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The plot of the book is simple, but shocking. A year after the military coup that overthrew Argentinian president and icon of a generation, General Perón, a group of Peronist rebels plots a coup to overthrow the junta that took hos power. The military knew about the plot, and on June 6, 1956 were ready to foil the rebel?s plans. At half past midnight, martial law was declared. Violent skirmishes that night left 27 rebels dead on the streets of Buenos Aires. Also, police captured and executed 11 men that were allegedly involved in the plot. They were said to be traitors in violation of the martial law that had been announced on national radio when the coup attempt began.
Walsh?s investigation began when someone whispered to him in a café six months after the failed uprising that ?one of those executed is alive.? As it turned out, not only one but six men from the group were still alive, and none of the 11 had been involved in the attempted coup. They had gathered at a house to listen to a boxing match on the radio. Walsh?s key piece of evidence was comparing testimonies and police records to the log book of the radio station. He found that the 11 were arrested a whole hour before martial law had been declared, and thus their execution without a trial was illegal.
Walsh effectively proved that the Fernando Suarez, the chief of police, as well as president Aramburu who was consulted by Suarez before he ordered the executions, were guilty of murder. Walsh interviewed 5 of the six survivors, as well as witnesses, police who were fired for their opposition to the executions, a judge and many others. He went through newspaper archives, radio logs, hospital and police records. The proof was overwhelming.
However, the bulk of investigative works he presents in this non-fiction narrative book belies how difficult each fact-seeking mission was. He had to leave his house, his job, and his family. He got a gun, and a new name. He lived in a swamp to avoid detection. And he was committed to the truth beyond journalistic pride: his primary purpose was to disseminate the story. He didn?t care if it belonged to him. ?I have talked to some foreign correspondents, including AP, but they aren?t interested or don?t believe the story. Hell, they do nothing but drink and sleep,? he wrote in a letter to a friend.
Operación Masacre is a fairly short work. It was published fist in pamphlet form, folded unbound papers distributed by hand and read in secret. It is the only written account of the crime carried out by the chief of police of Buenos Aires, and sanctioned by the military government. The power of this book rests not in the text, but in the context. Walsh could not even sign his name to the fist version of the printed manuscript. Although he is an engaging writer, his biggest strength is not his prose but his perseverance. The emotion that begged him to write Operación Masacre was not literary ambition, it was a fiercely violated conscience and a desire for justice to be served.
This story is a must read for anyone passionate about ethical journalism, and interested in tales of true crime. A good companion book is the biography of Rodolfo Walsh written by Michael McCaughan entitled True Crime: Rodolfo Walsh and the Role of the Intellectual in Latin American Politics.
The only reason I don't give this book 5 stars is that it isn't a complete reading experience without McCaughan's biography, and because the chapters of annotated evidence included as appendices are repetitive and unnecessary for the modern reader (though interesting for those wanting to know more about Walsh's fact-finding mission and methods).
