Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the South American continent's southeastern coast. "Buenos Aires" can be translated as "fair winds" or "good airs", but the former was the meaning intended by the founders in the 16th century, by the use of the original name "Real de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre". The Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, which includes several Buenos Aires Province districts, constitutes the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas, with a population of around 15.6 million. The city of Buenos Aires is the Province's capital. In 1880, after decades of political infighting, Buenos Aires was federalized and removed from Buenos Aires Province; the city limits were enlarged to include the towns of Flores. The 1994 constitutional amendment granted the city autonomy, hence its formal name: Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, its citizens first elected a chief of government in 1996.
Buenos Aires is considered an'alpha city' by the study GaWC5. Buenos Aires' quality of life was ranked 91st in the world, being one of the best in Latin America in 2018, it is the most visited city in South America, the second-most visited city of Latin America. Buenos Aires is a top tourist destination, is known for its preserved Eclectic European architecture and rich cultural life. Buenos Aires held the 1st Pan American Games in 1951 as well as hosting two venues in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Buenos Aires hosted the 2018 the 2018 G20 summit. Buenos Aires is a multicultural city, being home to multiple religious groups. Several languages are spoken in the city in addition to Spanish, contributing to its culture and the dialect spoken in the city and in some other parts of the country; this is because in the last 150 years the city, the country in general, has been a major recipient of millions of immigrants from all over the world, making it a melting pot where several ethnic groups live together and being considered one of the most diverse cities of the Americas.
It is recorded under the archives of Aragonese that Catalan missionaries and Jesuits arriving in Cagliari under the Crown of Aragon, after its capture from the Pisans in 1324 established their headquarters on top of a hill that overlooked the city. The hill was known to them as Bonaira, as it was free of the foul smell prevalent in the old city, adjacent to swampland. During the siege of Cagliari, the Catalans built a sanctuary to the Virgin Mary on top of the hill. In 1335, King Alfonso the Gentle donated the church to the Mercedarians, who built an abbey that stands to this day. In the years after that, a story circulated, claiming that a statue of the Virgin Mary was retrieved from the sea after it miraculously helped to calm a storm in the Mediterranean Sea; the statue was placed in the abbey. Spanish sailors Andalusians, venerated this image and invoked the "Fair Winds" to aid them in their navigation and prevent shipwrecks. A sanctuary to the Virgin of Buen Ayre would be erected in Seville.
In the first foundation of Buenos Aires, Spanish sailors arrived thankfully in the Río de la Plata by the blessings of the "Santa Maria de los Buenos Aires", the "Holy Virgin Mary of the Good Winds", said to have given them the good winds to reach the coast of what is today the modern city of Buenos Aires. Pedro de Mendoza called the city "Holy Mary of the Fair Winds", a name suggested by the chaplain of Mendoza's expedition – a devotee of the Virgin of Buen Ayre – after the Sardinian Madonna de Bonaria. Mendoza's settlement soon came under attack by indigenous people, was abandoned in 1541. For many years, the name was attributed to a Sancho del Campo, said to have exclaimed: How fair are the winds of this land!, as he arrived. But Eduardo Madero, in 1882 after conducting extensive research in Spanish archives concluded that the name was indeed linked with the devotion of the sailors to Our Lady of Buen Ayre. A second settlement was established in 1580 by Juan de Garay, who sailed down the Paraná River from Asunción.
