Falkland Island Hero's Brutal Past Discovered

Enlarge this image toggle caption Silvina Frydlewsky For NPR Silvina Frydlewsky For NPR

In Argentina, Capt. Pedro Giachino has long been remembered as a hero. He was the first to die in his country's failed invasion of the Falkland Islands, which took place 30 years ago on Monday.

Recently, though, human rights groups discovered that the iconic figure of sacrifice in the war with Britain had been a henchman in Argentina's brutal military dictatorship.

Carlos Diaz, a leading human rights activist in the city of Mar del Plata, walks gingerly into the city council, a dimly lighted chamber that is a sort of microcosm of Argentina's once-violent past.

On two walls are solemn photographs of soldiers — heroes killed in Argentina's ill-fated war over the Falklands. On a third wall, there are 433 black-and-white photographs of young men and women from this orderly city on the Atlantic coast.

"What we see here are those who were disappeared or executed in Mar del Plata," says Diaz, referring to people who were interrogated by the military and killed. Their bodies were secretly buried or tossed into the Atlantic from aircraft.

A Hero's Death

Until recently, Giachino hadn't been seen as a criminal at all. A naval officer, dashing in dress whites, Giachino had led the first group of soldiers onto the Falklands on April 2, 1982. The British fought back.

As a BBC documentary puts it, the "invasion by Argentina provoked one of the most ambitious military undertakings in British history."

Giachino died in his first encounter, trying to take the governor's home. In the aftermath, music in Argentina was composed to honor his bravery. Roads and schools were named after him. There was a stamp in his honor.

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And a photograph of him was placed here on the wall of city hall in Mar del Plata.

That is, until Diaz and others began to unearth stories about Giachino's past and had the photo taken down.

"If Giachino hadn't died, he'd have been convicted for crimes," Diaz says.

A Conflicted Legacy

Among those who have direct knowledge of Giachino's dark past is Gabriel Della Valle. He survived two military interrogations.

"I'll never forget that face, never," says Della Valle, now a psychologist. "[Giachino] was the person who interrogated me in the naval base."

In a country still wrestling with the ghosts of the past, Giachino still has some strong supporters. His biggest supporter is his 37-year-old daughter, Karina Giachino, who is raising three girls.

"I see him as a hero. He gave his life for his troops, he completed his operation," she says.

Karina Giachino says the military made mistakes when they ruled Argentina, including the Falklands invasion. However, she says, losing the war was not the most important thing, because so much else was lost in Argentina in those years.