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"Corporate Accountability for Crimes against Humanity,
Repression of Workers during State Terrorism."
First edition: November 2015. ISBN: still pending.
Publishing house: Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
This book allows for total or partial reproduction,
storage in a computer systems,
transmission in any form or by any means,
including electronic and mechanical methods, photocopying or other.
CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY
Main sugar refinery in the province of Tucumán to this date.
26 workers were victims of crimes against humanity.
21 workers are disappeared.
Economic benefits.
Close political links between Bussi and the refinery owners,
the Paz family.
Proven supply of company vans
and information for repression
and abduction of workers inside the premises.
After the coup,
the union was left in the hands of the military
and the union building was used as a clandestine detention centre.
The victims had an important role in the union.
Operations conducted with company vans.
Abductions carried out inside company premises.
Benefits obtained by the company
under the protection of the repressive system.
Substantial increase in production and decrease in workforce.
The company provided information to Intelligence Department D-2
through its private security agency.
Bussi set up his operations base at the Concepción refinery.
He had a bedroom where he'd spend the nights.
Workers were abducted inside the refinery premises
without any report from the sugar factory.
Significant contributions by the company
to the Patriotic Sugar Fund.
It helped finance Bussi's public works.
$700,000 dollars.
At least 11 out of the 26 victims accounted for
were related to the union as members of the works council.
Refinery with the highest increase in production during the dictatorship.
The company improved its efficiency and productivity
with a rise in production and a 56% decrease in workforce.
At least 25 workers were victims of crimes against humanity:
2 were murdered, 9 disappeared,
14 were abducted and later released.
At least 7 had joined the works council
and the representative body.
Involvement of the company in abductions, tortures and forced disappearances.
Supply of logistical and material resources.
Abduction of union members and politically active workers.
Abduction of workers in workplace.
Dismissal of workers.
Economic benefits.
Significant increase in profits.
Acquisition of the Bella Vista sugar cane mill.
They were taken to the military unit located in the refinery.
The company allowed the repressive forces to use
part of its premises as a clandestine centre.
It provided vehicles for the abduction of victims.
The army requested company managers
to cooperate with a census of the town residents
and information about unionists.
Involvement of butlers in identification of workers.
11 workers were arrested in La Fronterita company premises.
A large number of abductions in the refinery premises
with no due reports from managers.
About half of the 25 workers turned victims at La Fronterita refinery
were part of the works council or the representative body.
Existence of black lists prove the persecution.
Benefits obtained by the company between 1976-1983:
30,72% increase in production.
Significant decrease in workforce.
Contribution by La Fronterita to the Fondo Patriótico Azucarero
$400,000 dollars.
Managers and high-ranking officers at Ledesma got involved in abductions,
some of them conducted inside the factory.
Use of vans and lists of people to be arrested
provided by the company.
Close links between the managers, including owner Pedro Blaquier,
with repression agents.
Key role of ex-army men as corporate officers.
Selective dismissal of main activist workers.
Ledesma was literally occupied by the security forces.
An arrest warrant was issued against works council members
just for being part of the union.
"We, the managers at Ledesma,
have invested a large sum of money
to stage a coup d'état in mid March '76.
In exchange, you must get rid of troublemakers."
The orders came from Blaquier.
The use of vehicles was registered on the logbooks
at Gendarmerie Unit No. 20.
The signatory officers ratified the supply of vehicles
in exchange of security in the premises.
Ricardo Arédez saw through his bedroom window
when his father was loaded onto a van
with the Ledesma logo printed on the doors.
Mario Paz had the lists.
They admitted to the victims or their relatives
that the company financed the repression.
Blaquier gave $250 million to companies from Argentinean army men
who financed the fight against terrorism.
The company provided gas and housing to officers.
Its adherence to the National Reorganization Process
was expressed in the local media.
Mario Paz declared that in order to neutralize union activity,
Ledesma had collaborated with money and men.
After the coup, workers were arrested in their workplace
and inside the mining complex.
They were taken in company vehicles to different armed forces offices.
Strong links between the company
and gendarmerie personnel that operated in the mine.
Responsibility for the arrest of 31 mine workers.
They had orders to arrest the members of the union board.
They were put in vans provided by the company,
arrested inside the mining complex,
mostly in their homes and workplaces.
Most of them were union leaders and representatives
and had taken part in disputes.
The managers indicated which workers to arrest.
They provided personal data for the arrests in their homes
and inside the mining premises.
It was known that the Aguilar gendarmerie received double salary:
from the State and from the company.
Several arrests were conducted in the workplace.
In some cases, managers were present.
Personal files and lists were used to conduct arrests.
A slip of paper with the company letterhead
listed the people to be arrested.
The personnel manager went to the gendarmerie office
and released a worker under arrest.
That demonstrated who gave the orders and who received them.
