This institution had become an icon in the preservation of the historical memory of the crimes of the dictatorship.

On January 1, 2025, the government of President Javier Milei closed the Haroldo Conti Cultural Center, an institution that had become a symbol of preserving the historical memory of crimes against humanity committed during Argentina’s last dictatorship (1976–1983).

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To underline its symbolic mission, the Center operated at the former concentration camp of the Navy School of Mechanics (ESMA), a site where thousands of social activists were tortured and murdered.

According to an official statement released on December 31, the closure of the Conti Center is part of an “internal restructuring” process. However, the lack of details and clarity regarding the expected changes has caused significant uncertainty.

Milei’s administration placed the Center’s workers under “passive guard” and denied access to the facilities to those who do not accept the Justice Ministry’s “voluntary retirement” plan. Human rights activists have called for demonstrations to show solidarity with the workers, who fear the deployment of security forces to prevent protests near the center.

Inaugurated in 2008 by activist and political figure Eduardo Jozami, the cultural center pays tribute to Haroldo Conti, a leftist intellectual who was abducted and murdered by the military dictatorship in 1976.

“Beyond being one of Argentina’s greatest writers, he was a journalist, airplane pilot, seminarian, navigator, open-water swimmer, screenwriter, and teacher. He was active in the Revolutionary Workers Party (PRT) and the Anti-Imperialist Front for Socialism (FAS),” recalled the center’s website, which is now “offline” by decision of the far-right government.

“His life’s work was cut short just days before his 51st birthday. In the early hours of May 5, 1976, during the military-civic dictatorship, a task force abducted him from his home in Buenos Aires. His body was never found. On his desk, he left a phrase written in Latin: Hic meus locus pugnare est et hinc non me removebunt [This is my combat place, and I will not be moved from here],” the website noted.

Since 2008, the Conti Center had served as a space for promoting and showcasing Argentine culture, cinema, music, theater, dance, and literature. It also became an iconic venue for human rights education.

teleSUR/ JF Sources: Pagina 12 – Haroldo Conti Cultural Center

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