News of Luciana Bertoia

Luciana Bertoia

Analysing voices of repression

27-03-2021 08:11 CONICET researchers Valentina Salvi and Claudia Feld on their new book analysing statements from those who committed crimes against humanity during Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

by Luciana Bertoia

A file photo of the Pozo de Banfield clandestine detention centre.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Crimes at dictatorship death camp finally make it to trial

24-10-2020 09:02 Pozo de Banfield was one of the first clandestine detention centres to be identified by survivors of Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship. More than 40 years on, the crimes perpetrated there are finally heading for trial.

by Luciana Bertoia

Santiago Riveros and the aviators Luis del Valle Arce, Delsis Malacalza, Eduardo Lance and Alberto Conditi will be judged.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Campo de Mayo 'death flights' trial gets underway

10-10-2020 08:54 Court begins trial into alleged crimes against humanity carried out by five military officers. First trial seeking to prove existence of death flights departing from Campo de Mayo military garrison.

by Luciana Bertoia

Former Buenos Aires police commissioner Miguel Osvaldo Etchecolatz, 91, and former Navy Mechanics School (ESMA) death squad chief Jorge "Tigre" Acosta, 79.

Coronavirus pandemic

Miguel Etchecolatz, ‘Tigre’ Acosta test positive for coronavirus

06-08-2020 23:38 Two of the most infamous criminals convicted of crimes against humanity during Argentina’s last military dictatorship (1976-1983), Miguel Etchecolatz and Jorge 'Tigre' Acosta, test positive for Covid-19.

by Luciana Bertoia

A view of the entrance to the basement, where detainees were tortured.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Bacacay 3570: Floresta family home identified as dictatorship torture site

18-07-2020 08:47 Declassified CIA file helps Federal Judge Daniel Rafecas identify clandestine detention centre in Floresta, Buenos Aires, that remained unidentified for more than four decades.

by Luciana Bertoia

The prisons in the region are in a critical situation. About 45,000 people are detained, with another 3,900 held in police stations. Of those, 2,300 people are considered at risk.

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Prisoners jailed for minor offences begin to be released amid pandemic

18-04-2020 09:55 Sources within the Justice and Human Rights Ministry told the Times about 15 percent of those considered ‘at risk’ in federal prisons have already been released to house arrest.

by Luciana Bertoia

Etchecolatz’s legal team have regularly asked for him to be granted house arrest.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Dictatorship-era criminals request release from jail, citing virus risk

28-03-2020 10:15 More than 70 prisoners convicted of crimes against humanity have asked for house arrest, citing fears they will be infected by the novel Covid-19 coronavirus while behind bars.

by Luciana Bertoia

“‘Stay calm,’ he said. ‘Nothing is going to happen to her. The community protects you,’” recalls Graciela.

HUMAN RIGHTS

‘Tex Harris saved me from being kidnapped’

29-02-2020 09:43 Human rights activists Graciela Palacio de Lois, whose husband disappeared during the days of the 1976-1983 military dictatorship, says she owes her life to the assistance of late US diplomat Allen ‘Tex’ Harris.

by Luciana Bertoia

Relatives of the ARA San Juan’s fallen crew demonstrate outside the Casa Rosada, in this file photograph taken in 2019.

ARA SAN JUAN TRAGEDY

Relatives keep up fight to uncover truth about ARA San Juan sinking

22-02-2020 12:19 Investigations into submarine tragedy continue; Government preparing four iniatives to honour lives of 44 crew-members who died in tragedy, including trip to vessel’s final resting place.

by Luciana Bertoia

The recent death of Claudio Bonadio, the judge most criticised by Kirchnerism, marks the end of the era in the courts of Comodoro Py.

JUDICIARY

Two months into Fernández’s term, change is afoot for Argentina’s Judiciary

15-02-2020 10:34 Vacancies, nominations and reviews: Winds of change begin to sweep through Comodoro Py federal courthouse as the government begins to size up judicial reform.

by Luciana Bertoia

Marcelo Martínez de Giorgi will take on the work of Claudio Bonadio.

JUDICIARY

Martínez de Giorgi set for higher profile, thanks to Bonadio’s cases

15-02-2020 10:09 Judge chosen by lottery to take on late peer’s work, including high-profile ‘Cuadernos’ probe. He has often sought to avoid the limelight, though hasn’t always been able to.

by Luciana Bertoia

Argentina's outgoing Minister of National Security, Patricia Bullrich, participates in an event with US Ambassador to Argentina Edward Prado, to recognize shared achievements in Security and the prevention of drug trafficking between US and Argentine agencies.

TRANSITION 2019

Bullrich hails US cooperation as she begins to bid farewell to Security Ministry

29-11-2019 20:23 The outgoing Security Minister Patricia Bullrich hosted a ceremony on Wednesday to celebrate cooperation with the US, to the surprise and criticism of some current and former government officials.

by Luciana Bertoia

Vice-president-elect Cristina Fernámdez de Kirchner.

