Omar Torres is 74 and resides in Salta. He lives off a modest pension and admits that he struggles to make ends meet. Every so often, he will take a short road trip with his partner to somewhere in the region. He strives to maintain regular contact with his three children.

On the surface, Torres’ life is no different from that of millions of other retirees in Argentina. But any semblance of normality dissolves as soon as he begins to recount what he witnessed as a member of the military police (known as Gendarmería) during the dictatorship that ravaged the country between 1976 and 1983.

Torture sessions. Transfers to “death flights.” Even live executions. An endless stream of haunting memories that assail him at unexpected moments. 

“When I left the force, I used to wake up in the early hours of the morning with images of the executions, but not so much anymore; it’s passing,” he confessed.

Torres has not been a silent witness. His testimony in multiple trials since the return of democracy in 1983 has led to the sentencing of military officials for crimes against humanity, as well as the discovery of mass graves. 

The denialist rhetoric of President Milei and his administration, however, has marked a new turning point for Torres. An unthinkable scenario that prompted him to contact the Herald to once again describe everything he experienced because, in his words, he still cannot understand “the aberration of the crimes they committed.”

“Some boast about it and even believe they were saviors. It’s intolerable.”

Torres was born in November of 1953 in Vedia, a small town in northern Buenos Aires province. He joined the Military Police in 1975, drawn by the possibility of earning a salary and encouraged by several friends who were already members. 

“They convinced me, and I joined,” he recalled. He had only been on the force for a few months when the coup took place on March 24. 

As he recounted in the trials, low-ranking officers like him rotated every 50 days to different destinations around........

© Buenos Aires Herald