The Minister of Defense, Luis Petriannounced that they will apply the “maximum sanctions” for those responsible for injuring 35 Army soldiers, at whom they threw quicklime and cider during a baptism in Córdoba.
““We are going to be relentless”said the national official, who also anticipated measures against this type of initiation rites.
“There was a precedent in 2022, when Ezequiel Chirino died as a result of the initiation rites. That is why we are not only going to apply sanctions, but we are going to modify the rule because there is a custom due to lack of knowledge that these baptisms and these rites at the end of the courses are prohibited,” Petri explained on Miter radio.
Since July of that year, initiation ceremonies were prohibited by order of the Ministry of Defense, when Jorge Taiana was in charge, after the death of Matías Chirino, 22, who was subjected to a lethal rite in the Artillery Group of Monte 3, in the city of Paso de los Libres, in Corrientes.
In that sense, Petri said that “it is false” that he has agreed to reimplement those rituals. “They are prohibited, the problem is that the rule is unknown. Regardless of the approval of that resolution, It did not come to the attention of the members of the force. “They did it to get out of trouble for Chirino’s death,” he added.
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The Defense Minister denied that it was an inadvertent error and said that 11 people are suspended.
The incident occurred on May 17, however the images went viral this week. There you can see the young people of the 14th Parachute Regiment of the Third Córdoba Army Corps, kneeling and standing in a row, at the time of “baptism.”
Shouting “parachutist!” by a superior, members had to respond “always.” While they stood with their mouths open, the lime was poured on them.
Lawyer Jerónimo Argañaraz, representative of one of the complainants, ruled out that it was due to an “error”, a version spread by the Army, and highlighted that “there was no consent from the soldiers”,
When consulted, Petri considered: “It is very difficult for it to be an involuntary error.. Everyone can distinguish just by feeling the effects of lime and flour. “Clearly for me there has been intentionality and they have to be strongly sanctioned.”
“There are 11 people suspended from their duties. If appropriate, they will be discharged, without a doubt,” concluded the Minister of Defense.
One of the graduates of the skydiving course had provided details of what the initiation rite was like.
“When we made the first jump, they ‘baptized’ us with flour and cider, but when we completed the instruction with the fourth jump we didn’t understand what happened, because they brought a bag of lime,” he told The voice of the interior.
“I never thought it was going to be cal, but they make you open your mouth when they shout ‘parachutist!’ and you have to answer ‘always!'” the soldier recalled.
“There was wind and you could tell that the dust was thick. When it hit me, It burned my entire mouth, nose and eyes. “It was a moment of despair.”he added about the moment he realized that they hadn’t really thrown flour at him.
One of the parents also told TN that of the 11 hospitalized “the most serious received a stomach lavage, burns to the respiratory tract, burns to the conjunctivae of the eyes and nose.”
“It was quite serious and unfortunately it was covered up because that same day a career boy died, also in the same area and that disastrous news was what covered up this and they also wanted to cover it up because they are archaic customs,” he added.
Finally he said that “there is a group of young people who want to start some action in Justice so that it does not happen again.”
The unusual response of the Army
After the incident 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 added: “These personnel were affected and were 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.”