Gendarmerie monitored the entrance to and exit from the mine.
The restriction of movement in El Aguilar mining company
was publicly known.
There were private checkpoints along the access route.
You needed company authorization to enter the mine
and had to ask for permission to leave El Alguilar.
There was only one closely-guarded access to the mining campsite,
for which you needed the managers' authorization.
At least 22 workers at La Veloz del Norte were victims of crimes against humanity.
They were all arrested in January 1977
and taken to Police Station No. 4 in Salta City.
They were tortured during arrest.
The company had a great deal of information about the arrests.
Significant evidence shows its direct responsibility.
Supply of material resources such as personal vehicles and buses,
and storehouses for the abductions.
Managers present in areas where the workers were tortured.
Supply of lists.
Some victims have declared witnessing
the owner and managers' participation.
Levin was present during the ride.
Levin was seen walking down a corridor in the station.
Levin could be seen on two occasions.
Levin was seen in the police station.
Marcos Levin was seen at night in the station.
Victor Hugo Bocos was recognized as a high-ranking police officer
working as inspector at La Veloz del Norte.
Bocos himself stated that Levin went to the station
while his company personnel were under arrest.
Some witnesses mentioned the existence
of lists used for arrests.
According to survivors' testimonies, the organization of work,
the bus timetables, the travel schedules,
and the drivers' shifts were planned
so that the arrests could be conducted.
Many workers from La Veloz del Norte were arrested
during their runs
or upon arrival at bus stations.
A great deal of evidence points out
to the fact that the arrests were conducted
because of the workers' union activism.
Some statements mention a retribution given by Levin
to the police forces in charge of repression.
La Veloz del Norte circulation routes were notoriously extended
during that time.
The company retains today the concessions granted at that time.
Almost a hundred workers and other people related to the company
were victims of crimes against humanity.
18 were murdered, 8 are currently missing,
69 were arrested and then released.
Acindar board president was Jose Alfredo Martinez de Hoz.
He then became Treasury Secretary of the dictatorship.
The company was not only aware of human rights violations,
but also provided the repressive forces with resources.
Militarization of factory.
Arrest of workers in workplace.
Supply of means of transport. Supply of files.
There were abductions, tortures and forced disappearances.
Some took place in the company lodging house for singles,
serving as a clandestine detention centre.
A big part of them did union-related tasks.
Close ties with police force through bonuses.
Acindar lodging houses accommodated officers who tortured and murdered.
The police arrested him in his house
carrying a picture of him taken in the plant.
During the arrest, they were holding Acindar orange file.
Only the company management had that information.
"In case I needed a doctor visit."
Several witnesses mentioned the existence of lists
with the names of the people to be arrested.
At the door there were officers with lists of people to be arrested.
It benefited from the 1982 statization of private sector external debt.
$652 million dollars debt was transferred to the State.
At least 80 female and male workers were victims of crimes against humanity.
39 disappeared, 7 were murdered,
34 survived.
Abductions in the plant, army's omnipresence.
The company financed police stations that served as clandestine centres.
Managers incited or witnessed the abduction of workers.
Hypothesis of lists made by the company
that made possible the arrest of workers.
They checked his name on the long list they had.
The lists of wanted workers that control officers had
were more frightening than their weapons.
He mentioned that he saw a "black notepad"
with the names of workers considered "undesirable" by the company.
He was arrested at a checkpoint because he was on a list
that the soldiers had.
One of the repressors said they were being taken
for being union leaders.
They were called to the security checkpoint and taken away.
He was called to the personnel office for family reasons
and handed over by army men to agents in civilian clothing.
Financing aiding to the Campana police station
while it served as illegal centre for detention and torture.
The head of the security system in the Roccas' company
was ex Air Force sub officer
Roberto Paulino Nicolini.
Nicolini's presence in military operations.
Nicolini reported directly to Buenos Aires Police Intelligence
on "subversive" actions.
After the coup, the company got packed with army men,
some of them passing off as workers.
Selective dismissals. Elimination of troublesome personnel.
Main piece of evidence: arrests at factories.
Even in the presence of managers.
At least 51 people suffered state-company repression
in the shipyards by the river.
32 are related to Astarsa:
6 murdered, 12 disappeared, 14 released.
Most were politically active and participated in the union.
Incorporation of managers deeply involved with the repression.
Use of internal police directly linked to the repressive forces.
Company offensive to recover the productive order.
Company involvement in information logistics,
essential for the repression.
Dismissal of activist workers.
Countless evidence of different kind
show the supply of lists with the activists' role and address.
The day of the coup, early in the morning,
the army entered the factories
to take away activist workers previously identified.
Arrival of the army holding lists.
Several workers were arrested inside or on their way into the Astarsa plant.
Demand of shipyard payroll with addresses
and indication of works council members
or union leaders.
The lists came from the shipyard.
