Argentine state bears ‘responsibility’ for 1924 indigenous massacre: court

AFP

An Argentine court on Thursday found the state responsible for the massacre of more than 400 indigenous people almost a century ago, and ordered remedial measures.

In July 1924, Argentine police and settlers mowed down hundreds of indigenous people protesting inhumane living and working conditions on cotton plantations in the northern region of Chaco.

As many as 500 members of the Qom and Moqoit communities were killed. They lived in conditions of semi-slavery on the so-called Napapli reservation on land settled by immigrant farmers from Europe.

A federal judge has previously ruled the mass killing a crime against humanity, but no classic criminal trial has been held given the lack of defendants — who are long dead.

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Until Thursday, no guilt has never been officially assigned.

After a month of hearings in a so-called “truth trial,” a verdict was delivered Thursday by a court in Resistencia in Spanish as well as the languages of the Qom and Moqoit.

It said that the “responsibility of the state” had been proven in “crimes against humanity” that had taken place in the context of an “indigenous genocide.”

Judge Zunilda Niremperger ordered “historic reparations,” which did not include financial compensation.

Among the measures are to include the massacre in the school syllabus and continuing forensic efforts to find the remains of victims.

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A memorial was erected in 2020.

The plaintiffs had not sought economic redress, but the judgment could in theory could pave the way for civil action.

Raquel Esquivel, a Qom descendent, told AFP it was high time that “indigenous voices are heard.”

“It’s important that the truth be told,” she told AFP by telephone from Machagai, a small town near the Napalpi reserve some 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) north of Buenos Aires.

This was the first court case to delve into the persecution of indigenous peoples in Argentina.

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According to the accounts of survivors of the 1924 massacre, the dead included many children and elderly.

“The wounded who could not escape were killed in the cruelest way possible,” the court found — many were mutilated and buried in mass graves.

Only about a million of Argentina’s 45 million inhabitants today are members or descendants of the original 39 indigenous groups, according to census data.

Historians say the settlement of Argentina by immigrants left its indigenous peoples on the verge of extermination.

One of the most brutal episodes, known as The Desert Campaign, saw at least 14,000 indigenous people killed between 1878 and 1885 in the effort to incorporate Patagonia into the rest of Argentina.

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Dominican court postpones hearing in deadly nightclub collapse case

10 reported dead after explosion in Dominican Republic

A Dominican court on Monday postponed until March a preliminary hearing against the owners of a nightclub that collapsed last year, killing more than 200 people.

The roof of the Jet Set nightclub collapsed in the early hours of April 8, 2025, during a concert by popular merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who died along with 235 other people.

Jet Set owner and manager Antonio Espaillat and his sister Maribel, who served as the club’s administrator, were arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter but were later released on bail after posting approximately $842,500.

Both appeared at the Palace of Justice, where they were met by a small protest from relatives and friends of the victims.

“Thirty years in prison is not enough” and “President, we want JUSTICE,” read signs held by demonstrators.

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The preliminary hearing determines whether there is sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. The court decided to reschedule the hearing for March 16.

“We don’t want money and we’re not demanding anything else, only justice for those who died,” said Secundino Pérez, a 75-year-old shopkeeper who lost 12 friends in the Jet Set tragedy.

“Antonio and his family celebrated Christmas sitting at a table, celebrating their freedom,” said Edgar Gómez, who lost his daughter in the collapse.

The Dominican Republic’s Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the defendants “significantly altered” the structure of the nightclub. Prosecutors filed formal charges in November and requested that the case proceed to trial.

The charge of involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of three months to two years in prison.

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“May your conscience never let you sleep. I lost my son,” a woman shouted through tears before the hearing, while others chanted, “Murderers, murderers, murderers.”

International

Venezuelan opposition leader dedicates Nobel Prize to Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that he was “eager” to welcome the opposition leader, who left Venezuela clandestinely with U.S. assistance, to receive her Nobel Prize in Oslo.

Machado dedicated her Nobel Prize to Trump, who nevertheless showed a very cautious attitude toward including her in any potential political transition in Venezuela.

The opposition leader said on Monday, after an audience with Pope Leo XIV, that “the defeat of evil is closer” in Venezuela following the U.S. military operation that overthrew and removed President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from the country.

Trump has claimed that he is now in control of the South American nation, stating that the primary objective at this stage is to stabilize the country before considering elections.

Venezuelan oil is Washington’s main objective, Trump added after Maduro’s overthrow.

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International

Police hunt gunmen after fatal shooting in Corsica

A man was shot dead on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, local media reported. The victim was identified as Alain Orsoni, former president of local football club AC Ajaccio, according to sources close to the investigation cited by French news channel BFMTV.

Orsoni, 71, was killed in the town of Vero, near Ajaccio, the island’s capital, while attending his mother’s funeral.

He was also a former member of the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC), a nationalist organization that has long sought independence for the island, reports said.

BFMTV reported that the gunmen fled the scene and remain at large. Local police have opened an investigation into the shooting.