My Life in Argentina and Beyond

Friday, October 12, 2007: After a long trial, Catholic priest Christian Von Wernich was convicted of genocide. The veredict was read in the city of La Plata, capital of the provincia of Buenos Aires this past Tuesday. Von Wernich was convicted of taking part in murders, the torture of prisoners and the disappearance of people during the military regime of the 1970s. Witnesses overwhelmingly testified against him. He will get life in prison, though in Argentina life is only about 25 years. Given the fact that Von Wernich is close to 70, the sentence will probably be the same as life.
Everyone, from the president of Argentina on down, agrees with the veredict. This is the first time in Argentina that a member of the Catholic Church is convicted of such horrible crimes. It is well known that the 70s in Argentina were very much like the Nazi war camps.