Memory between politics and ethics: Del Barco's letter
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Date
2008
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Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies
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Abstract
This paper looks at an ongoing debate in Argentina concerning how experiences of political conflict during the 1960s and 70s are remembered today. I am particularly interested in a controversy concerning experiences of militancy and armed struggle that began with the publication of an interview with Héctor Jouvé, a former guerrilla participant, published in the Córdoba monthly journal La intemperie. Jouvé recounts his experiences as a young political activist in the 1960s, beginning with his decision to join the Ejército Guerrillero del Pueblo (EGP), a small group—modeled after Che Guevara’s Sierra Maestra guerrilla force—that was to operate in the northern Argentine province of Salta. In the wake of this two-part interview with Jouvé, the journal published a letter by the Córdoba philosopher Oscar del Barco denouncing the political use of violence and asserting an ethical injunction of non-violence—“No matarás” (Thou Shalt Not Kill)—as the first principle of all social life. Del Barco’s letter also delivers a “confession” in which the author discloses his own support for armed struggle during the 1960s and 70s. He asserts that, by virtue of his intellectual and moral decisions, he shares responsibility for the errors and transgressions committed by armed Leftist militant groups. Moreover, he calls on others who formerly voiced intellectual and moral support for political violence to acknowledge their errors and seeking forgiveness. Del Barco’s missive has prompted responses from a significant number of Argentine intellectuals of his generation, many of whom have expressed reservations about the nature of the critique. The polemic rapidly extended beyond the confines of the Córdoba journal La intemperie, making its mark in cultural venues such as Conjetural, El interpretador, El ojo mocho, Página 12 and Pensamiento de los Confines.
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Memory between politics and ethics: Del Barco's letter. Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies 17:3 (December 2008): 279-98.
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