trip wasn 't too good but we visited him every month." "I was a police woman at the time" "A woman who came to visit her son there, said to me:" ""May I fry some schnitzels?"" "Hortensia Urrutia Rawson citizen" "I said: "as they are watching me, go with my friend, she will do it"" "In a small town, they depended on people 's solidarity" "Mother, fathers, wives and kids came here" "Margarita López Trelew citizen The kids used to stay at my house" "My home was full of kids," "Encarnación de Mulhall Trelew citizen full of ropes in the kitchen and bathrooms, where they hung diapers." "We placed mattresses on the floor we never knew" "The door had to be always open, we never knew who would come." "Once it was locked and they asked me who I was." "I had to identify myself to get into my house." "I had a huge pot for the sauce and another one for the noodles" "Beatriz Burgueño Rawson citizen We never knew if they were Two or a lot of people eating" "They told me they were recruiting "agents"" "to help the political prisoners, because they needed help," "Isidoro Pichilef Trelew citizen someone who brings them a package of tea or whatever," "I liked the idea." "I was the first one to act as an "agent"" "Later someone else followed and we became 50 or 60." "They told me that Flores had said:" ""I want my agent to be blue collar, like me"" "Around our beds there were 170 packages." "Gustavo Peralta Rawson citizen Each one contained a kilo of tea, candy, cigarettes" "To get into bed." "We had to jump." "Then, sometimes we made six or seven trips, because we were few people." "At Rawson, leaders of all the armed organizations were in custody." "Celedonio Carrrizo Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) We were the first to arrive To Trelew 's Airport with people from Córdoba, and all together were taken to Rawson 's jail" "There were comrades from Montoneros, FAR and FAP, and the Communist Party" "Pedro Cazes Camarero People's Revolutionary Army (ERP) And of course was Tosco the great character of the prison" "I was sent to an section with the political prisoners," "Agustín Tosco was with the union prisoners." "Santucho and Ulla were in my cell" "Fernando Vaca Narvaja Montoneros The struggles were complemented" "Each one had its missions, its task" "We had to educate ourselves politically," "Alicia Sanguinetti People's Revolutionary Army (ERP) So once free we could insert ourselves, and work alongside our comrades" "We couldn 't own books books were banned" "Silvia Hodgers People's Revolutionary Army (ERP) Each organization dedicated hours to study or to educate comrades who had little instruction" "We studied books about marxism, argentine history, political economy, history of the Cuban Revolution the Soviet revolution" "Blas Ginés García Rawson's Guard I worked there, I went from my home to the prison" "Our job was to prevent them for escaping" "I was in charge of controlling everything that went in." "I controlled the entrance and exit of prisoners" "Argentino Barrios Rawson Guard They began to bring the terrorist:" "ERP;" "Montoneros," "No one could escape I assure you, if you do your job, that prison is very safe." "No one escapes" "At first we thought of digging a tunnel" "Enrique Gorriarán Merlo People's Revolutionary Army (ERP) I was in block five, in the last cell." "We began to dig a tunnel from there Not because it was my cell but because it was 15 meters from the outer wall." "We took out the tiles with care, so as not to break them" "We took the heaters apart and made spades with them" "When our comrades told us someone was coming, we replaced the tiles and filled them in with plaster" "We made a mold with paper and paste;" "with newspapers we made pannels to hold the tunnels" "We dug to fit and place the panels." "A tough job" "They ordered us to sew bags, we had to take out the earth we gave the girls the material through the holes." "We spread the stones while we played soccer" "We emptied the bags and began to kick" "The field was full of stones but they didn 't notice" "But the cell was full of water when we dug" "It was a lovely idea but hard to materialize" "If we had finished the tunnel, the field would be a meter higher" "We 'd be still emptying bag of soil" "The tunnel wasn 't working, We had to think of something else" "We tried to have a good time, if a comrade was depressed we tried to encourage him" "The girls had made holes in the floor which had glass panels in it" "First was one hole, then another one..." "Each day the hole was larger" "I don 't know if it was us or them, but the fact is that it got larger and larger we communicated with the girls, we formed pyramids and talked to them, those were the visits we paid our "girlfriends"" "That 's how Alberto Camps and Rosa María