Garay preserved the name chosen by Mendoza, calling the city Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María del Buen Aire. The short form "Buenos Aires" became the common usage during the 17th century; the usual abbreviation for Buenos Aires in Spanish is Bs. As, it is common as well to refer to it as "B. A." or "BA". While "BA" is used more by expats residing in the city, the locals more use the abbreviation "Baires", in one word. Seaman Juan Díaz de Solís, navigating in the name of Spain, was the first European to reach the Río de la Plata in 1516, his expedition was cut short when he was killed during an attack by the native Charrúa tribe in what is now Uruguay. The city of Buenos Aires was first established as Ciudad de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre after Our Lady of Bonaria on 2 February 1536 by a Spanish expedition led by Pedro de Mendoza; the settlement founded by Mendoza was located in what is today the San Telmo district of Buenos Aires, south of the city centre. More attacks by the indigenous
Avenida del Libertador
Avenida del Libertador is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, in points north, extending 25 km from the Retiro District of Buenos Aires to the northern suburb of San Fernando. Inspired by Parisian urbanist Baron Haussmann's renowned modernization of the City of Lights, Mayor Torcuato de Alvear took office with a similar mandate in 1880. Inheriting a growing city hamstrung by a colonial grid of narrow streets, his most ambitious project would be a boulevard connecting the Retiro section to the growing neighborhoods of Recoleta and Palermo to the northeast. Bella Vista Street was widened and lengthened, reaching 7 km northwest into Palermo and, upon its inaugural in 1885, was renamed in honor the Mayor's father, Carlos María de Alvear. Soon becoming among the most coveted addresses in Buenos Aires, Avenida Alvear was graced by numerous mansions, though it also became among the most transited in the fast-growing Buenos Aires of the late 19th century. Planned with a future railway terminal in Retiro in mind, Mayor Adolfo Bullrich had a multilane boulevard developed between Retiro and Palermo parallel to the Mitre rail line and east of Alvear Avenue, giving Palermo commuters easy access to the station and freeing Alvear of its heavy traffic.
Opened in 1906, Avenida Viceroy Vértiz was renamed Avenida del Libertador in 1950 in honor of the Liberator of Argentina and Perú, General José de San Martín, by order of President Juan Perón and to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of San Martín's passing. A 15 km thoroughfare connecting Buenos Aires to San Fernando was built in the late 1930s and was renamed in 1950; the subsequent automobile boom and the growth of northside neighborhoods and suburbs led Mayor Manuel Iricíbar in 1968 to order the extension of the avenue northwards into the Belgrano and Núñez neighborhoods. The extension was facilitated by a tunnel and by the widening of Blandengues Street, which became part of Avenida del Libertador, thus connected to the avenue of the same name north of Buenos Aires, Libertador's entry into the suburb of Vicente López via a roundabout was replaced by a freeway underpass and its boulevard medians, removed. Severe rush hour traffic congestion along the avenue was alleviated by the 1996 opening of the Arturo Illia Freeway, running parallel to the avenue and providing a alternative to the busy junction at Libertador and Avenida 9 de Julio.
Avenida Leandro Alem at its northern end becomes Libertador Avenue at the southeast corner of San Martín Plaza. Continuing northwards along the Retiro district, it passes by the important Retiro railway terminal and in parallel to the Mitre rail line. Past the Railway Museum, it travels under the Illia Freeway overpass and through the intersection with the massive Ninth of July Avenue. Entering the Recoleta district, the avenue affords a view of Alvear Plaza and the Recoleta Cultural Center before a fork leads to Figueroa Alcorta Avenue, a parallel thoroughfare opened in 1910; the National Museum of Fine Arts is located at this junction. Its Palermo district stretch takes the avenue past the Argentine Automobile Club, the National Museum of Decorative Arts, the Buenos Aires Japanese Gardens, Tres de Febrero Park, the Palermo Hippodrome, its route along both these neighborhoods is surrounded by some of the most valuable residential real estate in Buenos Aires. A tunnel opened in 1971 takes the avenue past the Municipal Golf Course and into the Belgrano district.
In Núñez, it passes by the infamous Navy Mechanics School, which housed the most important of the 340 detention centers operated by Argentina's last dictatorship in the late 1970s. The ESMA is today the National Museum of Remembrance. An underpass leads into the northern suburb of Vicente López, beginning the avenue's 15 km stretch in Buenos Aires Province; the scenery of high rises and shopping areas there and in neighboring Olivos blends into leafy San Isidro, passing by the Neogothic Cathedral of San Isidro. A detour via Primera Junta Avenue continues the interrupted thoroughfare into San Fernando until its city limit with the Paraná Delta city of Tigre, where it ends past a bridge over one of the area's numerous canals. Landmarks along Avenida del Libertador El túnel del tiempo Vialidad Nacional
Olympiastadion (Berlin)
Olympiastadion is a sports stadium in Berlin, Germany. It was built by Werner March for the 1936 Summer Olympics. During the Olympics, the record attendance was thought to be over 100,000. Today the stadium is part of the Olympiapark Berlin. Since renovations in 2004, the Olympiastadion has a permanent capacity of 74,475 seats and is the largest stadium in Germany for international football matches. Olympiastadion is a UEFA category four stadium and one of the world's most prestigious venues for sporting and entertainment events. Besides its use as an athletics stadium, the arena has built a footballing tradition. Since 1963, it has been the home ground of the Hertha BSC football team, it hosted. It was renovated for the 2006 FIFA World Cup; the DFB-Pokal final match is held each year at the venue. The Olympiastadion Berlin served as a host for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup as well as the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final. During the 1912 Summer Olympics, the city of Berlin was designated by the International Olympic Committee to host the 1916 Summer Olympics.
