Campo de Mayo is a military base located in
Greater Buenos Aires
Greater Buenos Aires (, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of B ...
, Argentina, northwest 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 ...
.
Campo de Mayo covers an area of and is one of the most important
military base
A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...
s in Argentina, including
Argentine Army
The Argentine Army () is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander-in-chief of the Armed For ...
's:
* Army NCO School "Sergeant (CAV) Juan Bautista Cabral"
* Campo de Mayo Military Hospital
* Metropolitan Military Garrison HQ
* Army Infantry School
* Army Cavalry School
* Army School of Communications
* Army Engineering School
* Army Artillery School
* 601 Air Assault Regiment
*
601 Commando Company
* main units of
Argentine Army Aviation
It is also home for the aviation service of the
Argentine National Gendarmerie
History
Development of the base was authorized by a Congressional bill sponsored by the Minister of War, General
Pablo Riccheri, and signed by President
Julio Roca on 8 August 1901. A site was later chosen northwest of Buenos Aires, for which land was purchased from Eugenio Mattaldi in 1910.
Between 1976 and 1982, during the de facto military dictatorship called
National Reorganization Process
The National Reorganization Process ( PRN; often simply , "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as the ("last military junta"), ("last military dictatorship") ...
, there were four secret detention centres inside the base. The most notorious were "La Casita", "Prisión Militar de Encausados", "El Campito" and the "Hospital Militar," where newborn babies were kidnapped from pregnant women among the
disappeared by the regime.
[Andersen, Martin. ''Dossier Secreto''. Westview Press, 1993.]
The Campo de mayo was also the site of an April 1987 mutiny by Lt. Col.
Aldo Rico and executed by men loyal to him known as ''
Carapintadas'' ("painted faces," from their use of camouflage paint). Instigated despite the passage of the
Full Stop Law, which limited prosecutions of nearly 600 officers implicated in the
Dirty War
The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...
, the incident was tantamount to a coup attempt against President
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (; 12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after the 7-yea ...
, who successfully stayed the mutiny.
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References
External links
Video Report from the Campo de Mayo trials
Populated places in Buenos Aires Province
Military installations of Argentina
Argentine Army
Military schools
Military installations established in 1910
1910 establishments in Argentina
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