On March 25th, 1976, one day after the military coup that brought the bloody Argentine dictatorship of General Videla to power, a director at Ford Motor Company´s main production plant summoned the union representatives to a meeting. Guillhermo Gallaraga, the director of labor relations, together with a military official, read out an official declaration calling on workers to forget any union demands. Gallarago went on to add: “All the problems are over, Ford Motor Company in Argentina has become an objective and priority of the military.”

Tomas Quintana, a lawyer now representing the workers, described the scene that unfolded over the next few weeks on the Ford Factory floor: “The majority were kidnapped while they were on the production line. They were taken at gunpoint and made to walk by all the other workers so they could see what happened to their union representatives. This created an environment of terror in the workplace which prevented any demands, over salaries, over working conditions, over anything.”

Carlos Propato described how on April 13th he was kidnapped by military officials. Alongside four other workers, he was taken to the recreation center. What had once served as a socializing and organizing space for the workers was transformed into one of the many interrogation and torture centers constructed by the new military dictatorship. Carlos was tortured from eleven in the morning until eleven at night. In addition to beatings, which continued from the moment he was seized, he endured the brutal electrical torture devices that had become a signature of the Argentine police and military. Interrogators would apply the electric prod to victims’ genitals, eyes, lips — anywhere to cause the maximum amount of pain and suffering. Propato described how he was electrocuted to the point of having a stroke. The impact on his health continues to this day.