Submitted by: Maria Julia Rossi, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Modern Languages and Literature, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
“Carta abierta de un escritor a la Junta Militar is one of the starkest testimonies about the 1976-1983 Argentine dictatorship. Written at the first anniversary of the coup d’état, in March 24, 1977, Rodolfo Walsh risked his life by writing it and sending it to newspapers in Argentina and internationally. He was killed the following day. In this letter, Walsh openly denounces many outrages the dictatorship was committing—and was going to keep committing in the subsequent years. He denounced censorship, from the perspective of a writer and journalist, but also persecutions, kidnappings and murders. In a well-documented and analytical manner, Walsh also connected the economical atrocities the dictatorship was perpetrating—a series of actions that were going to affect the Argentine financial situation until these days. This letter was first published by the exiled writer Tomás Eloy Martínez in Caracas, Venezuela.
La “Carta abierta de un escritor a la Junta Militar” es uno de los testimonios más descarnados sobre la dictadura argentina de 1976-1983. Escrita para el primer aniversario del golpe de estado, el 24 de marzo de 1977, Rodolfo Walsh arriesgó su vida al escribirla y mandarla a periódicos argentinos e internacionales. Lo asesinaron al día siguiente. En esta carta, Walsh denuncia abiertamente las numerosas atrocidades que los dictadores cometían —y que seguirían cometiendo en los años siguientes. Denunció la censura, desde el punto de vista de un escritor y periodista, pero también las persecuciones, secuestros y asesinatos. De un modo documentado y analítico, Walsh también conectó las atrocidades económicas que la dictadura estaba perpetrando: una serie de acciones que afectarían la situación financiera del país hasta nuestros días. El escritor exiliado Tomás Eloy Martínez publicó por primera vez esta carta en Caracas, Venezuela.” (Comment by Rossi, 2019)
To read online: “Carta abierta de un escritor a la Junta Militar”
The Open Letter from a Writer to the Military Junta (March 1977 ) is the last letter of intellectual, journalist and writer Argentine Rodolfo Walsh, who sent copies by mail to the means of its summary and analysis of the first year of the dictatorship a few hours before being kidnapped and disappeared . It was described by Gabriel García Márquez as a “journalism masterpiece.”
