Buenos Aires City lawmaker Victoria Montenegro has criticised a decision by the national government to hand over terrain at a former clandestine detention centre to the Judiciary, describing the move as a “provocation” against human rights advocates.
It emerged Wednesday that the National Justice Ministry has transferred a 5,000-square-metre plot of land within the ex-ESMA Navy Mechanics School to the Judiciary and its federal prosecutors, with the land set to be used for administrative offices.
Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona defended the measure as an efficient reorganisation of resources. "The spaces that were previously used for ideological programmes will now be used to combat crime," he declared.
The ex-ESMA, the most notorious clandestine murder and torture centre among hundreds operated by Argentina's brutal 1976-1983 military dictatorship, today stands as a reminder of the era of state terrorism. It was declared a historical monument in 2004 and its spaces, today a "Museum of Memory," are intact and can be used as evidence in court. In 2023, it was recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
According to Montenegro, the decision by President Javier Milei’s government to designate the plot to the Judiciary undermines the historical and cultural significance of the site. She described the initiative as a “provocation.”
“The minister’s statement is clearly a new provocation aimed at memory, truth, and justice policies,” said the human rights advocate. “It is deeply concerning that this comes from the Justice minister of the Nation, who bears institutional responsibility for a site that is also a World Heritage Site.”
The former ESMA – where an estimated 5,000 people were detained, the vast majority of whom are still disappeared – should not be repurposed for administrative functions that undermine its character, Montenegro said in an interview with Perfil.
“The idea that the Ministry could operate within the site, or that prosecutors could summon people deprived of their liberty there, is simply unthinkable,” the Unidad Ciudadana lawmaker stated. “Can you imagine someone proposing to put an office at a Holocaust memorial site where people in chains might be brought in? It’s unthinkable.”
The legislator was unequivocal in her rejection: “Can you imagine [police] patrol cars pulling into ESMA with people in custody for administrative justice proceedings? Of course not.”
For Montenegro, this measure is not only unworkable but part of a deliberate strategy against longstanding human rights policies. “That’s why I say it’s a new provocation, because the site has a purpose, and he [Cúneo Libarona], as a public official, must respect that purpose.”
Montenegro questioned the legitimacy of the decision, stating that Cúneo Libarona has “no authority to relocate the Public Prosecutor’s Office to ESMA.” She also highlighted a practical issue: “The building is still under construction, it doesn’t even have a certificate of completion.”
Designs for the building in question show three floors, 20 private offices, capacity for more than 300 workstations, an auditorium, dining room and parking spaces. It will be refurbished to accommodate the new federal accusatory system.
To the legislator, this demonstrates that the move is designed “to provoke and wage a cultural battle over everything associated with ‘Nunca más’ [“Never again” policy of remembrance] and this government’s intent to trivialise evil. It’s in line with this government’s systematic assault on everything related to human rights policy in a broader sense.”
“They treat memorial sites as centres for indoctrination,” complained Montenegro, underlining that rights groups had not been consulted beforehand.
Cross-party support
Montenegro, who heads the City Legislature's Human Rights Commission, emphasised that UNESCO’s recognition of ESMA enjoyed cross-party support and was the result of contributions from multiple governments – including those led by Mauricio Macri, Cristina Kirchner and Alberto Fernández. They “understood the institutional responsibility and the significance of the site,” she added.
The City lawmaker lamented that the current authorities are not open to dialogue: “There has always been an effort to create spaces where new officials could be briefed on how the site functions. But now we’re dealing with officials whose mandate is to shut the site down or reduce it to its bare minimum.”
She warned that changes could impact the preservation of buildings which “continue to serve as judicial evidence” in trials probing crimes against humanity.
Rejecting the “symbolic dismantling” of the site, Montenegro – the daughter of two desaparecidos who was raised under a false identity by a family linked to the dictatorship – said rights groups, opposition deputies and survivors of ESMA would submit lawsuits to block the move.
Montenegro also expressed concern about the National Genetic Data Bank, which helps people discover their true identities. She warned the organisation is now “headless” following the expiration of its director’s mandate, affecting the search for grandchildren who were appropriated during the dictatorship.
“When you follow the thread, you realise it’s not just about provocation through a tweet or the suggestion that the ESMA could function as an office of the Public Prosecutor’s Office,” she said.
Such steps are part of a plan to “erase the stories of struggle and resistance in order to normalise cruelty as a method of governance.”
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