Astarsa personnel received in the usual envelopes
a slip of paper titled "Declaration of Domicile."
The next day, several workers were abducted from their homes.
Many of these arrests took place in their homes.
The previous day the management had required
workers to update their addresses within 48 hours.
Managers identified the reps, their role, seniority, and address.
They proceeded to surround the shipyards while holding a list.
Several workers were called and taken away in a truck.
On entering the shipyard, he found a great amount of army personnel.
They were surrounding the place
and identifying staff as they were entering
apparently by checking their IDs against a list they had.
They took all the shipyard representatives in trucks.
The officers were very casual about it,
as if they knew perfectly well which ones to take:
all the union representatives.
Unlike Astarsa, in Mestrina
almost all victims were abducted in the factory
on the first two days following the coup.
Families' demands provide us with documentation.
Telegram: "Unable to attend work in 24 hours
after being taken away from shipyard in front of you
and other witnesses by army personnel."
Corporate involvement in the crimes with the supply of lists
was key to achieve their goals.
The Police Intelligence received numerous lists
of activist workers soon to be victims.
They had the company head letter.
Rezeck's daughter stated that her father
was approached at Mestrina entrance checkpoint
by army officers who asked about him and other people
holding a list of their names.
Another feature of the repression modus operandi:
dismissal of activist workers.
August 1976.
Tigre regional unit information chief was notified
that there were no representatives or committees left in the shipyard.
At least 16 workers from Lozadur and Cattáneo
were victims of crimes against humanity.
14 are disappeared, 2 were murdered.
Presence of the army inside the factory
intimidating the workers in labour disputes.
Abduction of workers at the workplace.
Company statements in several minute books
clearly suggest they supported the repressive actions.
"We cannot keep tolerating labour disputes with no solution.
The overall problem at hand requires drastic and definite solutions.
If they're not achieved, the company will go into liquidation."
Consequently, the board unanimously decided
to dismiss all the troublemakers with just cause.
The workers found the factory closed.
An army squad was stationed at the entrance door
and an officer informed them that military area 420
was closing the plant
and that 800 workers had been dismissed.
The workers considered to be "more invested in that attitude"
were the abducted ones
during the period that the company remained closed.
The factory closed its doors and sent notices of dismissal
to all their workers.
The abductions happened during this period.
They sent telegrams to their homes urging them to show up at work,
although they knew about the abductions
because relatives had reported that to the company.
Closing of factory and dismissal with just cause
of troublesome personnel.
Dismissal under decree by the Ministry of Labour that establishes.
"Any union organization as stated under act 21,400
allows for dismissal without compensation."
Companies awareness of forced disappearances.
They provided a series of resources to execute the repression.
Presence of the army inside the factory
intimidating workers in labour disputes.
Serious threats from military officers
in the presence of company managers.
Army's involvement in the company lockout strategy.
Abductions and torture inside the factory.
Central role of security employees.
Meetings between managers and armed forces personnel.
Detention and torment to workers in the guard post.
It could be inferred that the armed forces entered Cattáneo
and used its premises to conduct the abductions.
The army truck was inside the factory.
They had a list.
Meetings between repressive forces and the managers
with the purpose of breaking up the union organization.
They asked for information on all the political activists
from the works council.
He was threatened: if production levels weren't increased,
"he'd be taken to Campo de Mayo to never be seen again."
Replacement of specific workers to proceed with the abductions.
Change of private security and access to the factory.
One of the security guards was appointed a couple of days
before people started getting abducted.
The company profited from the situation
by cancelling economic contracts with disappeared workers
and avoiding paying families their due.
37 victims of state terrorism.
The repression was particularly focused on the representative body.
They were tortured in the company sports field shed.
The company awareness of the detentions is clear.
Several of them were carried out inside the factory
during working hours, in the presence of workmates and managers.
In one case, the plant security chief took part in the interrogation.
The company itself made a list of workers
and handed it to the repressive forces.
They provided personal files, pictures of their employees,
and even vans for transfers.
A great variety of statements
highlight the existence of a list of employees made by Ford
on paper that had the company letterhead.
Arrested due to a list made by Ford
of some of its employees, which was shown to him.
It was a legal size paper with the Ford logo.
"Here are all the names given by the company
of the workers they want us to wipe out."
"Most of the names were crossed out."
"My husband's name wasn't crossed out yet."
"He had a list of about 20, 30 names typewritten."
"I remember the paper had the Ford logo."
The workers were arrested based on pictures the company had.
He was recognized with the picture on his personal company file.
He was shown a photo that he later recognized
as the one on his company file.
The kidnappers had his Ford personal file.
It profited from the sale of 90 green non-identifiable Ford Falcon vehicles
to equip the local police stations.
These vehicles were key to clandestine repressive operations
in the last dictatorship.
At least 20 workers at Mercedes-Benz were victims of crimes against humanity.
