Monday, March 19, 2012

Today’s Video: Grim Anniversary

On Saturday we took a brief look at the traditional St. Patrick’s Day pilgrimage in Luján, Argentina. Despite the festivities of that day, March 17 is also the grim anniversary of one of the worst killings in Argentina’s post-“Dirty War” era.

Twenty-nine people died on March 17, 1992 when a car bomb exploded outside of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires. The incident, which also injured 282 individuals, destroyed the embassy along with a nearby school and Catholic Church.

The following video via the YouTube page of Argentina’s El Tribuno shows footage of the destruction and chaos following the bombing at the embassy:

Argentine and Israeli officials blamed Hezbollah with help from the Iranian government for the 1992 attack as well as the 1994 AMIA bombing that killed eighty-five people. Hezbollah and Iran have denied these allegations, and thus far none of the suspects in the 1992 and 1994 bombings have been convicted in court.

At a remembrance ceremony last Friday for the victims of the 1992 bombing Argentine Vice President Amado Boudou said that the bombing was “an attack against forty million Argentines.”

“The wounds will never heal, much less if we cannot sentence those responsible (for the bombing) to prison,” added Justice Minister Julio Alak.

Last July the Argentine government approved a proposal providing financial compensation for the families of those killed and injured in the 1992 bombing.

Video Source - YouTube via El Tribuno

Online Sources- Mercopress, BBC News, La Rioja, The Latin Americanist

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