Abel Catuzzi

Abel Teodoro Catuzzi (Chivilcoy, May 2, 1927-Buenos Aires, October 30, 1997) was an Argentine military officer who reached the rank of brigadier general, and who during the military dictatorship called National Reorganization Process (1976-1983) held high positions, among them commander of Army Corps V, with headquarters in the city of Bahía Blanca and jurisdiction throughout Patagonia. He had under his command several clandestine detention centers, among them the one located in the Puerto Belgrano Naval Base and the so-called “Escuelita de Bahía Blanca”.

The justice system ordered to close the multiple trials in which he was accused of crimes against humanity due to the application in some cases of the 1986 “Punto Final” law and in others of the 1987 “Obediencia Debida” (Due Obedience) law.

Biography

Until December 1975 he served as commander of the II Armored Cavalry Brigade and as such was head of Subzone 22, which covered the province of Entre Ríos and was based in Paraná.

Between 1977 and 1979 he served as chief of Subzone 51, being then in command of the clandestine detention centers of the Puerto Belgrano Naval Base and the “Escuelita de Bahía Blanca”.

Between September and December 1979 he was interim commander of the V Army Corps and as such chief of Zone 5.

Catuzzi, a man who declared himself deeply Catholic, considered that torture was a way of purifying people. Bishop Miguel Hesayne testified in the Trial to the Juntas that Catuzzi told him that torturing was a Christian necessity.

Similar Posts: