Héctor Benigno Varela (January 27, 1875 – January 27, 1923) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

military officer, best known for having been responsible for the massacre of between 300 and 1,500 workers in the Santa Cruz province, during the events that became known as '' Patagonia Rebelde''.

Early life

Varela was born on January 27, 1875, in

Renca, San Luis Renca is a village and municipality in San Luis Province in central Argentina.Ministerio del Interior

Refe ...

, son of Ramón S. Varela and Ramona Domínguez. He joined the San Martín Military College on February 19, 1895; then in December 1896 he started his military career in the 7th Cavalry Regiment. He then went on to the 3rd Regiment, where he was promoted to lieutenant in 1904. In 1919, Varela participated in the repression of workers' strikes during the Tragic Week, under the command of Luis Dellepiane.

Patagonia rebelde

In November 1920, a rural workers' strike broke out in Santa Cruz, which went down in history as ''Patagonia Rebelde'' or ''Patagonia Tragica'' (''Rebel Patagonia'' or ''Tragic Patagonia''). Varela was appointed by

Hipólito Yrigoyen Juan Hipólito del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Yrigoyen (12 July 1852 – 3 July 1933) was an Argentine politician of the Radical Civic Union who served as President of Argentina from 1916 to 1922 and again from 1928 until his overthrow in ...

to try to smooth things out between the parties. After meeting with the strikers, an agreement was reached. However, when Varela withdrew from

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

, the ranchers did not comply and the strike began again as if there had been no agreement. However, the government, being strongly criticized and accused of inaction by Santa Cruz landowners,

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

newspapers and embassies of foreign powers, sent Varela back to Santa Cruz with a force of 200 soldiers to violently repress the workers' movement. For more than a month Varela's troops persecuted the strikers, executing by firing squad most of them. The event that best illustrates the criminal methods used by Varela was the torture and execution of José Font, alias "Facón Grande", on December 23 by order of Varela himself, after he had assured him that he would respect his life if he surrendered peacefully. Varela_La_Nacion

For these events he was honored by the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

paramilitary group

Argentine Patriotic League The Argentine Patriotic League () was a '' Nacionalista'' paramilitary group, officially created in Buenos Aires on January 16, 1919, during the Tragic Week. Presided over by Manuel Carlés, a professor at the Military College and the '' Escuela ...

Death

One year after the end of the massacre in Santa Cruz, on the morning of January 27, 1923, Héctor Benigno Varela was assassinated as he was leaving his house in the

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

district of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

by Kurt Gustav Wilckens, a German

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

worker, who threw him a bomb and fired four shots at him, in accordance with the four shots that Varela himself ordered the firing squads.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varela, Hector Benigno 1875 births 1923 deaths People from San Luis Province Argentine people of Galician descent Argentine lieutenant colonels Argentine Army officers Argentine anti-communists Argentine mass murderers Assassinated Argentine military personnel