became lovers." "They could hold hands touch, kiss" "Through the hole" "I watched how nice Santucho danced a "chacarera"" "There was more action when Carlos Astudillo arrived he was from Salta and sang the "Luis Burella"" "He said: "which guns will we use to fight"" "and we replied "with the ones we ' II remove from them"" "The comrades stood against the bars," "it was like a great guitar show, we couldn 't see our faces, but we could hear each other" "We felt we were living an historic moment," "Really, it was a party" "They held talks which ended in a big debate where Tosco, Santucho, and Quieto participated" "There was no discrimination between union's prisoners or guerrillas." "We felt the road was the same." "I said: "I must fight"" "because General San Martín fought for freedom and I had read about the Che Guevara." "He had fought for a more just society, a different type of freedom." "It was a time of heroism:" "We thought the best that could happen to us, was to feel a certain heroism in our lives" "August 22nd" "Any kind of popular protest, even a pacific one, provokes a v¡olent repression and the death of workers" "We th¡nk the only way to f¡ght the military dictatorship and cap¡talism is by organ¡zing ourselves, creat¡ng a m¡l¡tary force to beat the enemy." "If there are elections and these are clean, the people w¡ll take part because they can d¡scern." "Our duty is to be w¡th the people, because we are part of the people" "August 22nd 1972 Present" "August 22nd Horror started" "The criteria was that the first duty of a prisoner was to think about escaping;" "we had to resume the revolutionary struggle to fight against the dictatorship" "Our leaders were in jail and our priority was to free them." "One knew there was no legal resource to be free." "Back then, when you were imprisoned" "The first thing you did wasto plan your escape" "It was tough to organize an escape, it was so isolated" "The closest city in which to hide, was Bahía Blanca which was 440 miles away or Comodoro, 250 miles." "Not only was it a wasteland, But it had a Navy Base nearby" "And also there was a special anti-guerrilla unit" "They never thought we 'd attack a place like that." "There was a great security outside the prison" "They prepared for an assault from the outside" "They never expected an attack from inside." "That's why we planned it like that" "So the idea was to take the prison from the inside" "With the support of our comrades." "We 'd live the prison in trucks, hijack an airplane and fly to Chile and later to Cuba." "The comrades inside began to think about how to take over the prison" "For that, they needed from us a small amount of weapons" "Jorge Lewinger People's Revolutionary Army (FAR)" "The guard who helped us escape was called Fazio" "He allowed us to introduce a militar uniforme and only one gun." "Fazio was a great guy, he liked women, money." "He was one of the guards who had the best relationship with the prisoners, he didn 't do it only for the money." "The money helped him decide, but he wasn 't one of the toughest guards" "We held super clandestine meetings with him, he took many precautions because he was very afraid" "What was the excuse for the escape?" "There would be a military inspection, an army officer would inspect the prison." "With the military uniform we had a basis, we had the chief of supervisors" "During a dictatorship a military uniform, and armed civilians was the way they operated." "I spent five years at the Army Academy and knew how a military officer acted" "So I used the uniform" "We agreed that Fazio would stay behind but if there was any suspicion about his involvement he 'd come with us." "Most of the time we did things related with the escape" "We carefully watched the prison 's internal routine, the location of the geographic spaces, the rooms, etc." "María Angélica was in the cell next to mine, she taught us to assemble and disassemble a rifle with a broom stick how to use a FAL rifle." "We made ourselves be punished so we could measure the distance between blocks" "Every movement was used to obtain information" "The prison had an entrance where they had guards" "This is the outside wall" "We used to find old pieces of iron in the field." "And cut pieces of iron from beds to make knives." "For them to be dangerous, they had to be sharp" "We spent all day sharpening them" "Some comrades were Carpenters, and made almost perfect copies of guns." "They also made a copy of a FAL rifle" "We began to check the external walls" "We took notes of the guards shifts" "In this booth there are guards armed with FAL rifles" "Then, there 's a hallway where the blocks begin" "These blocks have two stories:" "We were here." "I trained my comrades to walk crouched" "We practiced ways to tie