Driving Terror: Labor, Violence, and Justice in Cold War Argentina (Diálogos Series)

By: Karen Robert

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Synopsis: Driving Terror tells the story of twenty-four Ford autoworkers in Argentina who were tortured and &“disappeared&” for their union activism in 1976, miraculously survived, and pursued a decades-long quest for truth and justice. In December 2018, more than four decades after their ordeal, the men won a historic human-rights case against a military commander and two retired Ford Argentina executives who were convicted of crimes against humanity.The book uses this David-and-Goliath story to explore issues of labor repression and corporate complicity with Argentina&’s last military dictatorship as well as to shed light on the enormous obstacles facing victims of such crimes. Its emphasis on working-class activism in the arenas of labor and human rights introduces North American readers to a new narrative of contemporary Argentine history.The Ford survivors&’ story intertwines with the symbolic evolution of the car the men helped build at Ford: the Falcon sedan. The political polarization and violence of the Cold War era transformed the Falcon from a popular family car to a tool of state terror after the coup of 1976, when it became associated with the widespread practice of &“disappearance.&” Its meaning continued to evolve after the return to democracy, when artists and activists used it as a symbol of military impunity during Argentina&’s long-term struggles over justice and memory.