José León Suárez massacre
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| Author | Rodolfo Walsh |
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| Country | Argentina |
| Language | Spanish |
| Genre | Nonfiction/Literature |
| Publisher | De La Flor |
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Publication date
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1957 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 236 pp (Paperback edition) |
| ISBN | (Paperback edition) |
| OCLC | 11558530 |
Operación Masacre ("Operation Massacre") is a nonfiction novel of investigative journalism, written by noted Argentine journalist and author Rodolfo Walsh. It is considered by some to be the first of its genre. It was published in 1957, nine years before the publication of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, a book often credited as the first major nonfiction novel of investigative journalism.
The book details the José León Suárez massacre, which involved the June 9, 1956 capture and shooting by the Buenos Aires Province Police of a group of men who were suspected of being involved with a Peronist uprising that same night led by General Juan José Valle. Walsh claims that the men were arrested before the establishment that night of martial law, were never properly charged, and were therefore unlawfully shot. The book is divided into three sections: in the first, Walsh provides portraits of the victims of the shooting; in the second, he reconstructs the events of the night in question; in the third, he shares testimonies from the head of the Buenos Aires Province Police, among others, that unequivocally betray the complicity of the de facto state and make a case for the unlawful and disgraceful execution of the men in question. The most recent editions of the book in Spanish and English also include additions (listed as "Appendices") to the text written by Walsh for the various editions of the book that came out after its first publication in 1957.
Walsh received a tip-off about the secret operation in December 1956, while he was playing chess in a café.Operación Masacre was originally published in May–July 1957 as a series of articles in the journal Mayoría, where it was subtitled "A book without a publisher" as an indication of the problems Walsh had had securing an outlet for his story. These articles were later re-written into the book Operación Masacre.
In 2013, an annotated English translation by Daniella Gitlin, "Operation Massacre," was published by Seven Stories Press.
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Wikipedia