"Desert Drive" Or Genocide? Part 2Wednesday 22nd of June 2011 07:42:42 PM
Second part of the interview with Dr. Walter of the river and the Dr. Diana Lenton, at the end of the post you will find the link to the first part.
Much of the River as Lenton
they belong to a new breed of historians that address these topics from a revivalist approach to the Humanities Argentina, contradicting many armed speeches and myths installed in Argentine society with evidence and serious work (especially recommend reading "Memories of the expropriation" of the river).
Consideration the interview is subject to debate,
However T! is not a forum and on the other hand will be deleted without further explanations comments out of place or that they do not meet the Protocol. If we are the forobardo, comments closed,
Thank you!!!
Study on "Desert campaign" confirms genocide against Mapuche
By Leonardo blacksmiths / / Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Interview with Diana Lenton and Walter del Río
The network of studies on genocide of the indigenous policy in Argentina confirmed the existence of a plan to exterminate the Mapuche and other indigenous peoples in times of the so-called "campaign of the desert" in Argentina. "Claim the desert campaign only as a military epic and in terms of progress and formation of the State closes and leaves many subjects into oblivion," warned their perpetrators. An interview, courtesy of Diario Río Negro.
A study conducted by researchers Diana Lenton and Walter the River confirms that you existed in Puelmapu the goal of exterminating the mapuche people in times of the so-called "desert campaign". Analyzing the Charter against the genocide of the UN and various historic registers, authors document the extermination of civilians, the separation of families to be used as slaves, concentration camps and arbitrariness and corruption with the land.
Diana Lenton is social, teaching and research anthropologist of the University of Buenos Aires. He specialized in historical and political anthropology. Her dissertation examines indigenous policies and political discourse on indigenous peoples in the national State in the past 125 years. He wrote "Argentinean cartographies". Walter of the River is historian, master's degree in ethnohistory of the Chile University and Ph.d. in anthropology. It is from Conicet, it plays in section anthropology and ethnography of the Faculty of philosophy and letters of the University of Buenos Aires. He recently wrote the book "Memories of expropriation." Submission and indigenous incorporation in Patagonia (1872-1943) "."
Both researchers are currently participating in the "network of studies on genocide of the indigenous policy in Argentina", which gathers and exchanges information between groups of researchers from Buenos Aires, five or six organizations of indigenous militancy and other academic, as of the Comahue, Buenos Aires, but he is still considering how it is structured. There is a national joint with the indigenous population. Documents gruesome, were not excesses, but a national project.
When query them why talk of genocide at that time, the River is emphatic in pointing out that "first and principal is talking and thinking in historical terms which were now closed." The definition of genocide allows to see the facts of a country that built subjugating those who understood as different and how it handles this difference, eliminating her, and building a national history of which some are excluded. Claim the desert campaign only as a military epic and in terms of progress and formation of the State closes and leaves many subjects into oblivion. "Talk of genocide create so much noise that it is positive, because it speaks and thinks in the history of otherwise." Then, an interview with the authors.
Interview - Part II-
-What other policies are taken?
-D.L.: Another part of the UN definition is "measures intended to prevent births within the group". The same military parties leave measures to separate women from men, the forcible transfer of children of a group to another... They changed the name in such a way that many know they have indigenous descent but can not rebuild their family history because his ancestor John Doe put him.
-Focus criticism on general Julio a. Roca, but campaigns against the aborigines began earlier, already with Rivadavia against Bersuit, Juan Manuel de Rosas, La Pampa…
-It is true. It is known that since the Government of Martín Rodríguez in province of Buenos Aires, even before Rivadavia, decade of 1820, spoke of extermination. The already said "first exterminaremos to nomads and the sedentary", verbatim. The genocidal project comes before rock, but what gets rock is the national consensus of all sectors to make the desert campaign. At that time he deemed essential. Consolidates the State with the defeat of provincial caudillos, peaceful the country and is thought to extend the border to the South and North. Probably if her had done 20 years before it would have been more or less the same. We focus on rock because it is the symbol of the official story, the hero that the dominant classes exalt themselves and that is why it bothers them so much that you touch to this hero. It was also Avellaneda, but few remember him. Rock is the symbol, which built a nation with these parameters.
-Do at that time the politicians were able to intellectuals to understand the idea of genocide, with Darwinism, positivism, the generalized idea of bringing "civilization" over the entire territory, see indigenous peoples as an obstacle to this civilization? There were intellectuals and politicians who opposed?
