The initiation ritual of a group of soldiers who had completed their training as Army paratroopers ended with several injuries. They sat them down in a row and threw quicklime in their faces. The incident occurred on May 17 in Córdoba and 20 young people suffered burns to the esophagus, stomach, lungs and eyes. The Army’s unusual explanation: it should have been flour instead of lime.
It all happened while the members of the 14th Parachute Regiment of the Third Córdoba Army Corps celebrated the progress in their formation. After becoming public, the episode remained under investigation at the Federal Prosecutor’s Office No. 2, in charge of Carlos Casas Noblega.
Lawyer Jerónimo Argañarazrepresenting one of the complainants, ruled out that it was due to an “error” and pointed out that there was no “consent from the soldiers.” “They are between 20 and 25 years old. There were 35 people. ‘Parachutist,’ they were shouting at them. And they had to respond ‘always,'” the lawyer told Infobae.
According to Argañaraz, at first, many of those affected refused to file a complaint for fear of reprisals and the actions of senior army officers. “The victims have not wanted to take an active participation in the beginning of the investigation so as not to be left behind,” he remarked.
Brutal baptism: the Army’s response after quicklime was thrown at soldiers
After the incident that ended with 20 soldiers hospitalized became public, the Argentine Army issued a statement in which it sought to minimize what happened.
“As a celebration for the completion of the course, flour and cider were thrown on the 221 recently graduated paratroopers,” the text indicated at the beginning. And then it was clarified: “To a group of 35 troops, due to an error by those who were supposed to carry the material, lime was thrown instead of flour.”
In the same statement, the Army completed: “Those personnel were affected and immediately evacuated to the Córdoba Military Hospital, where they received medical attention and studies were carried out. A small group remained under observation and was later discharged.”
It should be remembered that, since July 2022, initiation ceremonies were prohibited by order of the Ministry of Defense, when Jorge Taiana was in charge, after the death of Matias Chirino22 years old, who was subjected to a lethal rite in the Monte 3 Artillery Group, in the city of Paso de los Libres, in Corrientes.
