Introduction

To strengthen the province's tourism offering, the Tucumán Tourism Board is working with the Human Rights Secretariat to design a historical circuit that encourages the identification and visitation of sites and spaces where crimes against humanity were committed or planned, both during Operation Independence and the last civil-military dictatorship (1975-1983) and at other times in our history.

These actions, which involved the incorporation of signage and digital support to provide relevant information, are part of the public policies of Memory, Truth and Justice that symbolize the commitment of the democratic State to publicize and condemn crimes against humanity, promote the prosecution of those responsible and recognize victims, survivors and their families.

These interventions in public space combine support and reparation for victims of illegal repression and the promotion of community participation in the construction of memory so that such harmful events do not happen again.

La Fronterita Sugar Mill

The La Fronterita sugar mill was founded in the 1920s by the Minetti family, on the outskirts of Famaillá. In 1975, with the start of Operation Independence, the military base that housed the “Rayo” Task Force and a clandestine detention center that continued to be active during the last civil-military dictatorship in 1976 were set up on the premises of this sugar mill.

The building was located about 300 meters from the La Fronterita Sugar Mill, in the town which has the same name. It was under the direct responsibility of the commander of Subzone 32, within Operation Independence. The building was occupied by Army personnel in front of the road that is part of the so-called Fronterita tenements.

Previously, it had been used as housing for temporary workers of the sugar mill. The building was divided into two small rooms. In one of them, there was a cement counter, located in front of the door against the wall, on which the detainees were tortured. A small wooden window was next to the door at the top of the left wall.

The events that occurred in that place began to be investigated based on the 2015 report “Corporate Responsibility in Crimes Against Humanity,” carried out by the Secretariat of Human Rights, the Center for Legal and Social Studies, and the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences.

According to the report, the company grew during the dictatorships of Juan Carlos Onganía and the one established in 1976, two military regimes under which the mill increased its production and multiplied its profits based on union persecution and repression.

The case investigating the events that occurred at the sugar mill has as defendants former directors and managers of the company, accused of being accomplices of the crimes of violation of domicile, unlawful deprivation of liberty with coercion and harassment, torture, sexual abuse, rape and homicide to the detriment of more than 60 people, mostly workers at the sugar mill, union representatives and residents of the neighborhoods near the sugar mill.

According to the investigation, the businessmen who ran the sugar mill gave up a portion of the property to set up a clandestine detention center. They also authorized the Army to move freely to carry out home raids and kidnap people who were later tortured and killed. They also provided vehicles for the execution of the kidnappings and provided qualified information regarding workers and residents of the sugar mill, particularly about their political and union positions.

In September 2023, the National Secretariat for Human Rights and the Secretariat of State for Human Rights and Justice of Tucumán carried out the signage of the mill that continues to operate. At the intersection of provincial routes 326 and 324, a sign indicates that acts linked to state terrorism were committed at the factory.