Table Of ContentSurviving State Terror
Surviving State Terror
Women’s Testimonies of Repression
and Resistance in Argentina
Barbara Sutton
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
www.nyupress.org
© 2018 by Barbara Sutton
All rights reserved
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the
author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or
changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sutton, Barbara, 1970- author.
Title: Surviving state terror : women’s testimonies of repression and
resistance in Argentina / Barbara Sutton.
Description: New York : New York University Press, [2017] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017034143| ISBN 9781479861576 (cl : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781479829927 (pb : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Victims of state-sponsored terrorism—Argentina. |
Women—Crimes against—Argentina.
Classification: LCC HV6433.A7 S88 2018 | DDC 323.3/4092282—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017034143
New York University Press books are printed on acid- free paper, and their binding materials
are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally responsible suppli-
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Also available as an ebook
Contents
1. Women, State Terror, and Collective Memory 1
2. Telling Terror 40
3. Narrating the Body 83
4. Body, Survival, Resistance, and Memory 132
5. Transmitting Memory, Reclaiming Utopia 180
6. Conclusions and Implications 229
Acknowledgments 255
Notes 259
Cited Testimonies 275
References 279
Index 305
About the Author 325
v
1
Women, State Terror, and Collective Memory
The past lives in the present, and traumatic pasts still throb and ache. This
is often true for individuals and societies, as memories of war, displace-
ment, genocide, and other forms of “social suffering” are not easily stored
away.1 Their painful marks defy oblivion, and past traumatic situations
shape and erupt in present circumstances. Many of these memories are
culturally mobilized and transmitted through oral and written narratives,
ceremonial rituals, and political performances. They can also become
embodied memories that inhabit the lives of both individuals directly
affected by traumatic events and those who belong to the same mne-
monic community.2 At stake are not only the lifeworlds of people who
experienced unbearable loss and unspeakable suffering, but also broader
society’s ability to learn, rebuild, and change. The recent history of state
terrorism in Argentina is a case in point; and the survivors of this politi-
cal repression have key stories to tell. This book focuses on the voices of
women survivors of state-r un clandestine detention centers (CDCs)—a
group whose perspectives have not always been heard. What might
attending to these voices reveal about the nature of state violence and its
relation to gender and power? What might we learn from them about sur-
vival and resistance, about collective memory and human rights?
Three decades after her captivity in one of the clandestine deten-
tions centers of the last military dictatorship in Argentina (1976– 83),
survivor Marta García de Candeloro remembered a poignant lesson she
learned from another former detainee called Ledda.3 The story featured
unlikely protagonists: the ants that were free to move around in places
of utter unfreedom, namely, the secret sites where so many people were
tortured and “disappeared” during the period of state terrorism.4 Marta
recounted the story in 2007, in the context of her testimony for the civil
society organization Memoria Abierta (Open Memory). In this testi-
mony, she wished to highlight more than horror. Although she did not
remember exactly Ledda’s words, she offered the gist of the story:
1
2 | Women, State Terror, and Collective Memory
[I]n summary, what I got from it was: That those ants should not be
killed; they should be left alone because they were going to freedom and
returning; and they were going in and out. That was the contact with the
outside. [ . . . ] I will never forget that thing of Ledda’s as long as I live,
because it had to do with the things that life clings to, no?— in order to
live in a situation where you were . . . tortured . . . where it was as if your
body did not belong to you, but where those things were a sign of life.5
In her testimony, Marta was apparently referring to survivor Ledda
Barreiro, a woman who was detained in the same site as Marta.
According to other sources, the story traces back to Ledda’s daughter,
Silvia Muñoz, who was “disappeared” by the regime while pregnant. As
Ledda explained in one of her public appearances, the exhortation to
not kill the ants wandering around in a CDC reportedly came from her
daughter and was witnessed by fellow detainees who survived to tell
the story.6 Eventually this story was turned into an illustrated children’s
book, Marimosa y las hormigas (Potes 2014), about colorful butterflies
held captive by big and evil bugs and about the bonds of solidarity that
the imprisoned butterfly Marimosa forged with a group of ants, which
symbolized freedom. Various human rights organizations and public
institutions then began to use Marimosa y las hormigas as part of their
work to promote human rights education and collective memory among
school- aged children.7
The journey of the ants’ story, originally told and retold by women
survivors of state terror in Argentina, encapsulates many of the themes
of this book. The story itself certainly takes us directly to a place of ex-
treme oppression, but it does not end there. Importantly, as Dori Laub
(1992, 62) mentioned in relation to Holocaust survivors’ testimonies,
this story hints to “the very secret of survival and of resistance to exter-
mination.” From this story we learn about resilience, compassion, and
solidarity in the midst of horror; about the power of collective efforts
and the unyielding pull of freedom. That these notions become salient
in the memories circulated among survivors, and then shared with the
public, also speaks to the desire to draw broader lessons from experi-
ences of unimaginable suffering and terror.
In considering how the story was retooled for a children’s audience,
another important theme addressed in this study emerges: the transmis-
Women, State Terror, and Collective Memory | 3
sion of memory, particularly to future generations. The central role of
women as transmitters of collective memory and culture also becomes
apparent. While oftentimes these processes of transmission stem from
women’s socially ascribed roles as mothers, grandmothers, or teachers
passing on cultural knowledge, I would like to expand and problema-
tize this frame. In Ledda’s memories of her disappeared daughter and
the quest to find her grandchild, the centrality of gender-m ediated fam-
ily bonds is evident. However, Ledda and other women in this study
have shared many other vital experiences and perspectives, including
as political activists, beyond those associated with normative gender
expectations.
Finally, as memories are repeated, transmitted, and resignified, vari-
ants of the ants’ story point to the social construction and “labors of
memory” (Jelin 2003, 5) dedicated to keep critical insights alive. Con-
sistent with Joan Scott’s (2001) elaboration of the notion of “echo,” the
retelling of the ants’ story— as well as many other stories of survival—
can create new resonances and meanings. Through echo, utterances are
repeated but not exactly: “repetition constitutes alteration” (291). The
innovations introduced through repetition prompt us to consider pres-
ent investments in transmitted stories. That the ants’ story comes to us
decades after its point of origin speaks not only to the open wounds left
by the events that prompted the story but also to the lessons that con-
temporary societies still need to learn from these experiences.
***
During the last dictatorship in Argentina, the state armed and deployed
a repressive apparatus that perpetrated massive human rights violations
(CONADEP 1984; Duhalde 1999). This regime promoted a “culture of
fear” (Corradi, Fagen, and Garretón 1992b, 1) and aimed to “discipline
a society with strong political concerns” (D’Antonio 2009, 89), perse-
cuting with special vehemence those whose social or political activities
challenged prevailing power relations. In the geopolitical context of the
Cold War and leftist and popular movements that sought major societal
transformations— including through armed struggle— the dictatorship
proclaimed itself in defense of “national security” and “Western and
Christian civilization.” In the name of this cause the military regime
kidnapped, tortured, and “disappeared” a wide spectrum of people.