15 are disappeared.
Most of the victims were union activists in the factory.
The manager got involved in the crimes in two possible ways:
by providing information to the repressive forces
and by making numerous material contributions
that were essential to commit the crimes.
A special fund "for social action" was established.
1% of each vehicle sale went
to the "eradication of negative elements" from the factory.
Núñez disappeared after manager Tasselkraut
gave his address to the repressive agents
who were in his office.
The conversation was heard by Hector Aníbal Ratto.
Several workers were abducted
in the addresses stated on their company files.
The kidnappers went to the house next door
to the address shown on the file.
Jose Barreiro Bueno escaped abduction
when a group of hooded people burst into the house
he had registered for the company.
They didn't find him because he lived somewhere else.
Ruben Luis Lavallén,
Alfredo Martin's torturer and Alberto Gigena's kidnapper,
was hired by the company as security chief.
The company donated neonatal equipment
to Campo de Mayo hospital.
The only maternity service at Campo de Mayo,
was the one connected to the clandestine detention centre.
Mercedes-Benz took part in the statization of private debts,
transferring debt for $92 million dollars.
At least 40 workers at Bunge & Born textiles
were victims of repression.
20 are currently disappeared.
3 were murdered.
19 worked at the Grafa plant in Buenos Aires.
14 cases took place before March 24,
which constitutes the main proof
of corporate accountability.
Role performed by manager and ex army man
Jose Maria Menéndez.
Appointed as general manager
in the month ten abductions took place.
From then on, practically all the company victims
were disappeared.
Company involvement in the supply of information and intelligence.
Labour disputes followed immediately by abductions.
Simultaneous abduction of numerous workers with union roles
with the aid of lists provided by the company.
Presence of army officers in the factories.
Godoy's wife mentioned a list with the names of workers
to be abducted left behind in her house by an officer
the night his husband was abducted.
She went to the factory to beg for help.
She recognized two cars in the parking lot
that she had seen during the abduction that morning.
All the abductions took place in workers' private residences
except for Moscoso's, which happened at the factory doors.
Moscoso was the only one who hadn't handed in
the route schedule required by the company.
Bunge & Born used Grafa to get the benefits offered by the dictatorship
turning it into one of the companies with the highest foreign debt
and one of most favoured with the 1982 statization of debts.
Bunge & Born took advantage of the policies
and effects of the coup to restructure its participation
in the textile industry
through the reallocation of plants and dismissal of workers.
Delocalization of production away from the huge Buenos Aires premises.
Out of all victims, 15 worked in Grafanor,
where state terrorism performed the first trials
before the dictatorship was declared.
By the end of 1974,
the main leaders of the works council
at Grafanor resigned.
When the abductions and tortures became systematic,
there were new resignations of workers that belonged to the works council.
The representatives that didn't leave the works council at Grafanor
disappeared.
Inside the factory there were army and police intelligence agents
passing off as workers.
A worker stated having recognized Menéndez giving orders
at La Escuelita detention centre in Famailla.
When he remembered his confinement in La Escuelita,
he mentioned Jose Maria Menéndez organizing the repression.
Grafa itself passed on information on who should be arrested
and who were union members.
One of the most visible effects of repression in factories
was the decrease in labour protests and demonstrations.
70 workers victims of state terrorism:
24 workers abducted and released.
13 murdered, 32 disappeared.
Plant militarization.
Abduction on entrance door.
Workers under arrest in the plant.
Leaflets with death threats to combative representatives.
Workers mentioned the presence, in the area of arrests,
of shipyard security chief, Captain Bigliardi
and union leaders.
At the shipyard entrance a table was set
with a list of workers to be arrested.
The people on the list belonged to sectors opposed
to the union management or had taken an active role in labour protests.
"When you got to the entrance, you were monitored
and your named was checked on the list.
If you were on it, you were hurled into a truck and taken away...
Board members directly involved in abductions, tortures,
and disappearance of workers.
Permanent and suffocating military presence in the plant.
Use of shipyard vehicles for abductions.
Victims were mostly activist workers
involved in labour disputes.
Testimonies suggest that a warehouse was used
as an illegal detention centre.
Military control separated the people on the list.
The arrests were the justification and main argument of the company
to get rid of those held responsible for insubordination.
The company records showed a decrease
in the percentage of money for wages.
43,80% in 1975; 23,10% in 1979.
Workforce went from 8,000 to 3,500 workers.
6 people were murdered, 19 disappeared,
and at least 11 were arrested or kidnapped for political reasons
and later released.
Supply of documentation.
Evidence indicates that the company participated in several ways
in repressive actions.
During the abductions, they were interrogated
about the plant union activities.
The plant became a place where the armed forces acted
without any kind of restriction.
The plant remained closed the first couple of days following the coup.
A significant amount of representatives decided against reinstatement afterwards.
