In the spotlight: the trial of the “Napalpi massacre” in Argentina
Photo released by the Telam news agency showing members of the Qom and Moqoit indigenous communities waving a flag during the opening of a historic trial at the House of Cultures in Resistencia, in the northern province of Chaco Argentina, April 19, 2022, for the massacre of indigenous peoples who protested against living and working conditions in cotton plantations in 1924. AFP - PABLO CAPRARULO
Text by: Achim Lippold Follow
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The past resurfaces in Argentina where nearly a century later, justice is looking into the massacre of more than 400 members of the Qom and Moqoit indigenous peoples
.
It is a trial without "guilty", it is largely symbolic, but it is however an unprecedented step in the country towards the recognition of the "Massacre of Napalpi" which took place on July 19, 1924.
The newspaper
El Diario
points out that "
for the first time in Argentina, crimes committed against indigenous peoples will be judged, recognized as crimes against humanity
".
The legal proceedings began in 2004, by collecting as many clues and testimonies as possible.
One of these testimonies is published by
El Diario
.
It comes from one of the survivors of the massacre, Pedro Balquinta, who said in 2014, shortly before he died at the age of 107: "
For days the crows did not fly, they were busy satisfying their hunger with the corpses
”.
Rehabilitate the memory of peoples
And the corpses, there were hundreds of them, including children and old people
.
All were shot dead by a hundred policemen, soldiers and settlers.
They had opened fire on these members of the Qom and Moqoit communities, it happened in an Amerindian reservation, which served as a reservoir of labor for the cotton fields and whose inhabitants had revolted against conditions of their life as quasi-slaves.
Today, the goal of this "
truth trial
" is not to establish criminal liability, federal judge Zunilda Niremperger told the
Chaco Dia por Dia
news site , but to "
know the truth , in order to rehabilitate the memory of peoples, to heal the wounds, to repair and also to activate the memory and the conscience so that these violations of human rights do not happen again
”.
Argentina criticized for wanting to restore relations with Venezuela
President Alberto Fernandez wants to restore diplomatic relations with Venezuela.
It is to be read in the Clarin
newspaper
.
This announcement provoked strong reactions from human rights organizations.
In a letter sent to the Argentine president, Amnesty International condemns Alberto Fernandez's remarks in which he speaks of "
problems in Venezuela that were disappearing
".
Contrary to what the president says, "
there is a repressive political escalation
" in the country, writes the NGO.
Fernandez also called on other Latin American countries to get closer to Venezuela.
Will this call be followed?
In any case, Ecuador, which has recognized opponent Juan Guaido as its legitimate president, seems reluctant to follow Argentina's lead, according to the
Infobae
news site .
"
We are not ready to make such a decision
(that is to say to reconnect with the government of Nicolas Maduro, editor's note)
but we will think about
it," said Ecuadorian President Guillermo Llasso.
The attempted rapprochement with Caracas initiated by Buenos Aires comes as the United States is also seeking to renew ties with Venezuela, in order to diversify its crude oil supplies: a consequence of the sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
Jacmel market destroyed by fire
A fire destroyed yesterday Tuesday the largest market in Jacmel in the southwest of Haiti.
According to
Le
Nouvelliste
, the Beaudouin market was completely devastated by the flames.
Impossible for firefighters to control the fire which broke out at around 4 a.m.
"
A huge crowd made up of people from all over the city watched helplessly as several hundred million gourdes of goods were destroyed
," writes
Le Nouvelliste
, adding that these goods were "
bought with money borrowed at exorbitant rates from microcredit institutions…
”
.
The newspaper collected the testimony of Jaco, a merchant from the Baudouin market.
Father of four children, he too is heavily indebted for his business "
gone up in smoke this morning
".
Jaco "
cried hot tears like a child on April 19
", writes
Le Nouvelliste
, not only because he lost everything, but also because he wonders with what and how he will feed his family.
In distress too, another trader who testifies in
Le Nouvelliste
.
Her name is Magda.
Her business was worth 300,000 gourdes, a sum she must draw from her savings, she says, because she knows that the Haitian state will not help her.
►
To read also: Haiti: the public market of Jacmel ravaged by a fire
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