The voices of the “patota”. Memories, forgetfulness and silences of the members of a task force in the Judgment for the Truth of Bahía Blanca, Argentina (1999)

Abstract

This article examines public statements made in the Trial for the Truth of Bahía Blanca, Argentina, by four former members of a task force called the “Grouping Troops”. It seeks to account for the ways in which the members of this group referred to their participation in operations that culminated with dead and missing persons and inquire about how they explained their actions in the repression; on the other hand, it seeks to investigate how the participation of these military in the Truth Judgment influenced the construction of a social representation about the figure of the repressor. We worked with a qualitative methodology focused on the analysis of the statements provided in the courtroom by the former members of the Troops Association and their circulation in different newspapers of local and national scope.