-D.L.: Well this expression is the hegemonic ideology of the time, it is well known as a context. But any hegemonic concept has opponents, even within the own elite, who questioned the policy of extermination. At the time already raised more integrationist policies of peaceful colonization. Before the desert campaign had a conflictual coexistence, the big problem of the border where killed each other, but also cases of trade and peaceful coexistence, which were then denied or minimized. Aristóbulo del Valle in 1884, when the campaign had already reached the Rio Negro (1879) but was developing the campaign of Nahuel Huapi, harshly opposed an attempt to rock by a similar campaign in the Chaco. There complaint: "man we have enslaved the woman we have courtesans, the child so we booted from the mother's womb." "In a Word, we have unknown and violation actions that govern moral action of man." Other politicians who had supported the campaign in Patagonia are opposed to the Chaco, because this had been a lot. It took an ideological campaign effort and other media such as the distribution of land to stifle criticism and opposition. Aristóbulo del Valle represented the farmers and wanted that you expands the frontier, but questioned the method.
-The Church?
-D.L.: The Church was a great ally of the Government, but congregations as the Salesians had great conflict with the military sector, because the Salesians wanted to convert them and form agricultural colonies, but were opposed to the massive transfer of populations. The army separated families and carried men enslaved women and children in domestic service in the cities and the harvest in Northern Tucuman. That the Church was intolerable for his defense of the family.
- And from the regions?
-D.L.: Also. Olascoaga, e.g. advised rock on military issues. But when he was appointed Governor of Neuquén territory, I had the idea of retaining the indigenous in the territory, because recognized them great potential productive and the space. He believed that farmers Mapuche were hard-working and that it was not necessary to bring them all to Martín García and giving the land to the British. But that part to Olascoaga so not listening, refused his project of indigenous colonies, rock would prefer to do other. They had other possibilities, it did not because he didn't.
-Always discussed the humanitarian issue, atrocities, etc. But you add another: there was corruption in the desert campaign?
-D.L.: Negotiated course. For example, was a businessman who was Ernesto Tornquist. He was in charge of provisions and were negotiated amount. It carries the Indian prisoners as slaves Tucumán zafra because he was a shareholder of wits and receiving free labor. The ranquel were labour free for years as a result of the campaign in La Pampa and he was in charge of the distribution. Most of the Ministers of economy of rock were related to the companies of Tornquist.
-W.D.R.: Commander Prado, who participated in the campaign and supported her, denounces in his memoirs that soldiers were living dead of starvation, with summaries soldiers by eating burials tallow candles. The debates in the Congress alleged that an Argentine soldier of the time cost up to 5 times as much as a German soldier equipped in Germany, but died of hunger. In other words, funds that never arrived at destination.
- And the distribution of land?
-W.D.R.: Concesionaban huge extensions for colonization for little money, then arose the obligation to colonize and passed to landowners in months were trading companies between neighbouring dealers, something forbidden by law. This case is for example the company of lands of southern Argentina, now acquired by Benetton. Months after nine different for Núñez for colonies, concessions ended up forming a single company of British capital on more than 600,000 hectares. All against the law at the same time. It's all in the clerk of the nation. Mechanisms were found to circumvent the legal controls.
-D.L.: The war was made on the pretext of protecting the "pioneers in the borders", but they did not enter the cast. He considered not suffered old frontier settlers or indigenous peoples who were, what was done was create empty space for large landowners, Buenos Aires or capital English rancher.
-Some argue that the fate of indigenous peoples was sealed since capitalism discovered the richness of these lands. At the same time that rock, the Chilean army was advancing on the Mapuche territories in the South of the Biobio and had interest from British to occupy these areas. In other words, if they were not rock and the Argentine State, it would be a foreigner with similar methods or peores…
-D.L.: This position is as an argument, because it is true that there is a great impetus in that time in that direction and that if there was no rock was also another, but this does not justify what was done. You must be careful with that of the ideas in context. Because 100 years who we consider they will tell you that in our time it was considered normal and was the dominant idea pensioners died of hunger, and then everyone agreed what first is not true and in any case justify it is doing. I agree with Osvaldo Bayer in the need of an ethical evaluation of history. We do not have to assess the actions of Julio a. Roca with the ideology of rock and trying to rescue others.
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