Photo by Sonia Nadales on Unsplash
Like my father, he had two daughters.
Unlike my father, he was married.
He lived two blocks from where I once
did, on Cambpell and Pouey.
Only a street from the Centenario.
There is a Burger King next to his
apartment now.
He was a translator, too.
She was awoken by the rattling of
bayonets on the door.
They asked
if he had any pamphlets belonging to
the Communist Party.
They took him away in a military car,
his books in a white Fiat.
His face was red with blood.
He was there for forty days.
The torturer said “thank God you’re
dead and I don’t have to keep hitting
you.”
So goes the testimony.
I can’t imagine the pain
of requesting information from a police
you know is responsible, I’m sure
she knew, after all—
I’m sure their daughters know now, too.
I can’t imagine the legal battle for
recognition of his disappearance.
My father is a lawyer, in fact
he specializes in family affairs,
but not ones like this,
not ones like this.
There is contradictory information
as to whether his ashes
were spread around the torture site
or thrown into the Río de la Plata.
There is contradictory information
as to whether ashes float.
Identification Document: 480.439
Civil Credentials: No data
Fingerprint: E 3343 | 4442
Age: 51
Date of Birth: 02/18/1926
Place of Birth: Montevideo
Nationality: Uruguay
Civil Status: Married
Children: 2
Address: Belgrano 2872, apartment 201, Montevideo
Occupation: Translator for International Book Service at the Heber Saldivia library
Alias: Ignacio
Political Affiliation: Communist Party (P.C.U.), Broad Front (FA). Political Secretary of the “South” Section and Political Secretary in Region 5
Trade Union Affiliation: Leader of the Uruguayan Federation of Workers in Commerce and Industry (FUECI), National Workers’ Convention (CNT)
Detention-Kidnapping
Date: 06/14/1977
Place: Domicile
Time: Between 12:30 and 1:00 AM
Testimonies: Sara Barrocas de Arigón (wife)
Imprisonment
Location: “La Tablata” clandestine detention center
Institutional Responsibility: Army Division I (D.E.I.), Coordinator of Anti-Subversive Operations (OCOA)
Last Seen: 06/15/1977
Possible Cause of Death: Torture received on 06/15/1977
Illegal Transport
Likely Date: No data
Institutional Responsibility: No data
Circumstance: No data
Location: “La Tablada” clandestine detention center
Testimonies: Eduardo Platero, Juan Ángel Toledo, Milka Eladia Baubeta (prisoners in “La Tablada”)
Location of Remains: No data
Identification of Remains: No data
10/29/1977. His spouse went to the Commander General asking for information about SUBJECT’s detention. She is told they do not have information.
08/20/1981. Ministry of Foreign Relations.
Note № 1014/81 sent to the Permanent Mission of Uruguay for the Organization of American States (URUOEA)
“Case CIDH 3471. Please sent the Commission the following: As for Luis Eduardo Arigón Castel, the Government of Uruguay informs you that since he was released on 5/4/77, he is not registered as detained or processed. Diplomacy.”
05/23/1985. The Commission of Families of the Disappeared presents to the justice proof of his detention in the clandestine detention center.
06/27/1989. The following answer is given: Upon consulting FUSNA, DIVIN, and the Division archive, we inform you that the aforementioned SUBJECT was not detained on 06/14/1977 by members of the cited Unit.