The building of the four towns in the foothills of Tucumán: the productive approach of Operation Independence (Tucumán, 1975-1977)

Abstract

In this essay we will analyse the last stages of “Operation Independence”, which consisted in the building of a road that linked four towns named after military personnel killed in the so-called “fight against subversion”, in the foothills of Tucumán. The case sheds some light over the twofold nature of repressive power: not only violent and disciplinary but also productive of new social relationships and new spatial changes in the area of the Tucuman hills. From this perspective, we argue that Operation Independence became a way toarticulate an effective and sovereign domain over an area that lacked state presence, signed by a dispute with rural guerrillas over land control. However, this article does not focus on the forms of repression used in thesouth of Tucuman during Operation Independence. Rather, it pays particular attention to the productive aspects that aimed to create a new order in the Tucuman hills, which had paramount importance for state terrorism.