Very few came back.
They found strong military presence.
Behind the gates, inside the premises,
a group of army men were waiting with a list.
If the worker was on it, they'd be arrested.
Once the coup was staged,
there is no record of conflicts or demands
due to the militarization of the plant.
Undercover agents did intelligence tasks in the plant.
Usual mechanism:
When they were released and sent back to their homes,
they'd get a notice of dismissal.
The abductions were the motive for dismissal
with apparent just cause.
The wife of one of the disappeared workers,
after receiving several notices from the company,
let them know about his kidnapping.
One should wonder
if the company denies
the situation of the workers who were abducted.
This is one of the main companies that increased the foreign debt
in $80 million dollars.
About 20 victims of crimes against humanity.
I was murdered, 10 are disappeared. The rest were released.
Most of them were well-known for their union activism
and political affiliation.
After the coup, the company was taken over by the army.
The transfer of power was key
to explain the crimes against humanity.
Agreement between the company and the repressive forces
to infiltrate policemen in civilian clothing
to collect information
and point out workers considered as dissidents.
The repression, unlike in other companies,
took place under military intervention.
Their mission was focused on eradicating
union and political activity from the factory
and giving it back to its owners.
Key role of security chief in some of the incidents.
The company security chief, Andres Avelino Pinelli,
non-commission officer, commanded the operation.
He called him from the security checkpoint
claiming he had a call from an ill relative.
He was summoned by management and abducted right there.
Fervent defence of criminal process by Jorge Curi
on an autobiography.
Once the intervention ended,
the outgoing manager, retired brigadier-general Laprida,
wrote, "I believe I have fulfilled all my promises,
the most one important being the creation of the necessary conditions
for a peaceful return of the company to its rightful owners."
41 victims of terrorism.
6 of the registered victims were murdered,
15 are disappeared, 16 survived,
and 4 have not been accounted for to date.
13 were representatives.
5 had some kind of political-union activity.
Military presence and detentions at the plant.
Participation in information and legal logistics.
Appointment of military or security personnel to key positions.
Abductions and interrogations related to union activity.
Use of state terrorism
to recover the order and power lost inside the plant.
The representative board was dissolved.
Union activity was prohibited.
Internal movement, political debate and union organization were censored.
IDs and credentials had to be shown in order to enter the building.
Some arrests were carried out thanks to the identification of employees
by security personnel working at Swift.
Presence of Swift personnel at interrogation and torture sessions.
Supply of workers' files to repressive personnel
to be used at interrogations.
There are records of Police Intelligence personnel
infiltrated in the cold-storage plant since 1974 at least.
Several testimonies confirmed that the abduction of workers
was related to union activity.
They were or had been representatives.
They were told they were arrested due to their union and political activity.
The usual modus operandi:
dismissal of workers that had been abducted
and consequently couldn't show up at work.
Between 1971 and 1977,
the plant located at Berisso had slightly over 5,000 workers.
During the dictatorship, there was a drastic reduction
to a minimum of 836 workers.
18 workers at Alpargatas were victims of crimes against humanity.
9 are disappeared.
Substantial evidence of corporate collaboration
with the repression
and direct responsibility for crimes by the management.
The most important labour disputes were followed by arrests,
abductions and disappearance of workers,
especially those linked to union activity in the factory.
A body of evidence indicates that the company was aware of
and participated in the crimes against workers.
Testimonies show the close relationship
between the company and security forces.
Kidnappers told their victims that the reason for their arrest
was their union activity.
Managers' statements reveal that they were aware of the arrests.
At least one case indicates the ability of managers to revert an arrest.
Victims' typology: most of them protagonists or participants
in labour disputes.
The close correlation between labour disputes and the arrests
indicate that the abductions were clearly related to labour disputes.
The company knew which workers were abducted,
tortured and disappeared.
The manager told Chayan that his arrest was surprising
since the company had nothing against him.
Economic use of criminal policies
to get benefits in production and business.
Since the civic and military dictatorship,
the company saw a clear possibility to increase the workers' productivity
and end the politicization process and increase of labour demands.
The dictatorship was attuned to the company's desires.
They reported workers for violating the prohibition to go on strike.
In the 70s, at the plant located in Florencio Varela,
there was a rise in leftist political and activist organizations.
Alignment of orthodox Peronism unionists with management
against combative workers.
The company paid them so they wouldn't defend anyone.
The coup was a turning point in the relational dynamics
between workers and managers.
It stopped the rise of union and political activism.
The company turned to the repressive apparatus
to tip the balance in its favour.
Several combative workers left the factory
after instructions of their organization or out of fear.
During the strike in November 1977 at the Florencio Varela plant,
the arrest of workers and interrogations with torture
became the norm.
The army and the police entered the factory and vacated it.
Workers were forced to leave the plant.
The security forces assisted the company in the worst moments of conflict.
