On September 16, 1976, an event of repressive violence occurred that left a mark on Argentina’s memory.
On March 29, 1976 A period of political violence known as state terrorism in our country and in several others in the Latin American region. The military dictatorship that began that day, after the overthrow of María Estela Martínez de Perón It was the most violent in Argentine history.
30 thousand Argentines were persecuted, arrested, disappeared and murdered. And precisely the September 16 of that year, what is known as occurred “The Night of the Pencils”. It was an act of repression by the police forces of the Province of Buenos Aires against students who were demanding free student tickets.
What happened on The Night of the Pencils
Night of the pencils.
Currently, There are 6 of the 10 students captured that night who are still missing but, What happened on September 16, 1976? First of all, it must be clarified that La Plata is a city characterized by hosting students from all over the province of Buenos Aires, and even from the rest of the country. For this reason, there were various highly politicized student groups, which generated a focus of repression for the national and provincial authorities.
In this context, September 16th arrived. That night, The task force of the province of Buenos Aires carried out the operation that continued until the 21st of the month and consisted of the kidnapping of 10 high school students who were not older than 18 years old. Most of them were members of the UES (Secondary Students Union). One of the demands of this group was free student tickets for secondary school students.
In this operation the following intervened: 601st Battalion of the Army Intelligence Department. The orders were given by the general Ramon Camps and Lieutenant Miguel Etchecolaz, and Navy Ford Falcon vehicles were used to carry out the actions. During the kidnappings, the young people were subjected to various tortures in clandestine detention centers. Only four of them survived. The rest are on the list of kidnapped and disappeared people in the country.
What were the consequences of The Night of the Pencils?
The result of the Night of the Pencils, in addition to the disappearance of six underage students who are believed to have been tortured in clandestine detention centers, as well as the other four who, at least, escaped alive, was the fear imposed on all types of political participation and claims for social rights by young people.
That fear continued to prevail throughout the process until its end in 1983.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