Germany's proposed stadium for this event was to be located in Charlottenburg, in the Grunewald Forest, to the west of Berlin—thus the stadium was known as Grunewaldstadion. A horse racing-course existed there which belonged to the Berliner Rennverein, today the old ticket booths survive on Jesse-Owens-Allee; the government of Germany decided not to build in the nearby Grunewald forest, or to renovate buildings that existed. Because of this desire, they hired the same architect who had built the "Rennverein", Otto March. March decided to bury the stadium in the ground. However, the 1916 Olympic Games were cancelled due to World War I. In the 1920s the first buildings of a school, the "Deutsches Sportforum", dedicated to the teaching of professors of physical education and the study of sport science were built northeast of the stadium site. From 1926 to 1929, Otto March's sons were assigned to build an annex for these institutions, though the finalization was delayed until 1936. In 1931, the International Olympic Committee selected Berlin to host the 11th Summer Olympics.
The German government decided to restore the earlier Olympiastadion of 1916, with Werner March again retained to do this. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, they decided to use the Olympic Games in 1936 for propaganda purposes. With these plans in mind, Adolf Hitler ordered the construction of a great sports complex in Grunewald named the "Reichssportfeld" with a new Olympiastadion. Architect Werner March remained in charge of assisted by his brother Walter. Construction took place from 1934 to 1936; when the Reichssportfeld was finished, it was 1.32 square kilometres. It consisted of: the Olympiastadion, the Maifeld and the Waldbühne amphitheater, in addition to various places and facilities for different sports in the northern part. Werner March built the new Olympiastadion on the foundation of the original Deutsches Stadion, once again with the lower half of the structure recessed 12 meters below ground level; the capacity of the Olympiastadion reached 110,000 spectators. It possessed a special stand for Adolf Hitler and his political associates.
At its end, aligned with the symmetrically-designed layout of the buildings of the Olympischer Platz and toward the Maifeld, was the Marathon Gate with a big receptacle for the Olympic Flame. The Maifeld was created as a huge lawn for gymnastic demonstrations annual May Day celebrations by the government; the area was surrounded by 19 metres of land elevation though the Olympiastadion was only 17 metres high. The total capacity was 250,000 people, with 60,000 in the large stands that extended at the west end. Located there were the Langemarck-Halle and the Bell Tower; the walls were built with sturdy stone from the area of the Lower Alps, feature equine sculptures. This consisted of huge halls built under the stands of the Maifeld. Pillars were raised on which hung flags and shields commemorating all the forces that participated in a battle fought in Langemark on 10 November 1914, during the First World War. Since 2006, the ground floor is home to a public exhibit providing historical information on the area of the former Reichssportfeld.