someone quickly" "Another duty was to sew caps like the military ones, or gloves" "The internal Guard has an officer on duty" "Who deals with internal security they are the prison guards the "yugas"." "They control the movement of the prisoners" "While advancing towards the armory, we had to dress discretely" "We had to generate movements that wouldn 't arouse suspictions" "We began to do things we didn 't normally do, singalongs, so when the escaped occurred, it would be normal for them to hear songs and noises" "116 comrades were going to escape" "With that in mind, we got hold of the vehicles we would use:" "A large truck, a medium sized one, and a small one." "And a car, in which a first group would travel" "Some in the second truck, and the rest in the others." "Another group came on board the airplane" "Fernández Palmeiro from ERP," "Ferreira from ERP," "And a girl from FAR." "Their duty was to inform if the plane was on its way" "Once we knew this, we 'd go towards the prison" "It was the signal that the airplane had left, and that they should start taking over the prison." "The first group had to open the gate, with out causing too many victims either ours or the prison staff" "The second group, 19 men had to secure each point." "I had to retain the two guards in our sector" "As I played the guitar and sang, I had to attract her to the bars" "We had to control the kitchen, the infirmary," "the yard" "The third group, 120 men, had to organize the escape" "The signal was to wave a handkerchief at the gate, once the comrade saw it, they got into the prison" "I had to jump into my truck and get inside the prison and we 'd escape in those vehicles" "We had to travel 10 or 11 miles between Rawson and Trelew" "We calculated the time used to take over the prison, hijack the flight and fly to Chile" "We knew we 'd put Allende in a tigh spot because we had to fly to Cuba" "Some lawyers like me, who were trusted by these organizations knew beforehand about escape" "It was a heavy blow for the military regime." "It made it look ridiculous and weakened it politically" "Tosco approved the escape, but wouldn 't participate" "In the recess before the escape," "we told him about" "Tosco said he was a social and political leader, and that the government had a duty to free him" "Marcos Osatinski, Roby an I told him" "Tosco supports the initiative and understands the objectives, but decides not to take part" "Roby says to him:" ""Gringo, we ' re escaping"" "he looked at us and sat down, he knelt down," "and thought for about 10 seconds;" "he then said:"what must I do?" "We were calm, waiting for the time to escape" "We met to plan the takeover of the left block" "We wore long hair and beards, so the guards would recognize us." "The day of the escape we cut our hair and shaved." "The signal was for everyone to sing the "Luis Burella"" "What I remember very well was Fazio 's attitude." "In the recess before the escape he says:" ""It 's 6 o 'clock" but it was only 4 o 'clock;" "he knew the escape was at 6, he was making a joke about the escape!" "We were in position On the morning of August, 15 th." "We were traveling on the deserted road." "When they advise us from Comodoro Rivadavia that the plane had left, the escape is under way" "Minutes before 6 p." "M, they make a signal from the outside and we reply, comfirming we ' re ready for action" "Every thing was well organized" "We were convinced of our success." "We were determined and were convinced of our success" "There was a strong commitment, a real will to live." "First, we made Fazio call the officer on duty," "When he approaches, Quieto," "Roby and Mena, point a pistol at him and force him to open the gate" "This group went in front and behind it, we went" "Quieto and I go above where the girls are" "I saw Marcos come in with a pistol," "very determined" "There was no resistance, we explained them what would happen, what we would do and we put them inside a cell" "Then I understood that the escape had begun" "The six of us advanced with Fazio and the officer in front" "The officers at the booth saw a group of men with an officer walking towards them" "It was a dangerous moment:" "They had to open the gate" "The comrades began to control the upper blocks" "We took off the guard uniforms" "Pedro Nicora Rawson Prison's Chaplain They were dressed as guards, but they were prisoners" "A comrade began to put our prisoners inside the cells" "He said to me:" ""Stop, don 't move"" "Other comrades began to wear the uniforms" "We advanced towards the gate of the prison" "Towards the main objective, this door, where the armory is" "They turned up at 6.30 or 6.45 p.m." "We said: "Guy, we ' re taken over the prison"" "They said: "We are determined, so, cooperate"" "We didn 't have