Alpargatas, with military authorization, decided to close the factory
and prevent the entrance of workers.
The lockout affected about 2,000 workers.
The abductions were key to the triumph against the strike.
It had a lasting impact on workers.
All strikers were later dismissed.
A big part of the victims were active at the union
and several had been part of disputes shortly before being abducted.
Discipline and working conditions were modified.
Significant increase in the application of disciplinary measures.
Reconfiguration of power relations.
Increase in work rhythm.
Obligation to remain visible at all times under the supervisors' watch.
Prison-like system.
During these years, the company opened new plants,
bought and established companies,
benefited from several dictatorship policies
and reduced the cost of labour.
By 1983, the company had built six new factories.
Aguilares, Tucumán in '72, Catamarca in '77 and '83.
Formosa in '81, Corrientes in '81.
Santa Rosa, La Pampa in '84.
The military presence was also evident at the plant in Tucumán.
The army camped during the "Independence Operation".
Officers shared the dining room with workers.
Through dictatorship repressive policies,
the company imposed worse working conditions:
wages reduction, faster production rhythm,
harsher disciplinary measures.
Roberts economic group.
Important expansion during the last dictatorship.
It comprised 9 companies in 1973 and grew to 24 in 1983.
Wide range of economic benefits and perks during the dictatorship.
They bought several companies.
It was one of the main beneficiaries of the industrial promotion programs
implemented by the dictatorship.
Industrial concentration process.
Several managers occupied important positions
in the military administration.
Alpargatas S.A. took part in the statization of private debts,
transferring debt for $227 million dollars.
At least 27 people related to the company
were victims of crimes against humanity.
21 are disappeared.
4 were murdered.
1 survived the operation.
One little girl was appropriated.
All the victims had roles at the union.
The army entered the factory and removed the cards of employees
on a list they had.
When the worker arrived and asked about their card,
they were arrested and put in one of the armed forces trucks
parked at the entrance of the factory.
Army men went from section to section
picking the workers registered on a list
with the letterhead Molinos Río de La Plata.
Word at the plant was
that the workers who organized the strikes were marked.
After the coup, the overseers of each section
made a list of the activists' names.
Abductions conducted in addresses that only the company knew about.
Lasalle, raid to his parents' home in Adrogué.
That was the residence he gave at the factory.
Fermín Gonzalez,
his mother's house was raided. It was the one registered in the factory.
The victims that directly incriminate the company
for being abducted in their workplace
not only disappeared physically,
but were also blotted out of Molinos records
as if they had never worked there.
With the coup, the company got significant profits.
It went from $51 million in losses
to profits in the two following years
of over 133 and 111 million.
Cost of labour: 14% at the beginning of the dictatorship.
It went down to 8% by the end of 1982.
By the end of the dictatorship, Molinos was one of the companies
with the largest amount of foreign credit.
This debt would later be assumed by the State.
Abduction of over 10 workers,
almost all of them active at unions.
2 of them are currently disappeared.
There's evidence of responsibility by the company,
particularly by Adolfo Navajas Artaza, its president.
Supply of information and logistical and material resources.
Managers and high-ranking officers
motivated the arrests.
Presence of police personnel inside the company
on a permanent basis.
Cases of abductions in houses located
inside the firm property.
Supply of physical places to facilitate the repression.
Military campsite in company grounds.
Only the affiliated members who worked at Las Marías were abducted.
According to several testimonies, police officer Jose Ancheti
worked in Las Marías.
Police officer Ramon Alberto Giménez
affirmed taking part in his abduction as a "pointer"
under Adolfo Navaja Artaza's orders.
Ancheti's task was indicating the workers' homes
so they could be abducted.
He was hired as police officer in Las Marías.
The repressors told him that Pablo Navajas
had paid them $700 for torturing him.
The day he was arrested in his house,
the company had given him a special day off.
Reynaldo Yualek showed him a kind of card or file marked with red
with his father's name on it.
He had been marked by the company.
Victims's relatives regularly went to ask Navajas Artaza
for the freedom of prisoners.
They were sure they were in prison because he had commanded so.
At least 6 workers of the company were victims of crimes against humanity.
2 labour lawyers, Olavarría mining union consultants,
were abducted and tortured.
Managers reported to military authorities.
Intervention of factories and military presence.
Loma Negra managers were directly involved.
Evidence indicate the responsibility
of managers in the cement works factory.
Participation in information logistics for illegal purposes.
Threats to use repression by managers.
Persecution of workers and union lawyers for political reasons.
The company took evident advantage
from the new power relations introduced by the coup.
Deliberately falsified reports
to cause the arrest of 6 workers.
The benefit obtained by the company from the abduction
or murder of union lawyers
speaks of the advantage taken by the company
of the new situation created by state terrorism.
The company also took the opportunity to modify unilaterally in 1977
the general wages agreement.
