At the cry of "turn yourself in" what is now known as the "Granadero Baigorria Massacre" took place in the San Fernando neighborhood in Granadero Baigorria during the last civic-military dictatorship.

On June 23, 1977, ten PRT-ERP militants kidnapped in "La Calamita", a clandestine detention center located at 1530 Eva Perón street in the city of Granadero Baigorria, were transferred to a house located at the intersection of the streets Las Verbenas and 9 de Julio, simulating a confrontation to shoot the militants. The house, before being usurped, had belonged to the organization.

In the street, the repressors set a vehicle on fire, while shouting through a megaphone that they “surrender”, and, later, the press replied to the official version.
The details of the massacre were revealed in 2009, when testifying in the "Guerrieri" case, by a member of the 121st Communications Battalion of the Second Army Corps, the repressor Eduardo "Tucu" Constanzo.
In commemoration of those murdered in the Granadero Baigorria Massacre, we interviewed Carlos Montini, a member of Documenta Baigorria, a group that promotes the recovery of popular memory about the actions of state terrorism during the last military dictatorship. We talked about the former clandestine detention center "La Calamita" and about the history of Granadero Baigorria during the dictatorship.

What are the events that preceded the murder of the ten militants during the dictatorship in Las Verbenas and 9 de Julio?

It is assumed, based on the deductions made, that the Granadero Baigorria Massacre stems from a reprisal for an alleged takeover of John Deere's goal some time before, carried out by the PRT people, which culminated in this massacre. There is an important piece of information, and that is that on December 1, 1976, about two blocks from where the massacre later took place, on 9 de Julio street, there was a confrontation, where Juan Carlos Gauseño and José Aquiles Tettamanzi were killed. They were part of the Peronist University Youth (JUP), and they cover the escape of another woman, named Gloria Cristina Fernández, "Manolita", with her family. These are all data that have been rescued, however there is no reliable documentation of this. What yes, Gauseño and Tettamanzi die there covering that leak. 

How was “La Calamita” born as a clandestine detention center?

La Calamita is a large black spot in Granadero Baigorria. In the San Fernando neighborhood, the simulated attack known as the “Granadero Baigorria Massacre” takes place. La Calamita is in another place, if one is located at the entrance to the Baigorria Hospital, turning onto Eva Perón street at the end, crossing two roads on a dirt road, there is the entrance to the farmhouse. Initially, in the 1920s, the owner of these lands was a Spanish immigrant, Juan Sala, who participated in the foundation of the Granadero Baigorria structure, whose main activity was planting fruit trees. Subsequently, the field was subdivided and part of it was sold to Ángel Calamita, where a vineyard operated. In 1969, Ángel Calamita sold all of his property to the firm Raul Benzadon SACI, a family that owns several well-known stores in the area. At a certain moment, according to the data that can be rescued, it was rented in 1976 and transferred to the command of the Second Corps of the Army. That is the documentation that exists, but they have tried to destroy everything. 
The historic center has a very sad history, it passed through different hands, until it became a detention center for approximately two years, between 1976 and 1978, and more than 200 people were kidnapped and disappeared there, that is, it is something very big happened in that place. And that was the circuit of the Second Army Corps, being one of the five clandestine centers of the repressive circuit of the Intelligence Battalion 121 of Rosario. Lieutenant Colonel Pascual Guerrieri, a former agent of the 601 Intelligence Battalion and head of the clandestine detention center known as Quinta de Funes, was the one who managed the clandestine center. 

When does “La Calamita” stop working as a clandestine detention center and what happens afterwards?

That house, when the entire repressive system was dismantled in 1978, was abandoned and passed back into the hands of the owners, where later labor ventures of different types were made: a chlorine factory, a poultry store, among other things. It was no longer used as the Benzadon family's weekend home. In 1984, a visit from CONADEP conclusively established the operation of a Clandestine Detention Center on the property. When the CONADEP book, Nunca Más, was made, La Calamita appeared through stories. There were between 20 and 30 survivors from La Calamita and their testimonies are the only thing in existence, since the files on crimes against humanity in the region were stolen from the provincial courts in October 1984, without much clarification of the fact. 

