In the cruel event known as “La Noche de los Lapices” (Night of the Pencils), six of the abducted youths were murdered and forcibly disappeared, while four managed to survive.

Argentines commemorate this Wednesday the anniversary of that savage episode in which teenagers aged 16 to 18 were brutally killed.

The murdered youths were Maria Claudia Falcone (16), Maria Clara Ciocchini (18), Francisco Lopez Muntaner (16), Claudio de Acha (17), Horacio Angel Ungaro (17), and Daniel Alberto Racero (18).

Diego Marinelli explains in a historical article for C5N that such an operation, conducted in La Plata in 1976 by security forces against a group of high school students under the command of Ramon Camps and Miguel Etchecolatz, became one of the greatest symbols of the impact state terrorism had on Argentine youth.

Marinelli stated that the youth were a primary target of the military regime’s task forces.

An estimated 349 high school students aged 13 to 17 were forcibly disappeared as part of a systematic plan to root out the youthful rebellion of the 60s and 70s.

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