Five Primary Sources
- Desaparacedos.org website
- A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation by Father Gustavo Gutiérrez
- Peronismoy Cristianismo by Father Carlos Mugica
- Iglesia y Dictadura by Emilio Mignone
- God’s Assassins: State Terrorism in Argentina in the 1970s by Patricia Marchak and
William Marchak - The Desaparecedos website is not so much an argument as it is a collection of interviews
surrounding disappearances during the junta. It was conducted by CONADEP in the mid 1980s.
The people interviewed were directly involved or witness to the violence of the military regime,
and each interview surrounds a specific disappearance or act of repression. There are multiple
sections to the report which pertain to members of the Church, both being the victims and being
involved in the experience of lay people who were enduring said violence. This source will be
useful in helping to demonstrate the complicity of certain figures while proving that certain
clergy were targeted. The way that the people being interviewed explain the situations is quite
detailed, and in some cases answer specific questions surrounding some of the more mysterious
instances. An example of information that will likely be involved in my paper surrounds the 5
Pallotine fathers that were assassinated inside their church in 1976.
At first, the military tried to chalk it up to paramilitary radicals, but an interview from this
would seem to suggest otherwise. “The person who gave the testimony added that the activities
of the Ministry of the Interior included watching Third World priests, and there was an archive
of 300 names with detailed information on the activities of each of them.” This type of
information will help to show that the junta was directly involved in surveillance of and violence
of clergy who were aligned with liberation theology. - A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation is the seminal text of the
Liberation theology movement in Latin America. It is not so much a handbook, but rather a
statement of beliefs made by a progressive priest that other priests, including many in Argentina,
realized they agreed with. The arguments made in this book are important for understanding
what men like Carlos Mugica were putting into practice and killed for preaching. Reading it, it is
easy to agree with the economic justice and anti-poverty/disparity, but it is hard not to notice
some of the inflammatory wording Gutiérrez uses at a time when anti-communism was so
redolent. Such as, “ He analyzed capitalistic society, in which were found concrete instances of
the exploitation persons by their fellows and of one social class by another. Pointing the way
towards an era in history when humankind can live humanly, Marx created categories which
allowed for the elaboration of a science of history.”
Other historians have made arguments about the church and Junta, but I have yet to find
one that includes some of the ideas that the “Third World priests’ ‘ were in alignment with.
Overall, having read a chunk of the book, it is so anti-capitalist and anti-elite that it makes sense
that a junta that was pro-Catholic, but the hardline standard sin and hell Catholicism, and
staunchly supported by the elites of Argentina demonized these priests. This piece is also a
distinctly Cold War production, which, if directly included, would add to the Cold War mood of
the paper. It is not directly involved with the situation in Argentina, but certainly played a major
role in giving the junta reason to be suspicious of the priests who aligned themselves with this
type of Catholicism. It also will help to better explain why the majority of the global Catholic
church and its politics did not align or agree with this innovative interpretation of the faith. - Carlos Mugica was a prominent priest, especially in the slums of Buenos Aires. Peronismo y
Cristianismo was written before the coup. Mugica was killed before the coup as well. His story
helps to show that anti-leftist sentiment was intense years before the junta took charge. This
work by Mugica discusses how the socialist policies of Peron were in line with some of
Liberation Theology, but needed to be furthered. Like Guttierez, Mugica was unabashed in
alluding to Marx. Here is a brief quote, “No había indigentes entre ellos porque los dueños de
haciendas y casas las vendían y llevaban el precio de lo vendido a los apóstoles y a cada uno se
le repartía según su necesidad. Marx y Lenin al postular la comunidad de bienes no hicieron más
que parafrasear, copiar el Evangelio.”
It could be inferred that, before the violence towards clergy was full fledged, priests such
as Mugica believed that they could espouse such Marxist rhetoric with immunity from violence.
Mugica was well liked, and turned into a martyr for the cause of Liberation Theology in
Argentina. This piece will help to explain what was happening in the years leading up to the
junta. Once I have translated and read it all, hopefully it will also give some insight into why
Peronism was disdained by the people who were soon to take power. This text is also so obscure
and hard to find that it has not been used in any of the historical papers I have read on the topic
so far.
Type of service: Academic paper writing
Type of assignment: Research paper
Subject: History
Pages / Words: 15/4125
Number of sources: 0
Academic level: Senior (college 4th Year)
Paper format: Chicago
Line spacing: Double
Language style: US English