weapons, so we had to surrender" "Fazio helped by placing himself next to the guards" "He said: "Surrender, and nothing will happen"" "he put his hands on his neck and kneeled down, and some did the same." "That helped a lot" "They asked me for the keys and I gave them" "We controlled most of the prison because they kept the guns there" "We formed a chain and emptied the arm depot" "María Angélica Sabelli was so short that FAL riffles crossed on her way..." "They told me that they controlled the prison, that they would escape and asked us to keep cool the convicts..." "We had to place our men in these booths" "As they were dressed as guards, nobody would notice as I went in, two men pointed their riffles at me," "then they overpowered the other employees" "They put 10 of us in each cell Each cell was 1.5 meter by 1." "One of the guards sees a strange movement or recognizes one of the prisoners" "There 's a shoot out" "A person, holding an automatic riffle, a few feet away from the door we had to cross, could kill us all" "They were armed and were determined to escape, they had made a decision:" "To escape" "Unfortunately, a guard called Valenzuela dies" "We go to the warden 's office, and tell him to advise the booth that it 's a minor incident" "He told them some students had set some firecrackers off and nothing had happened." "But he says: "you are nuts, they ' II kill you all, and kill us too, there 's no way to escape:" "There are 80 armed men"" "where you scared?" "A bit nervous, but no scared" "Our group left towards the main gate" "We asked Tosco to control the other prisoners," "he was respected by us and by the convicts" "I ' never forget Tosco 's face, when we left" "he wishes us good luck" "I remember as if it were today, passing through the common through ok?" "Convicts block, in total silence, men with strong, expressive faces, men who 'd never be free, were on our side, allowing us, with their silence, the chance to escape" "Some even made the Victory sign, others, closed their fist" "The comrades formed a long line of 110 men along the hallway, to board the trucks" "We stood at the gate, we had to control ourselves, so as not start running" "We knew which comrades would leave first, which was the first group, and the second, and so on..." "Susana Lesgart made a signal to the head of the transport group, to come into the prison, pick up the people, and go to the airport." "But no vehicle came in" "We waited and waited but no vehicle appeared." "Pedro Bonet and Sayo were there, she was dressed in civilian clothes," "Pedro Bonet was in uniform with a riffle on his shoulder." "Marcos Osatinski said:" ""We ' re staying, there are no trucks"" "I saw Capello" "and Lesgart" "When I left here, only one vehicle had appeared." "A Falcon comes in and Carlos Goldemberg says:" ""The trucks are leaving, I don 't know why"" "Pedro comes to us and says:" ""Comrades, something went wrong, you must turn back"" ""Until victory, always"" "I get confused, the Falcon entered the prison, but I misinterpret the signal as a failure." "Their conviction wasn 't as strong as ours:" "They thought the operation wasn 't possible." "The distance was short, there could be no doubt about the signal, the park was 30, 40, 50 meters away." "The tough part wasn 't the distance, but the responsibility on my back," "because the worst thing wasn 't being captured, but getting killed." "I interpreted the signal as a failure, and send the trucks away." "Slowly, we turn back" "The common convicts and union leaders were at the gates, realizing we had failed." "We had to ensure that our leaders got out." "Gorriarán left in the first car, Osatinski, Mena, Santucho," "Quieto and I and Carlitos, who drove the Falcon." "Group one jumps into the Car, and they say:" ""Call some taxis, we ' re going to the airport"" "We went through Rawson, cause we couldn 't believe thar the trucks hadn 't arrived" "We thought they were lost." "As we didn 't find them, we went to Trelew" "I was with the other 19 comrades, who left in the taxis" "Rubén Arregui Rawson Taxi Driver They called from the prison, asking for cars." "We went there, as usual" "When I was about to turn off the lights, a guy put a pistol to my head." "Enrique Santos Rawson Taxi Driver Another one says:"Get down, we 've taken the prison"" ""Don 't move, get down and leave the keys in"" "2 or 3 minutes passed by;" "they took us to our cars, which were full of people" "A comrade got in, through the window" "The last one" "was Astudillo, The singer of the "Luis Burella"" "They all left and there was silence." "We had to keep the people inside the prison hostage." "To ensure a conditional surrender" "Speaking to my comrades," "I see things clearly:" "It was not a signal that things had turner