The announcement of the sale of the property that was known publicly in April 2001 caused some mobilizations and a Popular Commission for Memory was set up in Baigorria. Subsequently, due to an attempted demolition of some buildings on the Quinta that was partially carried out, it again mobilized social sectors and also the municipal officials of that time. Both the Municipal Council and the local Executive Branch declared the La Calamita property of public utility and subject to expropriation in order for the Granadero Baigorria Memory Museum to function there (which later did not happen), for which reason stopped the demolition. From then on, that becomes visible in the struggle, to vindicate what happened there. 

In the Guerrieri trial, the first, La Calamita appears there and a lot of information. Then, Eduardo Constanzo, civilian intelligence personnel, who had been in La Calamita, began to testify. There are other cases open now, Guerrieri l, ll, lll; and that led to the fact that the people who had participated in it also began to become visible and come clean. 

What role has the Documenta Baigorria group been taking? 

I joined the project back in 2005, 2006, where there was a project to place sculptures on Avenida San Martín, where the YPF is and the entrance to the Hospital up to La Calamita. We got to place 4. They symbolize the destruction of the national industry, the Condor Plan installed in all of Latin America, the Malvinas War. In all this interim, from that time that must have been 2011, Documenta Baigorria was assembled with the people who stayed there, and others were added. 

Our goal is to recover that space as a place of memory; that the place passes to the power of the Provincial State. In fact, it was the most important clandestine center that the second army corps had here in the region. Then there was El Pozo, which was the police information service, along with many others in the area, and La Calamita was in a totally uninhabited place. Our activity is based on disseminating this, whenever there is a date we carry out a march from the route to there walking along Eva Perón, and we carry out an act at the door. And then we also have militancy within the schools, in the group there are several teachers, so the main vein is to make known what happened in Baigorria and its history. 

Is there any chance that La Calamita will be recognized as a memorial site nearby? 

There were three bills in the provincial legislature. Twice it was approved. In November 2003, the provincial legislature passed Law 12.192, which declared the property owned by the company SOLUKAT CORP to be of public interest and subject to expropriation. Some technical errors in relation to the measurement of the lots meant that this text should be amended; the new, corrected text would gain the force of law at the end of 2005 under number 12.462. That law empowered the Provincial Executive Branch to expropriate the almost 11-hectare property and assign it free of charge to the Municipality of Granadero Baigorria to allocate it to the local Museum of Memory. The expropriation period (two years from the enactment of the law) expired without the law taking effect, and La Calamita continued in private hands. The second was promulgated approximately three years ago. There the law was voted in the Senate, and the executive did not regulate it, so it fell again in 2018. The Benzadon family would donate the historic center, however, the donation agreement is still pending. There is only one paper that has some official tinge where there is a signature of Benzadon's heir descendants, but a signature is missing for its concretion. That is the current state of La Calamita, but this fight has been going on for 20 years. 

Today we remember the Granadero Baigorria Massacre and those murdered, we continue to demand Memory, Truth and Justice:

• Mónica Cappelli, 25, a member of the John Deere union Broad Front.
• Alberto Coraza, 33 years old, worked as a defender of political prisoners.
• Ricardo Franco, 32 years old, one of the founders of the UCA student center in Santa Fe.
• Alberto Galarza, 27, a member of the Aceiteros Union in the Workers' Movement for Union Recovery.
• Graciela Eier, 21, a UNR medical student, lived in Granadero Baigorria with her parents. She left from there on 19/05/77 for work and was kidnapped on the way.
• Susana Díaz, 21 years old, political prisoner of Devoto, later released. She participated in political and union actions.
• Domingo Laborde, 25 years old, turner and representative of the John Deere company in Rosario. He was a member of the Swift Front.
• José Madeo, 27 years old, a member of the PRT-ERP.
• Hilda Meikle, 45, a former nun, a nurse by profession, was detained in 1973 in the National Stadium of Chile.
• Irma Montenegro, 34 years old, psychology student, political leader of the Rosario regional branch of the PRT-ERP. She was the protagonist in fights for Acindar and John Deere.
  

By Malena Fernandez*
*Student of Social Communication, who is doing a pre-professional practice in the Area.