During the 1936 Olympics, the Maifeld was used for equestrian dressage events. After the Second World War, the occupying forces of the British Army annually celebrated the Queen's Official Birthday on the Maifeld and used it for a variety of sporting activities including cricket. Starting in 2012, Maifeld became home to the Berlin Cricket Club; the Bell Tower crowned the western end of the Reichs Sportfield planted amid the tiers of the Maifeld stands. It was 77 metres high. From its peak could be observed the whole city of Berlin. During the games, it was used as observation post by administrators and police officials and the media. In the tower was the Olympic Bell. On its surface were the Olympic Rings with an eagle, the year 1936, the Brandenburg Gate, the date 1.-16. August and a motto between two swastikas: I call the youth of the world and 11. Olympic Games Berlin – although the games were the 10th Olympics, they were the Games of the XI Olympiad. The
Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo
The Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo is the most important international polo championship at club level, that has taken place every year since 1893 at the Campo Argentino de Polo of Palermo, Buenos Aires. It was known as the "River Plate Polo Championship" between 1893-1923, as well as the other two main polo events in Argentina, the handicap of the teams must be between 28 and 40 goals, it is organized by the Asociación Argentina de Polo. From September 26th to October 7th, six teams with handicaps of up to +32 will participate in the Qualifying Tournament “90 Aniversario de la AAP” to get hold of one of the two remaining places in the 120th Hurlingham Open and the 120th Argentine Open. In combination with the Tortugas Open, the tournaments form the Argentine Triple Crown, a series of the most prestigious and important polo tournaments worldwide; the first championship was held in 1893. Below is the list with all Argentine champions. Notes: Official website
Palace of the Argentine National Congress
The Palace of the Argentine National Congress is a monumental building, seat of the Argentine National Congress, located in Buenos Aires at the western end of Avenida de Mayo. Constructed between 1898 and 1906, the palace is a National Historic Landmark; the Kilometre Zero for all Argentine National Highways is marked on a milestone at the Congressional Plaza, next to the building. The idea of a congressional palace was first proposed and decreed in 1895. Designed by the Italian architect Vittorio Meano and completed by Argentine architect Julio Dormal, the building was under construction between 1898 and 1906. Inaugurated that year, its aesthetic details were not completed until 1946; the quadriga atop the entrance is the work of sculptor Victor de Pol. The edifice was built at a cost of US$6 million allocated by the federal government; the building was accepted by Congress on 12 May 1906. As time went by, the building proved too small for its purpose, in 1974 the construction of the Annex, which now holds the Deputies' offices, was started.
From 1976 to 1983 the palace housed the Legislative Advisory Commission, a group of officers from the three Armed Forces. Congressional Plaza, built by French Argentine urbanist Charles Thays, faces the palace. Popular among tourists since its inauguration in 1910, the plaza is a preferred location for protesters and those who want to voice their opinion about congressional activities; the palace is in Neoclassical style made of white marble with elaborately furnished interiors in the Lost Steps Hall and the Blue Room. It is crowned by a bronze-plated dome 80 metres in height, weighing 3,000 tonnes, weathered to green color; this cupola is supported over a 10 metres deep inverted dome foundation. The dome is lit during other special occasions; the main entrance, called the Entrada de Honor, is used for ceremonial purposes. In front of it is the 8 metres high quadriga sculpture, by Victor de Pol, it weighs 20 tonnes. A symbol of the Argentine Republic, it follows the typical depiction of Roman Empire generals making a declaration of Victory but in this case it is driven by the symbolic Liberty holding the reins of the horses.
The palace used to have a barber shop in the basement but it was demolished. In 1997, with the first general restoration of facades, representatives of the Government of Buenos Aires promoted the recovery of the statues designed by Lola Mora to crown the entrance to Congress; as the sculptor had donated to the government of province of Jujuy, the only thing possible was to make rubbings to place in Buenos Aires. However, at that time the idea did not materialize. Only in 2012, with the new Master Plan, the initiative gained momentum again and began to take shape; the government of Jujuy reaffirmed its ownership of the statues of Mora, so that Congress signed a treaty for the restoration of the original and creating two copies of each work by a 3D mapping, which began in January 2013. The original had suffered deterioration caused by hundred years of outdoor exposure, so it must be kept in a closed and adequate space, while one group of rubbings will be placed in its place in the Government House of Jujuy, the other set of rubbings will be placed in the original spaces of the National Congress.