sour:" "We decide to go back to the prison" "No one came, I thought:" "Nobody knew about all this" "We return, thinking we still had time to rescue them;" "but the place was surrounded by military cars" "The order was to return to the blocks" "The main objective was to get out alive:" "Until that moment the escape was important" "We thought:"If we can 't escape, at least they can"" "The most important comrades were escaping" "I didn 't see it as a failure" "I felt it just wasn 't for me" "When we were arriving at the airport we saw that the airplane was about to take off;" "we occupy the control tower and with the excuse that there was a bomb on board, order them to stop the plane." "I enter the aircraft and Fernández Palmeiro, who was holding a hosstess by the waist, pointed a Beretta pistol" "to my head" "They didn 't recognize us, thought we were militaries, we carried rifles and we were in uniforme." "We shout:"open us." "It 's us"" "We have to calm down the passengers," "Quieto grabs the P.A. And says "Don 't worry, this is a simulation:" "Keep seated"" ""We ' re training, there 's a prison full of famous terrorists"" "and people settle down." "We take the plane to the end of runway, and wait for the taxis to arrive." "We still didn 't know what happened to the trucks." "They jumped in and said:" "To the airport as fast as possible, but without killing ourselves." "We leave by the new road, he was behind me and the third driver came last" "Were we taking 21 people?" "No, 19." "The other 19 were also leaders" "They were 25 minutes late." "Crossing fingers so that the comrades could get on the plane" "They lowered the windows and pointed guns outwards, one woman I was taking, pointed backwards." "I asked Bonet: "which way?" He says"up"" "I think Pujadas says:" ""Not up, there 's a Navy Base"" "I say: "The cops will be at the Base and will shoot us"" "We waited for a while the operation had failed," "They couldn 't ignore that we 'd taken the prison" "The logical thing would be to place a vehicle across the road, aborting the operation" "The other car stayed far behind" "There were slopes, so Bonet says:" ""Stop, let 's wait for the third car"" "We waited to see the lights of the third car and went on." "When got on the Trelew bridge we stopped again." "It was the pilot first flight after receiving psychological treatment." "The poor pilot had problems and had to face this situation" "He refuses to fly to Chile" "He says:"there 's a snowstorm, I have no fuel, no oil," "I 'm not prepared, I don 't know the way..." "The Roby says:" ""If we died, we all die"" "Osatinski says: "you, play the bad guy, I ' II be the good guy," "I ' II negotiate and you confront him"" "I go in and say something crazy to the pilot." "The pilot shouts:" ""Get this freak out of here"" "Osatinski, very diplomatic," "manages to convince him" "When we arrived," "Bonet says: "flash your lights" the aircraft was about to take off;" "if we hadn 't stopped on the road, they would have been there on time." "While we arrived the plane was running, it was late, they had waited a lot, so they took off." "While in the air, we contacted the control tower" "Bonet and Mariano communicate:" "They agree that the first group must leave;" "they shouldn 't risk making the plane land again." "They take over the airport, the control tower," "in order to save their lives which in that time didn 't worth much..." "Members of the armed organizations," "FAR, and Montoneros have said that after this interview and having reached the people through the press," "they 've decided to surrender unconditionally" "They call me and ask me to do the interview;" "they advise via loudspeaker, that two reporters would enter." "Daniel Carreras Canal 3 de Trelew" "They authorize us to go in with our hand raised" "Two of the three organizationes, which are represented here, are "peronistas", the third one is not." "Mariano Pujadas Montoneros Today we have political difference, but in the future, through our fight, the differences will disappear." "This run away action represents our will to be together." "We are together now, and we will fight together for the liberation of our people." "Did everything go as planned or was this bad luck?" "Rubén Pedro Bonet People's Revolutionary Army (ERP) Our intention was to leave, only one group left, the rest couldn 't arrive on time." "Did the group on board have orders to take off if you didn 't arrive on time?" "That 's right." "How many are you now?" "I think we ' re 19 or 20." "We went and saw a guy holding a rifle, he was wearing a cap with a red star on it." "Then, we perceived what was happening" "To reafirm our will to fight alongside the people which has expressed itself in Córdoba, Rosario, Buenos Aires, and in all the country, to