By Editorial Vive CABA
June 11, 2026
A strong climate of tension was experienced in the last hours within the premises of the Memory and Human Rights Space (exESMA), located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Núñez. Human rights groups criminally denounced the irruption of uniformed military personnel carrying long weapons and the entry of Army vehicles into the interior beach of the property, within the framework of official activities for the Day of the Affirmation of Argentine Rights over the Malvinas Islands.
The scene of the conflict was the Malvinas Museum, which operates within the premises of Avenida del Libertador at 8150. The alerts began to go off after noon on Wednesday, June 10, when visitors and workers at the site noticed the presence of armed uniformed officers and the deployment of tactical trucks.
The current regulations that regulate the operation of the Memory Space explicitly prohibit entering the property with weapons, due to the symbolic and re-victimization impact it implies in a place where one of the largest clandestine detention and extermination centers of the last military dictatorship operated.
The judicial complaint and the rejection of the organizations
Faced with this situation, historical figures of human rights such as Estela de Carlotto (Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo) and Carlos Pisoni (HIJOS) urgently went to federal Justice. The presentation was filed before Judge Julián Ercolini—in charge of the ESMA mega-case—, the Federal Oral Court 5 and the Office of the Prosecutor for Crimes Against Humanity.
«50 years after the genocidal coup, this unnecessary act of military exhibitionism in a space of memory, in the context of denialism and even apology for State terrorism by the Government, alerts and worries us,» they expressed through a joint statement spread on social networks, where they demanded urgent explanations from the national authorities.
For her part, Graciela Lois, president of Relatives of the Disappeared and Detained for Political Reasons, joined the repudiation: «The Malvinas cause is a cause felt by all of us. In no way does this enable armed people to be brought to the exESMA. «It is an affront to memory and a new way of victimizing ourselves.»
Name changes and previous frictions
The climate at the Malvinas Museum was already adding friction due to the imprint of its current director, Esteban Vilgré La Madrid, a retired military man and war veteran aligned with the ruling party’s Defense area.
On the same day, June 10, the name change of the museum’s auditorium was made official. Until now, the room honored Orlando Gustavo Pascua, a key former combatant in promoting complaints of torture suffered by conscripts on the islands. The new management decided to rename the space with the name «Maestro Julio Cao», a measure that the Malvinas Islands Ex-Combatants Center (CECIM) La Plata harshly criticized, cataloging government officials as «executioners who cancel stories.»
The official answer: «Historical reenactment»
Given the escalation of the scandal and the judicial presentation, explanations from the Treasury Palace and the Ministry of Defense did not take long to arrive. Guillermo Madero, chief of staff of the head of the Army, Carlos Presti, strongly crossed the accusations through his official channels.
According to the version of the Ministry of Defense, it was not a real military operation or a demonstration of forces, but rather a «historical recreation with participants characterized as combatants and using replicas» of the rifles used during the 1982 war.
«I repudiate this miserable operation based on hatred, resentment and lies. You have to stoop very low to attack a tribute to our Malvinas heroes with deliberate falsehoods,» Madero replied, dismissing the complaint from civil organizations.
While the discursive dispute continues to escalate, the legal presentation continues its course in the courts of Comodoro Py, opening a new chapter of debate on institutional limits, the use of public space and memory policies in the City of Buenos Aires.
