[The following is a translation by Intercontinental Press of an article that appeared in the March 15 issue of the Buenos Aires Avanzada Socialista, the weekly newspaper of the Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores.]
Journalist: Is it true that one of your first measures will be to proclaim a broad amnesty law for political crimes?
Cámpora: Without doubt; in fact we're doing our utmost to contribute to pacifying [the country]. I think that the Argentine parliament... will be anxious to contribute to this pacification and to this Argentine coexistence, providing on the parliamentary level a broad amnesty for all those who have been unjustly deprived of their freedom. (La Nación, March 13.)
We appeal on this occasion to the compañeros who in one way or another have been struggling or who want to struggle to free the prisoners. We appeal especially to the compañeros of the Juventud Peronista [Peronist Youth] and to the militant sector of the Peronist movement, who have been campaigning on the fundamental slogan "Cámpora for president, freedom for the fighters." It was a satisfaction perhaps when you learned about the declarations of the president-elect reported above.
As a matter of principle, it likewise appeared positive to us for Dr. Cámpora to indicate that he favors a broad amnesty.
Nevertheless, compañeros, we feel obliged to say that there's a long way to go before these declarations become converted into the reality of an Argentina without a single political prisoner after next May [when Cámpora is scheduled to take office]. The fact is that the president-elect's words were ambiguous.
In his declaration Dr. Cámpora said, "I think that the Argentine parliament ... will be anxious..." We wonder. And if parliament is not "anxious"?
Why didn't Dr. Cámpora, in order to dispel any doubts, simply say: "My first act in government will be to send a bill to parliament; and the FREJULI [Frente Justicialista de Liberación -- Liberation Front for Social Justice, the Peronist coalition] legislators -- who constitute the majority -- will immediately approve it." Millions of citizens are awaiting a promise like that -- clear and emphatic.
Another point to be disturbed about, because it lends itself to a double interpretation, is the statement that the "broad amnesty" will be "for all those who have been unjustly deprived of their freedom." And we say that it lends itself to misinterpretation because it can very well be concluded that if there are political prisoners who are "unjustly" held in jail, then there are others who are quite justly being held in jail. And this interpretation is not a fanciful one. We know -- Mor Roig [minister of the interior] himself hinted at this just hours before the polls opened -- that the military, in order to alleviate pressures, is prepared to allow a discriminating or selective amnesty; that is, to release a handful of prisoners for minor so-called crimes, letting the rest rot in jail. By no means do we say that Dr. Cámpora's intentions merit such an interpretation. But it is necessary to clarify the point.
ALL the political prisoners, including ALL the guerrillas, must be freed. Who is going to determine which have been "justly" or "unjustly" imprisoned? Perhaps the same judges who convicted them on the basis of "spontaneous confessions" obtained through torture? And on the basis of what norm are they to be liberated or left in jail? Perhaps on the basis of ideological discrimination?
Absolutely ALL the political prisoners and guerrillas must be freed, because the guilt for all the violence in these past years falls solely on the military regime. It was the dictatorship that began repressing the popular protest in blood and fire. It was on this basis that the guerrilla actions arose and developed.
Compañeros of the Juventud Peronista and the militant sector of the Peronist movement: You, better than anyone else, know the conditions that the armed forces want to impose on the incoming government. And you also know that one of the main points among these conditions concerns the political prisoners.
Dr. Cámpora's declaration thus fails to answer the main question: how to counteract the formidable pressure that will be mounted by the military to block a genuinely broad and full amnesty? There is only one means: All of us who want to finish with the reign of the jail and torture must mobilize in a united way!! And with a precise objective: to solicit from the elected deputies and senators, especially those belonging to the FREJULI, a public promise that the first law to be passed by Congress will be a broad amnesty, the abolition of all the repressive legislation and of the Supreme Criminal Court, and an investigation of the torture, murders, and kidnappings committed under the military dictatorship. For this investigation we must demand the formation of an Investigating Commission, with a labor majority, made up of legislators representing the trade-union organizations, political parties, and the families of those who were murdered.
To accomplish this, we appeal in the first place to the compañeros of the Juventud Peronista and of the militant sector of the Peronist movement. You bear an enormous responsibility. You carried the FREJULI campaign, and you raised as one of the main slogans of that campaign: "Cámpora for president; freedom for the fighters." There is no point in discussing whether the FREJULI legislators intend to carry out their electoral promise without vacillating. It is not a matter of intentions in the main, but of the strength available to neutralize the formidable pressure of the military. For that, compañeros of the Juventud Peronista and of the militant sector of the Peronist movement, your interest and feeling of urgency must be higher than that of anyone else in advancing this broad mobilization for the prisoners.
We likewise call on the young Radicals. You claim the tradition of the UCR [Unión Cívica Radical] on the question of civil liberties, having been the first to demand from your legislators the promise to free the prisoners and to repeal the repressive laws.
We likewise call on all the tendencies that claim to be in the left. Enough of sectarianism!! Let's unite in the struggle for an amnesty!! Whoever, on whatever pretext, holds back the broadest unity of action in demanding that parliament grant an amnesty facilitates our compañeros' being held prisoner until they rot.
Finally, we appeal to the families of those detained. We suggest that they take the initiative in convoking a public mass meeting to which all the legislators are invited, there to be asked to sign a promise to vote for a general amnesty. Demand that the Peronists, the Radicals, and members of any other party take a position on this point.
Let's initiate a massive campaign for a general amnesty!!