topple the dictatorship, and impose a popular and socialist government" "I saw them very calmed but committed" "We want the judge to verify our physical conditions;" "for that, we must ask for a doctor who can verify our physical condition." "They lifted their pullovers and said;"I ' m OK"" "Atilio Viglione Trelew Medical Doctor they showed me their shoulders and said "I 'm OK";" ""what is your name?" "So and So." "I felt Mrs. Santucho 's belly she was 4 or 5 months pregnant She raised her clothes" "and said:" "I 'm OK" "All 19 of them were OK" "We have no intention of harming the civilians, we ' re keeping them here for their safety, while we negotiate our surrender, turn in our weapons, and guarantee our safety." "The head of the Base was Captain Pacanini," "Pepe Castro Trelew's Radio Journalist and the head of the marines was Captain Sosa;" "both were there, directing the operations." "The airport was surrounded, they said they wanted to take them to the Base, but they alleged that their lives were at risk there." "We knew of many events where we or our comrades have been beaten and tortured;" "we must avoid this from happening." "Judge Godoy spoke with Captain Sosa." "As Federal Judges, he guaranteed that if they surrended and give up the weapons, there lives would be spared, and they 'd return to prison." "We ' II ask the judge to come with us to the prison" "In this possible?" "Dr. Alejandro Godoy Rawson Federal Judge I ask you to authorize me to speak to the military" "You are authorized to talk in presence of one of us." "One of you?" "Yes, with one of us." "In front of them," "I said:" ""The repressive forces take over the guerrilla group"" "Someone touches me and says:" ""Not repressive forces" in a stern voice" ""I 'm Captain Sosa, of the Navy"" "They got on the bus They were accompanied by a lawyer, Mario Amaya," "three reporters and the judge." "The bus engine had been running for 15 minutes." "Captain Pacanini asked us to get off the bus," "The judge got off with us, and he told us that General Lanusse, the President of Argentina, had ordered him to take them to the Base." ""That wasn 't the agreement, they will kill us"" "They were trapped in a bus, surrounded by military officers." "We felt we should go with them, until where it was possible." "So we traveled from the airport to the Base." "It was an endless trip with military trucks all around us." "And we arrived to the Base." "My husband and I were listening to the news, and they said:" ""Now for a last minute news"" "All the lawyers were going to travel," "but they said all flights were full" "We travel by rent cars and, on the way, we suffer an alarming experience" "200 meters from the prison we see soldiers with rifles and radio equipment" "This is the airport where last week 19 extremists who didn 't manage to escape were forced to surrender" "The Army and Navy are protecting the airport" "This area was declared in a "state of emergency"" "Coronel Prémoli and Galtieri were there, and Judge Quiroga from the Anti-Subversive Tribunal" "We passed our reports under his door, because he never gave us an interview." "The prison was off-limits for the lawyers and no one knew what was happening inside." "The road to the Base was blocked." "Any information?" "Nothing, except what the Army has said." "Yesterday, when we went to the Federal Court we heard shouts" "from the political prisoners in Rawson." "Couldn 't you go into the Navy Base?" "No, we can 't get near." "We wanted to take them blankest and medicines because if they had left the prison as they were they would be ill." "It was clear that they were preparing a big reprisal against the prisoners," "because the humiliation the government had suffered with the escape would be paid with blood." "Does your presence have any relation to the events?" "No relation." "It 's related to other problems." "Have you visited the Navy Base?" "Yes, I had been there." "Are you going to inform the President?" "No, no, my presence here has no relation with the events" "We must understand that subversive actions must be confronted by all citizens." "Only this way can we get rid of violence and live in peace and justice." "We were in Chile, and we were informed something terrible had happened in Trelew." "There 's a moment of tension, cause no one says anything" "Santucho 's wife and mine were there." "On the afternoon of the 22nd the convicts advised us, that there had been an attemp to escape," "a shoot out, and many comrades were injured." "They informed of three dead people." "Mario Hernández said that a relative of his, who worked for the Air Force, told him something had happened at the Base." "It was a sunny day in Buenos Aires," "I woke up, saw the sun and thought:" "Thank God, María Angélica won 