On 1 March 2014 replicas of the statues were inaugurated by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner at the opening of the regular session. Casa Rosada Palace of Justice of the Argentine Nation List of National Historic Monuments of Argentina Web BibliographyInternational Bureau of the American Republics. Argentine Republic: A Geographical Sketch, with Special Reference to Economic Conditions, Actual Development, Prospects of Future Growth. U. S. Government Printing Office. De Dios, Julián; this Is Buenos Aires. de Dios Editores. ISBN 978-987-9445-50-1
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, is a Canadian singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in the 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles, where he formed Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Young had released two solo albums and three as a member of Buffalo Springfield by the time he joined Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969. From his early solo albums and those with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has recorded a steady stream of studio and live albums, sometimes warring with his recording company along the way. Young's guitar work personal lyrics and signature tenor singing voice transcend his long career. Young plays piano and harmonica on many albums, which combine folk, rock and other musical styles, his distorted electric guitar playing with Crazy Horse, earned him the nickname "Godfather of Grunge" and led to his 1995 album Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam. More Young has been backed by Promise of the Real. Young directed films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including Journey Through the Past, Rust Never Sleeps, Human Highway, CSNY/Déjà Vu.
He contributed to the soundtracks of the films Philadelphia and Dead Man. Young has received several Grammy and Juno awards; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him twice: as a solo artist in 1995 and in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield. In 2000, Rolling Stone named Young the 34th greatest rock'n roll artist, he retains Canadian citizenship. He was awarded the Order of Manitoba on July 14, 2006, was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 30, 2009. Neil Young was born on November 1945, in Toronto, Ontario, his father, Scott Alexander Young, was a journalist and sportswriter who wrote fiction. His mother, Edna Blow Ragland "Rassy" Young was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Although Canadian, his mother had French ancestry. Young's parents married in 1940 in Winnipeg and their first son, Robert "Bob" Young, was born in 1942. Shortly after Young's birth in 1945, his family moved to rural Omemee, which Young described fondly as a "sleepy little place". Young suffered from polio in 1951 during the last major outbreak of the disease in Ontario.
After his recovery, the Young family vacationed in Florida. During that period, Young attended Chisolm Elementary School in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. In 1952, upon returning to Canada, Young moved from Omemee to Winnipeg for a year, before relocating to Toronto and Pickering. Young became interested in popular music; when Young was twelve, his father, who had had several extramarital affairs, left his mother. His mother asked for a divorce, granted in 1960. Young went to live with his mother, who moved back to Winnipeg, while his brother Bob stayed with his father in Toronto. During the mid-1950s, Young listened to rock'n roll, doo-wop, R&B, western pop, he idolized Elvis Presley and referred to him in a number of his songs. Other early musical influences included Link Wray, Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, The Ventures, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Chuck Berry, Hank Marvin, Little Richard, Fats Domino, The Chantels, The Monotones, Ronnie Self, the Fleetwoods, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Gogi Grant.
Young first began to play music himself on a plastic ukulele, before, as he would relate, going on to "a better ukulele to a banjo ukulele to a baritone ukulele – everything but a guitar."Young and his mother settled into the working-class area of Fort Rouge, where the shy, dry-humoured youth enrolled at Earl Grey Junior High School. It was there that he formed his first band, the Jades, met Ken Koblun. While attending Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, he played in several instrumental rock bands dropping out of school in favour of a musical career. Young's first stable band was the Squires, with Ken Koblun, Jeff Wuckert and Bill Edmondson on drums, who had a local hit called "The Sultan"; the band played in Fort William, where they recorded a series of demos produced by a local producer, Ray Dee, who Young called "the original Briggs". While playing at The Flamingo, Young met Stephen Stills, whose band the Company were playing the same venue, they became friends; the Squires played in several dance clubs in Winnipeg and Ontario.
After leaving the Squires, Young worked folk clubs in Winnipeg. Mitchell recalls Young as having been influenced by Bob Dylan at the time. Here he wrote some of his earliest and most enduring folk songs such as "Sugar Mountain", about lost youth. Mitchell wrote "The Circle Game" in response; the Winnipeg band The Guess Who had a Canadian Top 40 hit with Young's "Flying on the Ground is Wrong", Young's first major success as a songwriter. In 1965 Young toured Canada as a solo artist. In 1966, while in Toronto, he joined the Rick James-fronted Mynah Birds; the band managed to secure a record deal with the Motown label, but as their first album was being recorded, James was arrested for being AWOL from the Navy Reserve. After the Mynah Birds disbanded and the bass player Bruce Palmer decided to pawn the group's musical equipment and buy a Pontiac hearse, which they used to relocate to Los Angeles. Young admitted in a 2009 interview that he was in the United States illegally until he received a "green card" in 1970.
