The Memory of State Terrorism in the Southern Cone The Memory of State Terrorism in the Southern Cone Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay Edited by Francesca Lessa and Vincent Druliolle palgrave macmillan THE MEMORY OF STATE TERRORISM IN THE SOUTHERN CONE Copyright © Francesca Lessa and Vincent Druliolle, 2011. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 All rights reserved. Cover art copyright © 2011, Senza Titolo by Giuseppe Lana, photograph by Claudio Cocuzza An earlier version of chapter 5, “Chile: Dilemmas of memory,” by Elizabeth Lira, was published as “Xile: Dilemes de la Memòria Política” in Polítiques Públiques de la Memòria. I Col·loqui Internacional Memorial Democràtic, ed. Jordi Guixé Coromines and Montserrat Iniesta (Barcelona: Eumo Editorial and Memorial Democràtic, 2009). The chapter is published with the permission of the publisher. First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-29243-1 ISBN 978-0-230-11862-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-0-230-11862-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The memory of state terrorism in the Southern Cone : Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay / edited by Francesca Lessa and Vincent Druliolle. p. cm. ISBN 978–0–230–11014–4 (alk. paper) 1. State-sponsored terrorism—Southern Cone of South America. 2. Political persecution—Southern Cone of South America. 3. Disappeared persons—Southern Cone of South America. I. Lessa, Francesca. II. Druliolle, Vincent. HV6322.3.S63M46 2010 363.325098—dc22 2010037488 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: April 2011 Contents List of Illustrations vii Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Contributors xv Introduction Present Pasts: Memory(ies) of State Terrorism in the Southern Cone of Latin America 1 Emilio Crenzel 1 Remembering and Its Places in Postdictatorship Argentina 15 Vincent Druliolle 2 The Slogan “Complete Memory”: A Reactive (Re)-signification of the Memory of the Disappeared in Argentina 43 Valentina Salvi 3 Queering Acts of Mourning in the Aftermath of Argentina’s Dictatorship: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo and Los Rubios 63 Cecilia Sosa 4 Justice and Its Remainders: Diamela Eltit’s Puño y letra 87 Michael J. Lazzara 5 Chile: Dilemmas of Memory 107 Elizabeth Lira 6 The Traces of “Postmemory” in Second-Generation Chilean and Argentinean Identities 133 Alejandra Serpente vi ● Contents 7 Private Transmission of Traumatic Memories of the Disappeared in the Context of Transitional Politics of Oblivion in Uruguay (1973−2001): “Pedagogies of Horror” among Uruguayan Families 157 Gabriela Fried Amilivia 8 No hay que tener los ojos en la nuca: The Memory of Violence in Uruguay, 1973–2010 179 Francesca Lessa Afterword The Politics of “Memory” in the Long Present of the Southern Cone 209 Vikki Bell Index 223 Illustrations Photo 1.1 Ex-CCDyT El Club Atlético. Photo by Vincent Druliolle 21 Photo 1.2 Baldosa, Buenos Aires. Photo by Vincent Druliolle 23 Photo 1.3 Parque de la Memoria. Photo by Vincent Druliolle 27 Photo 1.4 Monumento a las Víctimas del Terrorismo de Estado. Photo by Vincent Druliolle 28 Photo 1.5 “Never Again look the other way” painted on a zebra crossing. Photo by Vincent Druliolle 36 Photo 8.1 Punta Carretas Shopping Center, Montevideo. Photo by Francesca Lessa 194 Photo 8.2 Memorial to Disappeared-Detainees, Montevideo. Photo by Francesca Lessa 195 Photo 8.3 V oto Verde, Museum of Memory, Montevideo. Photo by Francesca Lessa 197 Photo 8.4 March of Silence, Montevideo, May 20, 2010. Photo by Francesca Lessa 199 Photo 8.5 Sí Rosado, Montevideo, October 2009. Photo by Francesca Lessa 202 Preface T he idea behind this book began to take shape on the second day of the 45th Annual Conference of the Society for Latin American Studies, (Re) Invasions and Inventions: Latin America confronts the 21st Century, held at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, on March 26 and 27, 2009. On March 26, our panel at the conference saw two inspir- ing sessions, with six papers presented on the topic of “Memory Struggles in the Post-dictatorial Southern Cone: Remembering, Commemorating, Protesting,” and an ensuing enthusiastic discussion between the panelists and the audience. This lively and inspiring atmosphere is what prompted us to continue to critically explore the politics of memory in the Southern Cone, and invite a wider range of scholars to take part in this discussion, through a publication. Our fellow panelists in Leeds (Vikki Bell, Valentina Salvi, Alejandra Serpente, and Cecilia Sosa) enthusiastically supported what was then an exciting—and a bit ambitious—“book project.” It was eventually submit- ted to Palgrave at the end of 2009, after we decided to invite some scholars whose work has inspired us over the years, to contribute to our publication. We are extremely grateful to them for their enthusiastic responses and for believing in our “book project” like the panelists did. Interest in memory and publications on this subject are, of course, not a new area of academic interest. Let us just think at the wealth of literature that exists on the commemorations of the two world wars and, in particular, the Holocaust. In the past two decades, publications on memory have, how- ever, increased exponentially, taking stock of the global trend that Andreas Huyssen labeled societies’ “obsession with memory.” The study of the mem- ory of traumatic events such as conflict, human rights violations, and state