't be cold today." "Someone called me, I was at work, and said They killed 16 of them"" "They began to read the names" "we felt powerless, angry we all cried" "I wish they all could 've taken that flight, so this wouldn 't have ocurred" "They gave the names of the comrades, one, another, another..." "They killed Santucho 's wife who was pregnant" "Santucho" "crossed his hand on the table, lowered his head, and didn 't speak for an hour." "This matter haunted me for a long time, for years, in some way I felt responsible for the death of my comrades" "In town, there was a deep silence, no-one expected this out come." "The comrades stood at the window of the¡r cells, the¡r faces silent, cry¡ng w¡th anger, shouting the name of every comrade, cheering every revolutionary organization, and in the middle of tears of solidar¡ty," "we dec¡ded to carry on w¡th the revolution." "Comrade Tosco, on the top of his voice, honored the comrades deaths." "It was the first time I heard Tosco speak." "I was conceded the honor, as a worker, to say" "farewell" "to the 19 comrades, for us, they were 19." "Upon hearing the name of each comrade, we shouted: "Present, unt¡I v¡ctory, always!"" "That strengthened our spirit to overcome diff¡culties and to cont¡nue, bu¡Iding the revolut¡on, a h¡storical necess¡ty for our fatherland and our people" "It wasn 't easy to overcome that blow." "With a blunt fork that they gave us to eat mutton," "I wrote the names of all the comrades on the wall" "It wasn 't easy to forget or to stop crying" "Buenos Aires, August 24th" "All guerr¡llas are Our comrades..." "I 'm meeting with the press of the area and of the rest of the country," "Colonel Muñoz Rawson to inform about the events in Rawson and Trelew..." "Then came the explanations," "The communiques" "They wanted to make us believe, that this prisoners, who were unarmed, had tried to escape and snatched Sosa 's gun" "The maps presented by the military to the press to show how things had happened the more you looked at them, the more you could see, they had been murdered." "María Antonia Berger, Alberto Camps and Ricardo Haydar, remain in individual rooms, at the Hospital, under guard" "At first, María Antonia Berger was thought dead, but we were happy she survived, and also Camps and Haidar" "They gave us details of what happened and that Captain Sosa had led the firing squad" "María Antonia told me it had been a terrible week, the comrades thought they 'd return to prison, but they were harassed, forced to undress, specially Pujadas, Astudillo and Capello, they forced them to sweep, and insulted them," "and many times, they stages mock executions." "That night they were awakened, force to take their mattresses," "and go outside." "The officer in charge was at the entrance, and the cells were 10 meters away." "The hallway" "Heraldo Torne Almirante Zar Base Conscript had a dead end, one or two conscripts" "were on guard, but that night, they were dismissed" "The night of the 23 rd they came to my house at 12 PM." "I jump into the truck with the military men, and we went to the Base." "We were taking the coffins and a sargent says:" ""The bodies are upstairs"" "Miguel Marileo Trelew Funerary employee it was a large hall" "I went in and saw the bodies" "They were all crouched, as though trying to defend themselves." "One on top of the other" "The conscripts cleaned them, took them to the morgue." "And one woman was still alive," "she shouted for them to shoot her, she was in a lot of pain, later, I learned that it was María Antonia Berger." "The 16 bodies, were on the floor, eight on one side eight on the other;" "Santucho 's woman judging by her position was about to give birth, I think." "She had 3 bullets in her womb, and one in her breast." "Pujadas was shot more than 12 times" "Then there was another woman," "very pretty," "I ' II never forget her name:" "Sabelli." "It struck me as odd that she didn 't bleed, so I turned her around," "and saw that she had a bullet in her neck." "I saw the only woman who was alive, they put her on the stretcher, she had one bandage here," "and another one here" "Comrades Clarisa, Susana Lesgart," "Ana Villareal, are the first to fall and shout," "María Angélica Sabelli," "Astudillo and Camps were the last;" "they realize this time it 's real." "She hears the comrades shout," "Mena shouted:" ""Long Live Argentina"" ""Until Victory, always"." "Others: "sons of bitches"" "After the shots, they go from cell to cell and give them the final shot." "She sees them put a pistol to her chin" "The shot, the explosion!" "They used a 45 Colt." "They take them to the infirmary, no one takes care!" "Bonet was still alive, but he lost lots of blood and died later, same happens to Alberto," "I think someone else was alive:" "Capello