 Cover art from the first edition | |
| Author | Rodolfo Walsh |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Francisco de Goya y Lucientes |
| Cover artist | Francisco de Goya y Lucientes |
| Language | Spanish |
| Genre | Nonfiction/Literature |
| Publisher | Ediciones Sigla (First edition in original language) De La Flor |
Publication date | 1957 |
| Publication place | Argentina |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 236 pp (Paperback edition) |
| ISBN | 978-950-515-352-7 (Paperback edition) |
| OCLC | 11558530 |
Operación Masacre (English:"Operation Massacre") is anonfiction novel ofinvestigative journalism, written by notedArgentinejournalist and authorRodolfo Walsh. It is considered by some to be the first of its genre.[1] It was published in 1957, nine years before the publication ofTruman Capote'sIn Cold Blood, a book often credited as the first major nonfiction novel of investigative journalism.[2]
The book is divided into three sections: in the first, Walsh provides portraits of the victims of the shooting; in the second, he reconstructs the events of the night in question; in the third, he shares testimonies from the head of theBuenos Aires Province Police, among others, that unequivocally betray the complicity of thede facto State and make a case for the unlawful and disgraceful execution of the men in question.
The most recent editions of the book in Spanish and English also include additions (listed as "Appendices") to the text written by Walsh for the various editions of the book that came out after its first publication in 1957.
The book details the José León Suárez massacre, which involved the June 9, 1956 unlawfulcapture and shooting by theBuenos Aires Province Police of a group of civilians suspected of being involved with aPeronist uprising that same night, including the rebel leader GeneralJuan José Valle. Walsh claims that the men were arrested before the establishment in that very same night of themartial law and that they also were never properly charged, therefore they were unlawfully shot. These events followed a 1955 militarycoup, known asRevolución Libertadora ("the Liberating Revolution"), which deposed Argentine presidentJuan Perón and eventually brought theright-wing dictatorship to power, led first by Lieutenant GeneralEduardo Lonardi – who was considered too "lenient" (with Peronism) by the leaders of the coup and quickly deposed – and later by the hard-line GeneralPedro Eugenio Aramburu.
In December 1956, six months after the failed 9 June 1956 uprising byJuan José Valle and otherJuan Perón supporters, Walsh, who was sitting in a café, playing chess, received a tip-off from a man who approached and said: "One of the executed men is alive."[1][3]Operación Masacre was originally published in May–July 1957 as a series of articles in the journalMayoría, where it was subtitled "A book without a publisher" as an indication of the problems Walsh had had securing an outlet for his story.[4] These articles were later re-written into the bookOperación Masacre.
In 2013, an annotated English translation by Daniella Gitlin, "Operation Massacre," was published bySeven Stories Press.[5][6]
Literary criticÁngel Rama describedOperación Masacre as a "police novel for the poor."[7] The novel explores themes of violence that are not only unexpected, but are also unpunished,[8] although Pedro Eugenio Aramburu would ultimately be executed in 1970 by the PeronistMontoneros for his role in the José León Suárez massacre.
Daniel Link argues that the book "destabilizes literary genres" and anticipates what would later be called testimonial fiction.[9] This form of writing has proven to be problematic to some literary analysts because some have seen the need to match the documented historical narrative with the events in the literary text itself, leading to challenges of verification for those seeking proof of historical accuracy and reliability.[10]
Operación Masacre was adapted into a1973 drama film written and directed byJorge Cedrón and starringNorma Aleandro,Carlos Carella,Víctor Laplace,Ana María Picchio and one of the survivors of the José León Suárez massacre,Julio Troxler.[citation needed]
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