The Economic Accomplices to the Argentine Dictatorship Outstanding Debts

Much has been written on the Argentine dictatorship and the transitional justice movement that brought its members to justice. However there has been no study to date of the economic accomplices to this dictatorship and the recent advancements in Argentina towards holding these actors accountable. What was the role of banks, companies, and individuals in perpetuating a murderous regime? To what extent should they be held responsible? As the first academic study on economic complicity in Argentina, this book attempts to answer these questions. Renowned human rights scholars investigate the role played by such actors as Ford, Mercedes Benz, the press, foreign banks, and even the Catholic Church. Across numerous case studies, the authors make a compelling argument for the legal responsibility of economic accomplices. A groundbreaking interdisciplinary study, this book will be essential to anyone interested in transitional justice, business, and human rights.

Introduction: state terrorism and the economy: from Nuremberg to Buenos Aires Horacio Verbitsky and Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky; Part I. Past and Present Economic Complicity: 1. Why was the economic dimension missing for so long in transitional justice? An exploratory essay Naomi Roht-Arriaza; 2. Accountability for corporate complicity in human rights violations: Argentina's transitional justice innovation? Leigh A. Payne and Gabriel Pereira; Part II. Theoretical Framework and International Dimension: 3. Economic ideas and power during the dictatorship Mariana Heredia; 4. Foreign powers, economic support, and geopolitics Jorge E. Taiana; Part III. The Macroeconomics of the Dictatorship: 5. The legacy of the dictatorship. The new pattern of capital accumulation, deindustrialization, and the decline of the working class Eduardo M. Basualdo; 6. Public finances Alfredo F. Calcagno; 7. Complicity of the lenders Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky; Part IV. Complicity and the Law: 8. Corporate complicity and legal accountability. Report of the International Commission of Jurists International Commission of Jurists Expert Panel; 9. Corporate responsibility for complicity. International and local perspectives Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky; 10. Statute of limitations on actions for complicity Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, Agustín Cavana and Leonardo Filippini; Part V. Company Ordered Disappearances: 11. The cases of Ford and Mercedes Benz Victoria Basualdo, Tomás Ojea Quintana and Carolina Varsky; 12. Acindar and Techint. Extreme militarization of labor relations Victorio Paulón; 13. Between historical analysis and legal responsibility: the Ledesma case Alejandra Dandan and Hannah Franzki; 14. Contributions to the analysis of the role of labor leadership in worker repression in the 1970s Victoria Basualdo; 15. Suppression of workers rights Héctor Recalde; Part VI. Industrial and Agricultural Businesss Associations: Complicity and Benefits: 16. Industrial economic power as promoter and beneficiary of Argentina's refounding project (1976–83) Martín Schorr; 17. The complicity of the agricultural business chambers Mario Rapoport and Alfredo Zaiat; Part VII. Illegal Appropriation of Companies: 18. Organized pillaging Federico Delgado; 19. The National Securities Commission and the assault on 'economic subversion' Alejandra Dandan; 20. The Papel Prensa case. Notes for a study Andrea Gualde; Part VIII. A Range of Generous and Interested Supports: 21. The media: uniform discourse and business deals under cover of state terrorism Damián Loreti; 22. The price of the Church's blessing Horacio Verbitsky; 23. The hidden Italy connection Claudio Tognonato; 24. The lawyers. From repression to neoliberalism Horacio Verbitsky; Conclusion: outstanding debts to settle. Work agenda Horacio Verbitsky and Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky.

Horacio Verbitsky is President of Argentina's Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS). He is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and of the Board of Human Rights Watch Americas. Author of twenty-one books that have had a strong impact on the public agenda, he has been named as the best journalistic anchorman on Argentine television.
Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky is the United Nations Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights. A doctor in law with wide experience in international relations and litigation, he is the author of numerous books and articles on sovereign financing, economic complicity and human rights.