Once they reached Lo
Argentine Army
The Argentine Army is the land armed force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of the country. Under the Argentine Constitution, the President of Argentina is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, exercising his or her command authority through the Minister of Defense; the Army's official foundation date is May 29, 1810, four days after the Spanish colonial administration in Buenos Aires was overthrown. The new national army was formed out of several pre-existent colonial militia units and locally manned regiments; as of 2018, the active element of the Argentine Army numbered some 51,309 military personnel. Several armed expeditions were sent to the Upper Peru, Paraguay and Chile to fight Spanish forces and secure Argentina's newly gained independence; the most famous of these expeditions was the one led by General José de San Martín, who led a 5000-man army across the Andes Mountains to expel the Spaniards from Chile and from Perú. While the other expeditions failed in their goal of bringing all the dependencies of the former Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata under the new government in Buenos Aires, they prevented the Spaniards from crushing the rebellion.
During the civil wars of the first half of the 19th century, the Argentine Army became fractionalized under the leadership of the so-called caudillos, provincial leaders who waged a war against the centralist Buenos Aires administration. However, the Army was re-unified during the war with the Brazilian Empire.. It was only with the establishment of a Constitution and a national government recognized by all the provinces that the Army became a single force, absorbing the older provincial militias; the Army went on to fight the War of the Triple Alliance in the 1860s together with Brazil and Uruguay against Paraguay. After that war, the Army became involved in Argentina's Conquista del Desierto: the campaign to occupy Patagonia and root out the natives, who conducted looting raids throughout the country. Between 1880 and 1930, the Army sought to become a professional force without active involvement in politics though many a political figure -President Julio Argentino Roca, for example- benefitted from a past military career.
The Army prevented the fall of the government in a number of Radical-led uprisings. Meanwhile, the military in general and the Army, in particular, contributed to develop Argentina's unsettled southern frontier and its nascent industrial complex; the main foreign influence during this period was, by and large, the Prussian doctrine. Because of that, during both World Wars most of the officers supported the Germans, more or less while the Argentine Navy favored the British instead. In 1930, a small group of Army forces deposed President Hipólito Yrigoyen without much response from the rest of the Army and the Navy; this was the beginning of a long history of political intervention by the military. Another coup, in 1943, was responsible for bringing an obscure colonel into the political limelight: Juan Perón. Though Perón had the support of the military during his two consecutive terms of office, his repressive government alienated many officers, which led to a military uprising which overthrew him in September 1955.
Between 1955 and 1973 the Army and the rest of the military became vigilant over the possible re-emergence of Peronism in the political arena, which led to two new coups against elected Presidents in 1962 and 1966. It should be noted that political infighting eroded discipline and cohesion within the army, to the extent that there was armed fighting between contending military units during the early 1960s; the military government which ruled Argentina between 1966 and 1973 saw the growing activities of groups such as Montoneros and the ERP, a important social movement. During Héctor Cámpora's first months of government, a rather moderate and left-wing Peronist, approximatively 600 social conflicts and factory occupations had taken place. Following the June 20, 1973 Ezeiza massacre and right-wing Peronism broke apart, while the Triple A death squad, organized by José López Rega, closest advisor to María Estela Martínez de Perón, started a campaign of assassinations against left-wing opponents.
But Isabel Perón herself was ousted during the March 1976 coup by a military junta. The new military government, self-named Proceso de Reorganización Nacional, put a stop to the guerrilla's campaigns, but soon it became known that violent methods and severe violations of human rights had taken place, in what the dictatorship called a "Dirty War" — a term refused by jurists during the 1985 Trial of the Juntas. Batallón de Inteligencia 601 became infamous during this period, it was a special military intelligence service set up in the late 1970s, active in the Dirty War and Operation Condor, disbanded in 2000. Its personnel collected information on and infiltrated guerrilla groups and human rights organisations, coordinated killings and other abuses; the unit participated in the training of Nicaraguan Contras with US assistance, including from John Negroponte. Meanwhile, the Guevarist People's Revolutionary Army, led by Roberto Santucho and inspired by Che Guevara's foco theory, began a rural insurgency in the province of Tucumán, in the mountainous n