These rapid advances by the company
against labour triumphs in years prior to the coup
were accompanied by a process of selective expulsion.
The lack of investigations and reports
made impossible to prove the corporate involvement in the crimes.
The return of the victims to the plant
had the effect of taking the repression on their bodies
and spreading the terror among all the workmates.
Some arrests happened at the factory doors.
The workers more involved in the union were made to resign.
Arrests of union members at the Barker plant.
They had surrounded the factory with tanks to instil fear.
At the Barker plant, Loma Negra set up an armed guard.
Identity control of those who entered.
They ordered the cement workers
to request authorization at the police station
when they intended to leave the area.
The union office was closed.
The union leaders' and representatives' houses were raided.
Intelligence reports admitted
to the infiltration of police personnel in the factory.
1975, highest level of participation of workers
in the company income: 19%.
In the following period, that participation plummeted
until reaching 9% in 1983.
The company invoicing had a continuous increase.
However, the cost of labour decreased.
In 1983, Loma Negra workforce was reduced to its half
compared to the approximate number of 1,500 in 1976.
Some testimonies indicate close personal relationships,
such as the one between Amalia Lacroze
with army officer Luis Premoli.
He retired from the force in June 1976,
and devoted himself to the company's interests.
Another man linked to the forces
that took part in the company management
was lawyer Eugenio Carlos Aramburu,
son of ex de facto president Pedro Eugenio.
He joined the company board in 1978.
The newspaper supported the several coups that happened in the country.
Highly conservative, anti-Peronist and pro coup position.
After the coup, the company dismissed 17 workers
benefiting from the suspension of labour rights
introduced by the regime.
Two of the most combative workers were abducted, tortured
and later murdered in July 1976.
Enrique Heinrich, Miguel Angel Loyola.
They were very active in the union.
The intelligence services acted together with the management
when they were picked as the workers to get rid of.
The crimes were silenced on the newspaper pages.
Their lifeless bodies appeared with signs of torture
and numerous bullet impacts.
No manager or journalist of La Nueva Provincia
attended their funeral or give condolences to their families.
The finding of the bodies evidenced extreme levels of violence and cruelty.
These crimes happened immediately after a labour dispute.
It had a strong exemplary effect on the rest of workers.
No more protests were organized.
Different sources indicate that the company managers
and, on one particular occasion, Diana Julio Massot
gave the order to abduct and murder Heinrich and Loyola.
Lawyer and lieutenant colonel Mauricio Gutierrez
went of his own free will and reported a conversation
on the days prior to the abductions and murders
between Diana Julio Massot and general Osvaldo Azpitarte.
Adel Vilas had told him about that meeting.
"Osvaldo, we have no choice other than wiping them out."
At least 118 workers were victims of crimes against humanity.
52 are disappeared or were murdered.
35 belonged to the plants Fiat Concord,
Fiat Materfer and Grandes Motores Diesel
located in Ferreyra.
17 workers disappeared or murdered
at the El Palomar factories in Caseros and Sauce Viejo.
Most of these workers were union representatives
or had an active role in the works council.
The firm managers and high-ranking officers
were well aware of the violations to human rights
committed against their workers.
The 3rd Army Division arrested 50 union representatives
in the workplace and in their homes
without a court order.
259 dismissed workers.
95% of them were members of the works councils
and representative bodies.
False confrontations.
Many of the arrests were conducted near Fiat plants
to intimidate workers.
Collaboration with the abduction of workers
in the premises.
Supply of files.
Participation of company security personnel
in abduction operations.
Illegal arrest of workers inside the factory.
Awareness of incidents by senior managers.
Lellin's girlfriend suspected something strange was going on
and went to the factory.
She was told he hadn't gone to work.
But she saw his car parked in the plant lot.
Clear participation of company guards or security personnel
when they came looking for her son.
One of the men who burst into the house
was wearing a shirt from Fiat Concord.
Often times it was Fiat's own personnel
who conducted illegal arrests at the entrance of the factory or nearby.
Supply of files, addresses, photo albums and information
by the personnel office to the armed forces.
Graciela Geuna, after her captivity at La Perla,
confirms having seen company folders
during interrogations and torture sessions.
La Perla received complete folders with photos of all the workers
from each factory.
In 1973, Arnaldo Rojas was murdered.
In 1974, activist union worker and Communist Party member.
Jacobo Sarudiansky disappeared.
Murder of labour lawyer Alfredo "Cuqui" Curutchet.
Homicide of Atilio Lopez, Cordoba vice governor removed from office
and UTA union leader.
