Martín Almada
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Martín Almada (born 30 January 1937) is a lawyer, writer and educationalist from
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
. A noted dissident and human rights activist, he was a prisoner of the
Alfredo Stroessner Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan army officer and politician who served as President of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 to 3 February 1989. Stroessner led a coup d'état on 4 May 1954 with the ...
regime. He is notable for uncovering the
Archives of Terror The Archives of Terror ( es, Archivos del Terror) are a collection of documents chronicling some of the illicit activities undertaken by Paraguayan Dictator Alfredo Stroessner's secret police force. The documents have since been used in attempts ...
.


Biography

Almada was born in Puerto Sastre, but moved with his family to
San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...
, near the capital
Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...
, when he was six. After he had finished his studies in educational science in 1963, he founded the educational institution "Juan Bautista Alberdi" in San Lorenzo and the "Centro de Animación Sociocultural". He then embarked on a law degree and graduated in 1968. In 1972, he became the president of the association of educationalists of San Lorenzo, a local action group that received support by other sections of the society and positioned itself as an opposition of the dictatorship ruling Paraguay at the time.


Prisoner

At that time, Almada graduated at the
University of La Plata The La Plata National University ( es, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, UNLP) is one of the most important Argentine national universities and the biggest one situated in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province. It has over 90, ...
in Argentina as a doctor of educational science. His thesis on education in his home country was sent to the government in Paraguay (an act of information exchange a part of
Operation Condor Operation Condor ( es, link=no, Operación Cóndor, also known as ''Plan Cóndor''; pt, Operação Condor) was a United States–backed campaign of political repression and state terror involving intelligence operations and assassination of o ...
). As a result, Almada's work was rejected by the regime of
Alfredo Stroessner Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan army officer and politician who served as President of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 to 3 February 1989. Stroessner led a coup d'état on 4 May 1954 with the ...
. He was imprisoned as a political enemy in 1974, nearly tortured to death, and kept in prison for about three and a half years. His wife was killed (according to his book - after being tortured) as were two of his followers. His wife being under a house arrest, was forced to hear through a telephone her husband's cries as he was tortured. She died after the political police falsely told her Martìn had died and "presented" her a loincloth covered with blood with nails they said were used to remove his fingernails. In prison he increasingly grew anti-fascist and anti-imperialist.


Release

A campaign by
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
resulted in Almada's release in 1977. Almada admittedly reports his book that this was facilitated by a whole range of organizations: Committee of Churches of Paraguay, the Human Rights Commission of Paraguay, the Episcopal Conference of Paraguay and the
World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...
. He went into exile with his mother and his children, at first in
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
and wrote a book ''Paraguay: The Forgotten Prison, the Country in Exile'' about torture he and, most importantly, others suffered and whose names and faces he well remembers, and the extensive network of corruption through which the country was "run" by a dictatorship dedicated to an absurd
anti-communism Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...
in the practical absence of any communist movement worth speaking of, actually a mask for the suppression of any even marginally left-leaning idea or practice. In 2020, Almada was the subject of book ''Opération Condor'' written by French author
Pablo Daniel Magee Pablo Daniel Magee (born April 22, 1985) is a French Swiss author, investigative journalist, screenwriter and playwright. Early life and education His father is the Swiss painter, sculptor and filmmaker Patrice Stellest. His mother is a poet ...
. Almada's book has raised debate about
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
all over the world. In 1986, he worked for
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
until 1992, when he returned to Paraguay. There he concentrated on the publication of papers of the dictatorship that reveal its repression and torture and in 1992, he finally uncovered the Archives of Terror.


Archives of Terror

In 1992 Almada and his team has discovered five tons of documents at the Department of Investigations,
Lambaré Lambaré () is a city in Central Department, Paraguay, part of the Gran Asunción metropolitan area. With a population of approximately 140,000 inhabitants, it is the List of cities in Paraguay by population, sixth-most populous city in the countr ...
which revealed dire practices of the
Alfredo Stroessner Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan army officer and politician who served as President of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 to 3 February 1989. Stroessner led a coup d'état on 4 May 1954 with the ...
dictatorship and links to the US government CIA agent's involvement into
Southern Cone The Southern Cone ( es, Cono Sur, pt, Cone Sul) is a geographical and cultural subregion composed of the southernmost areas of South America, mostly south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Traditionally, it covers Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, bou ...
countries at the time.'''' He claims that it had provided military assistance to ruling Paraguayan and Chilean regimes. After making the discovery Almada in the presence of many Paraguayan human rights advocates, farm and political leaders made efforts to defend victim's rights to compensation and Justice.'''' Later in 1993 he also protested against allowing American assistance in cataloguing and microfilming the archive.''''


Awards

He received several awards for his courage and work, including the prize "Antorcha a la libertad" of the Libre Foundation in Asunción in 1999 and the
Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob v ...
in 2002.


''Paraguay: The Forgotten Prison, the Country in Exile''

In his book he outlined names of 397 prisoners held at the Emboscada "Concentration Camp" in 1977-1979.''''


Publications

* ''Paraguay: The Forgotten Prison, the Country in Exile,'' can be downloaded fro
Martín Almada's website
Versions are available in English, Italian and Spanish.


See also

*
Terror archives The Archives of Terror ( es, Archivos del Terror) are a collection of documents chronicling some of the illicit activities undertaken by Paraguayan Dictator Alfredo Stroessner's secret police force. The documents have since been used in attempts ...
*
Operation Condor Operation Condor ( es, link=no, Operación Cóndor, also known as ''Plan Cóndor''; pt, Operação Condor) was a United States–backed campaign of political repression and state terror involving intelligence operations and assassination of o ...


References


External links


Martín Almada website
2002
Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob v ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Almada, Martin 1937 births Living people Paraguayan people of Portuguese descent Operation Condor Paraguayan educational theorists Paraguayan exiles Paraguayan human rights activists Paraguayan prisoners and detainees