In 1974 Juan Perón died and power transferred to his third wife and widow, Maria Estela Martínez de Perón.

The Montenero’s (the left-wing revolutionary group who voted for Perón) went underground. They declared their opposition to the government.

On November 6th, 1974, a state of siege was declared and 3000 suspected “subversives” were placed in preventive detention.

Meanwhile, to the north in Tucumán, the ERP (People’s Revolutionary Army), an anti-Peronist revolutionary group, tried to set up a stronghold.

Notably, Tucumán has a lot of symbolic significance because it’s where Argentine independence was signed in 1816.

In response, the military set up secret detention centers, used torture, and were found to have “deliberately used terror to intimidate the entire local population.”

Tucumán became the testing ground for the tactics that would come to define the military juntas of the Dirty War, where secret detention centers were set up across the entire country to systematically disappear, torture, and ultimatelyy murder estimated tens of thousands of Argentine citizens.

It all began under a civilian government. 1974-1975 was a turbulent time: “An Argentine newspaper reported that during this period there was a politically motivated killing every five hours, and a bomb explosion every three.”

According to Nick Caistor, Argentines were likely relieved, not knowing what would come next, under the rule of Lt General Jorge Rafael Videla. The coup took place on the night of 23/24 March 1976.

#fountainpen #journalingcommunity #journalflatlay #journalspread #stationerylover #notebook

QOTD: Are you interested in Latin American history?

Getting back to the subject of Argentina’s Dirty War, I recently had to renew my library card, which conveniently took me to the main branch of the New York Public Library at precisely the moment when I was realizing that I was going to need to go there in order to access Nunca Más, a book that consolidated the 50,000 pages of documentation that CONADEP, the National Commission on Disappeared People, put together in preparation for the 1985 trial of the three military juntas that terrorized Argentina for nearly a decade (really a decade if you consider that the terror started before the coup).

Sadly, Nunca Más is out of print, making it largely inaccessible to readers in the United States, which seems a pity in the Information Age that this report—part of the truth and reconciliation efforts—isn’t more widely accessible. In an ideal world it wouldn’t be so challenging to access this history.

But, aside from the pity that this documentary effort is widely forgotten in the Anglophone world today, it’s a pity from a publishing perspective that this book is out of print. The President of CONADEP, appointed by the at the time newly democratically elected President of Argentina, Raúl Alfonsín, was novelist Ernesto Sabato. And as I sat in the Rose Main Reading Room, riveted by the account I was reading, I kept thinking that the writing and translation were so compelling that they required no rewriting, no general public version.

I’ve been watching some true crime on Hulu, and I kept thinking this book had the same propulsiveness, if you’re interested in humanity and criminality. Similarly, with people reintroduced to Say Nothing, now in television form, the disappeared are certainly back in the public imagination.

Alas, Nunca Más remains out of print, so I’m going to do my best to give you a taste of it here over the next few weeks.

QOTD: Do you ever listen to true crime podcasts or television? Or did you watch Say Nothing?

#notes #fountainpens #stationerylover

Something about me? I love fountain pens. I write exclusively with them (except when I need to sign something because only fun inks not permanent black ink for me).

Something I loved doing on Instagram has been participating in the fountain pen and journaling communities there.

I learned so much of what I know about fountain pens through social media, including about Hobinichi (the planner brand pictured here) and bungubox (the pen brand pictured here).

I learned about so many fountain pen inks that come in all of these incredible shades, and sheens from small brands across the world.

I loved seeing all the creative ways people used their pens and inks from currently inked logs to the final touches on their junk journal spreads.

It’s also really fun to see everyone’s different handwriting, their aesthetic sensibilities, and how those things brought their journals to life. So I hope that’s somrthing I’ll find here as well.

If you’re a fountain pen user or aspiring fountain pen user, let’s connect!

QOTD: what is your go to fountain pen?

#fountainpen #fountainpens #newfountainpen #bungubox #bunguboxpen #hobinichi #hobinichitecho #hobinichilife #hobinichiplanner #stationerylover #fountainpenlover #fountainpenfanatic #learnwithme #studywithme #darkacademia #academia #academiaaesthetic #academicaesthetic #darkacademiaaesthetic #grayacademia #cozyvibes #cozystudying #cozyjournaling #journalingcommunity #stationerycommunity