or Astudillo, and she wrote with her blood that it had been a massacre" "No one could talk about it;" "Intelligence made some corporal follow up to conscripts;" "some kids from the nearby neighborhoods threw stones at the buses and shouted "murderers"" "we put them in the coffins then, one of the leaders ordered us to weld them;" "when we left, an officer said to me:" ""You have a small son, you mustn 't speak"" "The decision was taken by Lanusse and the chiefs" "Foreign Minister Mc Loughlin, met the Chilean ambassador." "The Argentine Government asks him to turn us in." "The Chilean ambassador said they wouldn 't do so." "When the meeting ended, the Foreign Minister went to the Presidential Palace, spoke to Lanusse, and they decided to commit the crime." "That happened in the afternoon, and the crime was committed al 2 AM" "Are you the survivors Of the August 22nd massacre?" "Why are you alive?" "Not all the Base carried out for the massacre" "Once we were injured, a group arrived, they asked what happened." "From then, no more shots were heard" "Six comrades are taken to the infirmary:" "Two doctor are present, we received no medical attention" "That explains the deaths of Polti, Kohon and Bonet." "They decided on a sanction, a reprisal." "They decided to kill them, to reestablish the principle of authority," "because the leaders of armed organizations, escaped from a maximum security prison." "They responded with a bloodbath." "Captain Sosa was protected to the point, that it was impossible to trace his steps" "Eduardo Capello 24 years old" "Ana María Villarreal 36 years old" "Pedro Bonet 30 years old" "Jorge Ulla 27 years old" "José Mena 22 years old" "Humberto Toschi 25 years old" "Carlos del Rey 23 years old" "Humberto Suárez 22 years old" "Clarisa Lea Place 23 years old" "Carlos Astudillo 26 years old" "Susana Lesgart 22 years old" "Mariano Pujadas 24 years old" "Miguel Angel Polti 21 yeas old" "Mario Delfino 29 years old" "María Angélica Sabelli 23 years old" "Santucho, Pujadas, fatherland free!" "Alfredo Kohon 27 years old" "They will see when we Avenge the deaths of Trelew" "In a cold night "that" has been lost he lost his soul ¡n a storm so much beauty that lit ¡n the afternoon lit the n¡ght of our c¡ty" "In the dark night "that" was lost," "¡n the old newspaper his vo¡ce was s¡lenced, the clothes on the l¡ne welcome the absent, and prolong the farewell" "They say he 's left They say he 's here" "They say he 's dead They say he 'll return" "They say he 's dead They say he ' II return" "In the avenues, they clean the windows." "They open the balcon¡es to let the sun in people resume the¡r tense route, works sound on the cement" "In the melody that somet¡mes sounds, announcing the arr¡val of the knife-sharpener, the neighborhood brathes past times, the autumn clouds, and that ¡lus¡on" "They say he 's left They say he 's here" "They say he 's dead They say he 'll return" "They say he 's dead They say he 'll return" "Seven months after Trelew the growing social tension, forces elections and the end of the dictatorship." "Nevertheless, the dictatorship's repressive apparatus is not dismantled, armed paragoverment bands attack the unions', political and cultural movements." "The process ends with the decree to allow the Armed Forces to annihilate the guerrilla, opening the way to the military dictatorship on March 24th 1976" "The three survivors of the shooting," "María Berger, Alberto Camps and Ricardo Haidar were kidnaped by the military and are still missing" "Of the 10 guerrillas who manage to reach Cuba, and that secretly returned to Argentina, Roberto Santucho," "Marcos Osatinski, Domingo Mena, Roberto Quieto, Carlos Goldemberg and Ana Weissen were killed or are disappeared" "Víctor Fernández Palmeiro, who supported the escape from the outside, died during the attack that cost the life of Adm. Quijada" "Jailer Fazio, who collaborated in the jailbreak in Rawson city, was kidnapped by the Security Forces." "He was found dead with signals of brutal tortures." "Agustín Tosco, the union leader died due to the lack of medical attention, chased by the army and the police" "Salvador Allende, the socialist chilean President, who allowed the argentine fighters fly to Cuba, died on September 11th, 1973." "During a coup d 'etat against his goverment." "Some of the lawyers of the political prisoners were murdered or are missing" "Many relatives of the Trelew Victims, were murderer or are disappeared" "Some families have been almost exterminated" "No Navy officer accepted an interview on the events of August 22 nd." "At the Adm. Zar Base" "The Argentine Navy refused to issue a statement for this film" "Until today, there has been no inquiry or legal process against those involved in the events narrated here"