Pedro Cipriano Finger Rodríguez,
Adrián Renato Machado Garcia,
Juan Antonio Delgado,
Maximino "Petiso" Sánchez,
Rene Salamanca,
José Alberto Ceballos,
Wilfredo Jesús Meloni,
Miguel Ángel Del Pla,
Pascual Delfín Ludueña Leiva,
Guillermo Nievas Ludueña,
Jesús Jerónimo Canelo,
Eduardo Jorge Mortini,
Martín Mora Jaime,
Alberto Canovas Estape,
Mario Domingo Oviedo Gonelli,
Néstor Gilberto Lellin D'Francesco,
Marcelo Hugo Abregu Aguirre,
Ectore Forneri,
Carlos Héctor Germán,
Beatriz Susana Sánchez Hernández de Phaffen,
Héctor Oscar Lauge,
Carlos Héctor Germán,
Jorge Argañaraz,
José María Loyola Fajardo,
Arnaldo Aníbal Liebana,
Roberto Eduardo Ferri,
Elda Francisetti,
Héctor Eliseo Martínez,
Ramiro Sergio Bustillo Rubio,
Carlos Guillermo Barrientos Vargas,
Hugo Jose Oyarzo,
Daniel Santos Ortega,
Pascual Héctor Ortega,
Carlos Masera,
Alberto Isidoro Losada Heredia,
Juan Eliseo Ledesma,
Juan Carlos Juárez,
Luis Alberto Lopez Mora,
Florencio Esteban Díaz,
Eduardo Guillermo Castello Soto,
Alfredo Fornosari,
Raúl José Suffi Gramajo.
Besides the persons just mentioned,
there's information about the following workers
and ex-workers, victims of state terrorism
in Fiat plants located in Ferreyra:
Raúl Oscar Ceballos Cantón,
Víctor Omar Frontera Barrios,
Alberto Rubén González Asee,
Ana María Liendo,
Oscar Omar Reyes,
Jorge Ernesto Romero Ricco,
Cristóbal Rodolfo Romero Vera,
Raúl Alberto Victorino Arguello,
Ramón Vilfredo Arguello,
Félix Gumersindo Bazán,
Jorge Aníbal Benson,
Hugo Alfredo Bionchi,
Nancy Dora Castro,
Hugo Simón Ceaglio,
De Ciervi,
Ramón Ovidio Ferreyra,
Antonio Constanzo Fissore,
Jesús Joaquín González,
Ricardo Omar González,
Florentino Alberto Julio,
Oscar Enrique Julio,
Lezcano,
Lima,
Faustino Renato López,
Héctor Natalio López,
Luis Andrés Maldonado,
Roberto Carlos Martínez,
Jose Héctor Páez,
Mario Polizzi,
Roberto Gerardo Post,
Vicente Pugliese,
Carlos Romero,
Rodolfo Cristóbal Romero,
Francisco Rosales,
Rosales,
Ricardo Santiago Sarnago,
Raúl Pedro Sere,
Dante Luis Suarez,
Alfio Taberna,
Osvaldo Ramón Torres,
Alberto Lucio Wilhelm,
Guillermo Edgardo Yulilta.
Regarding the plants located
in the provinces of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe,
the following persons are registered:
Pedro Alcides García Castañeda,
Roberto Antonio Giménez Tula,
Juan Marianidis De Vicenzo,
Guido Horacio Morón Suárez,
Hugo Reynaldo Penino,
Jorge Oscar Scarimbolo Brunetti,
María Mercedes Valiño Freijo,
Eduardo Villabrille Suárez,
Gustavo Gerardo Dulicbruschi,
Norberto Cironi Pérez,
Jorge Horacio Ardiles,
José Víctor Ardiles,
Víctor Manuel Caleffa,
Máximo Alberto Ferreyra,
Guillermo Daniel Cerveto.
There were at least 17 victims at the Fiat plants in El Palomar
and Sauce Viejo.
Gabriel Di Vito,
Humberto Cecilio Ríos,
Raúl Ricardo Rodríguez Mesa,
Pablo Lorgio Borjas,
Bernardo Veksler,
Oscar Ramón Boero,
Norberto Aldo Partida Manccinelli.
Significant financial benefits.
The then president of the Central Bank was Domingo Cavallo.
Statization of private sector debts.
Transformation of foreign private debt into public debt.
Exponential increase of Argentine foreign debt
throughout dictatorship.
The multinational conglomerate Fiat (Sevel y Socma)
Managed to transfer debts to the state
totalling $177.875.000 dollars.
Systematic and comparative approach.
Transcending case studies
to make some connections and patterns visible
in the combination.
This goes beyond the usual notion of "complicity"
commonly associated with being accessory to an action
carried out by another agent.
Concept of "accountability".
Active role by companies in repressing workers.
The insufficiency of the "complicity" concept should be addressed
as well as any other terminology that gives corporate officers
a secondary role in the repression.
The existence of clear corporate accountability
for the crimes against humanity suffered by workers
should be pointed out.
This accountability should be further studied by new investigations
in the name of memory and truth
and also in the name of justice.