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Exercises of memory: Carlos Trilnick

Thoughts on the horror, thirty years after the coup

Carlos Trilnick. 1978-2003 (2003)

25 years have passed since the football world cup was organized in Argentina by the military dictatorship. Menotti, Pasarella, Kempes, the goals, the triumph, General Videla’s celebrations shared by thousands of people, lifting his arms as a sign of victory. Muñoz (the voice of America), a radio commentator, emphasizes every word, we Argentineans are the best, we are champions, we are “right and human”.
Only a Dutch press team covers the march of Madres de Plaza de Mayo (Mothers of Plaza de Mayo). A few meters away from River Plate stadium many are tortured, killed; not only at ESMA, the city and its surroundings were packed with clandestine detention centers, like those in Rosario, Mendoza and in every city of Argentina.
The fascist sport drug and its accomplices, disguised under the passion the Argentine football team inspired, did a good job. Videla celebrates when his team scores, the world cup is going to be useful for him to settle into power and develop his sinister plan of death and corruption. The intervention in the video he made over the goal line of the stadium where the world cup final match was played is an act of silence, of mourning, of counter celebration, of tribute to those who suffered in silence.

Carlos Trilnick