CRISTINA & THE COURTS

Courts loom large over Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s comeback

02-11-2019 09:48 Vice-president-elect will likely take office with at least 10 cases investigating alleged corruption offences open against her. How will these be affected by Alberto Fernández’s approach to the courts?

by Luciana Bertoia

SUPREME COURT

Isolated Rosenkrantz decries lack of ‘trust’ in Judiciary

23-03-2019 09:51 Less than six months after becoming the head of the Supreme Court, Carlos Rosenkrantz inaugurated the judicial year this week with a pointed address, issuing harsh criticism of the Judiciary as a whole, which the chief justice described as facing “a crisis of legitimacy.”

by Luciana Bertoia

Women recall harrowing tales of abuse at ESMA under dictatorship.

MARCH 24: Day of Remembrance for Trust and Justice

The unheard stories of the women held inside ESMA

23-03-2019 09:16 In a new exhibition, 28 women recall harrowing tales of rape and sexual abuse, carried out on detainees held at the former Navy Mechanics School during the military dictatorship. This is one woman’s tale.

by Luciana Bertoia

Justice Minister Germán Garavano speaks to reporters.

POLITICS AND JUDICIARY

Garavano: ‘If Macri asks me to continue, I would do it’

09-03-2019 02:50 Germán Garavano sparked rumours of an imminent departure from the Justice Ministry this week in an interview. But he’s not done yet, he told the Times.

by Luciana Bertoia

Former federal judge Juan José Galeano. In the background, out of focus is former president Carlos Menem.

AMIA COVER-UP TRIAL

Argentina reacts to AMIA cover-up trial rulings – with appeals set to follow

02-03-2019 08:08 Former president Carlos Menem acquitted of charges he tried to interfere with the investigation into Argentina’s worst-ever terrorist attack. Juan José Galeano, the former judge who led the probe, gets six-year prison term.

by Luciana Bertoia

INTERVIEW WITH DANIEL FEIERSTEIN

‘The demonisation of the 1970s is aimed at demonising social protest today’

12-01-2019 11:08 Daniel Feierstein – author, professor, CONICET researcher and specialist in the study of genocide – argues that the so-called ‘two demons’ theory has returned to public discourse, but in a different way.

by Luciana Bertoia

Wives of former workers at Ford Argentina and ex-political prisoners react after verdicts were handed down to former executives at the company.

FORD ARGENTINA DICTATORSHIP CONVICTIONS

The human stories at the heart of a decades-long search for justice

15-12-2018 09:39 On Tuesday, as a landmark trial drew to a close, a court sentenced two former Ford Motor Company executives to prison for their role in aiding the kidnapping and torture of 24 workers during the last military dictatorship.

by Luciana Bertoia

FORD TRIAL

‘Imagine the impact of being present during the kidnapping of your colleagues’

15-12-2018 07:54 An exclusive interview with Victoria Basualdo.

by Luciana Bertoia

The Comodoro Py courthouse in the Retiro neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Supreme Court set to finally overturn controversial '2x1' ruling

03-12-2018 08:30 Controversial 2017 decision by nation’s top court – which prompted one of Argentina’s largest-ever human rights demonstrations – to be altered through issuing of ruling for new case, with Justice Horacio Rosatti set to change vote.

by Luciana Bertoia

DICTATORSHIP ERA

Luis Muiña handed life in jail for dictatorship-era murder at Posadas hospital

15-09-2018 11:51 Luis Muiña sentenced to life in prison for murder of a doctor at the Posadas Hospital in western Buenos Aires Province during the last military dictatorship.

by Luciana Bertoia

SUPREME COURT

Supreme Court enters new era as Lorenzetti is squeezed out

15-09-2018 11:32 Nation’s highest court enters a new era under the leadership of Carlos Rosenkrantz. But what can we expect?

by Luciana Bertoia

Former Argentine dictator Jorge Videla prepares to award the 1978 World Cup trophy to host team Argentina.

40 YEARS ON

The newspaper that reported the horror and glory of the 1978 World Cup

14-06-2018 16:09 The Buenos Aires Herald was the only Argentine newspaper which, despite the fervour of the 1978 World Cup, published stories about the military's kidnappings and disappearances.

by Luciana Bertoia

Located on Avenida del Libertador, where cars come and go from the city of Buenos Aires to the northern part of the province, the ESMA stands as an icon of state terrorism in Argentina.

argentina

ESMA: a symbol of state terror

02-12-2017 11:30 On Avenida del Libertador, where cars enter and exit the nation’s capital, stands the former Navy Mechanics School, once home to the country’s most notorious clandestine detention centre during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. This week – after a trial that lasted five years – 48 former military personnel were handed prison terms for involvement in atrocities that took place there, including the infamous ‘death flights’ in which detainees at ESMA were drugged and thrown into the sea.

by Luciana Bertoia

A woman holds a photo of Santiago Maldonado during a demonstration at Plaza de Mayo last Sunday. The number refers to the number of persons disappeared during the 1976-1983 dictatorship.

HUMAN RIGHTS

UN, IACHR press govt over Maldonado

07-10-2017 21:08 International human rights figures demand state probe Gendarmerie’s ‘responsibilities,’ as two-month anniversary of 28-year-old’s disappearance is marked by major mobilisastion in Plaza de Mayo.

by Luciana Bertoia

argentina

Santiago Maldonado: the lines of investigation

09-09-2017 14:24 We seem to be no closer to finding out the truth about the 28-year-old’s disappearance, but probes are in progress. Here’s what we know.

by By Luciana Bertoia. On Twitter: @LucianaBertoia