repression in particular has attracted academic interest and produced a bur- geoning scholarship lately. x ● Preface Our book exists against this background and contributes to this body of scholarship; we believe it to be particularly innovative and original for a number of reasons. First, despite the significant development of the memory studies literature, a relative lack of high-quality scholarship published in English on memory struggles in the countries of the Southern Cone can be identified. This is quite surprising, given their high profile around the world and the increasing interest paid to these issues in general by academia and beyond. Second, the innovative perspectives provided by the chapters of this volume, and the original contribution of the book as a whole, derive from the profiles of the international contributors, both emerging scholars and renowned experts on memory struggles in these Latin American countries. Thus, we hope that the book will appeal and be of interest to a large public, including scholars of Transitional Justice, Human Rights, Memory Studies, Politics, Sociology, and Latin American Studies. This edited volume explores the contested aspects, realms, meanings, goals, and the challenges associated with the struggles relating to the con- struction and preservation of the memories of state repression in the Southern Cone countries of Latin America, namely Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. To capture these experiences and practices and to reflect memory’s dynamic and multifaceted character, it is necessary to draw on a range of fields and perspectives, bringing them together. This is the reason why the contribu- tors to this collection come from a variety of academic disciplines, including Sociology, Politics, International Relations, Psychology, Drama, and Latin American Studies. The ambition of the book is thus, through their authors’ perspectives and backgrounds, to illuminate the richness and complexities of what is often referred to as “the politics of memory,” a notion that the book also questions. Finally, we would like to spend a few words explaining the reasons behind our choice of book cover, given the significant symbolism of the selected image. Giuseppe Lana’s work Senza titolo (Untitled) produced in 2010 embodies a conceptual opposition. In the artist’s words, it reflects the search for the longed-for balance “while being alone, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.” For the artist, his creation constitutes “a trial of strength between opposing energies that reject one another . . . just like everyone does, on a daily basis, beginning with ourselves, and then also with the others.” The words of the author relating to his artwork apply well to our book, in which we expose several tensions, different understandings, and manifesta- tions of memory at the social, cultural, and political levels. We believe this artwork to be extremely unique and challenging. It is an image that does not go unnoticed; on the contrary, it provokes the readers, making them wonder, making them think. The image is directly connected Preface ● xi to the themes that are closely discussed and examined in the book. The dark- ness, in the background, reminds us of the terror and fear that character- ized the years of the military dictatorships in the Southern Cone. The light breaking through reminds us of hope, of various kinds of hope, opposition to the dictatorships, the denunciation of their crimes, the hope associated with the recovery of the stolen identities of appropriated children, or when advances in terms of truth and justice are achieved, like General Pinochet’s 1998 London arrest or the overruling of the Full Stop and Due Obedience Laws in Argentina in 2005. The opposition between the fan and the heater recalls the tensions of the past, the disagreements and differences between the ideology of the Armed Forces and their plans for society, and the opposition to their proposed ways of life; the diverse beliefs and projects for organizing society, and the con- flictual character of social interactions. These antagonisms continue in the present, as Vikki Bell reminds us, in which past tensions and conflicts are continuously played out. These encompass the different memories and the various ways of remembering the years of military rule and political violence that clash with each other on a daily basis in the social, cultural, and politi- cal landscapes in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. In sum, this image perfectly combines several of the organizing con- cepts of the book, and illustrates the “politics of memory” analyzed in this volume. The “Politics of Memory” in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay are like a never-ending memory mosaic. Each colorful piece tells us a different story, provides us with a new perspective, challenging, provocative, disturbing, interesting, that we may not like or agree with. Still, if we are to ever come close to comprehending the unfolding memory practices and struggles in these three countries, we need to look at each piece, with tolerance and “fresh eyes” every time, in a continuous learning process. This collection of essays provides some of the many pieces of the memory mosaic in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, rather than an all-encompassing and definitive assess- ment. This mosaic has no end in sight: we hope this remains so, as a crystal- lization of memory would be a deeply troubling event.