“Dad, are we going to die?” Pedro (5) asked Sergio, his father, as a cloud of gas began to invade his small lungs. Small, but strong. It was after that timid question that the door finally opened and they were able to escape from the camp while their rubber bullets flew too. Some have collected 400 cartridges in the stadium after the night of the violence. There must have been more.
The night that could have been a real football spectacle turned black, tears and wounds that will take a long time to heal.
It is Anabel herself (36) who can tell it in the first person. On his left leg there are now four scars filled with blood and pain. There are two more at the bottom of her hip. Because she has the use of reason, she goes to court to encourage Gimnasia and confesses that she never saw what happened on Thursday night. The repression of the Buenos Aires Police opens other wounds.
The grandstand woke up on Friday with several pieces of damage and hundreds of pairs of shoes that fans had lost during their escape from the ferocity.
The image of slippers lying on the floor awakens the collective memory of that New Year’s Eve in 2004. What could have been and what it was. There are many gymnastics enthusiasts who assure that that tragic night could undoubtedly have been a Cro-Magnon. “It wasn’t a Cro-Magnon because we were thousands of parents trying to save their children,” was honest another parent who was able to save their children from police crackdowns.
The mothers, desperate for the situation that was getting out of control, began shouting the names of their children as if it were really Cro-Magnon. The police were throwing gas under the grandstand for no reason.
“Mom, what’s going on? Will something happen to us? “ some guys asked as they tried to find air in the midst of the chaos. They heard screams, runs, rubber bullets and a cloud of gas invaded them. Many stopped seeing at that time. Others passed out while some heroes had the courage to break the stands and run on the grass of the field. There many found peace, a few bottles of water and that’s when Ivan Rodriguez, the voice of the stadium, began to name all the little ones who were lost and who could not find their families.
“When we managed to get out of the camp, the police, instead of showing solidarity and giving us assistance, started firing rubber bullets”, summed up a mother, still struck by the situation.
Isabel recently celebrated her 15th birthday. Lobo’s fanatic wears a metal chain with the number 22 -Ginnastics symbol- on her neck, reflecting her fanaticism for the club. The teenager puts her lucky chain in his mouth as she cries inconsolably thinking she was trapped a few hours ago in the popular Centennial. She had lost sight of her father between euphoria and despair:
“They didn’t open the doors, I couldn’t find the exit. If I went out I would die. Then they opened them and the police were waiting for us with rubber bullets.” accurate. It was all a scare and it’s her father who hugs her as they both demand justice for Cesare ‘Lolo’ Rodriguezthe 57-year-old man died of a heart attack minutes after escaping barbarism.
Anguish is the feeling that unites the inhabitants of La Plata in the symbolic hug self-summoned online to ask for justice for Lolo’s death. About a thousand people cried, shouted, sang and demanded justice for the unjust death of a fan in charge of police repression. Another. “It could be any of us” they insist. Everyone gathered at the Miter Monument and hung a banner that read “Justice for Lolo”.
Andrew, fanatic of the students of La Plata -historical rival of Gymnastics- the piluso with the acronym of his club was seated and in his hand he was holding a bouquet of pink flowers that he wanted to bring to the victim. The gesture, quite moving, reflects the need of the fans to make it visible that in matters of violence there is no crack or rivalry that does not unite them.
“Colors don’t matter, rivalry doesn’t matter. It’s only 90 minutes. This could happen to anyone. “Andrea said helplessly after arranging the bunch of roses next to the candles that remained lit until late Friday. Above it was a flag that said “Justice for Lolo”.
“The operation failed. The police were willing to attack. There were no disturbances or excesses, ”she was encouraged to say Mora (35), six months pregnant. On the night of the incidents he went to the audience as usual with Lorenzo, his three-year-old son. With admirable conviction, she has assured that she will continue to bring her son to the field. Furthermore, she confessed that when she was pregnant with the baby, she went to the camp to receive Diego Armando Maradona. “I have lived through situations of tension but never a situation of violence like yesterday”.
There are several fans who agree that even upon the arrival of the world star they have not witnessed an act of extreme violence like the one on Thursday night. Not so many police officers, nor so much hustle and bustle in the vicinity of the stadium.
Nobody knows what were the reasons that pushed Buenos Aires to carry out such a savage operation. Never have so many troops been seen as on Thursday evening. That particularity had already aroused perplexity among the most cautious fans. Why were there more police officers than in a classic? Why was there more police than the day Diego Armando Maradona arrived? Why did the police insist on excessive action and mistreatment of the innocent? All questions that are asked, but that have no answer.
“If I stayed a little longer in the stands I would die of suffocation”, commented Franco (26), who said he had begun to feel dizzy due to the smell of tear gas. The version of him is shocking: “I accidentally opened my mouth, swallowed the smoke and immediately started to feel the palpitations in my chest. My dream is to die in El Bosque, but not like this, “he said wryly.
Tears rolled from Franco’s eyes as he passed the mosaic mural of Diego Maradona’s face during his time in Gimnasia. He touched his chest and looked up at the sky, as if the 10 were some kind of angel who could prevent the tragedy.
The young man confessed that as he walked towards the field he felt a different air from other sports days. There was something in the air, a kind of tension. His younger brother witnessed the wrong actions of the Buenos Aires police. He lined up to enter the stadium with his card and witnessed how the police started attacking a fan for no reason. Nothing can justify such mistreatment of innocent people who were about to go to a football match.
Some confess that they have already lost interest in going on the pitch, others insist they will return to continue demanding justice, if necessary on the pitch. “I reconsider to keep coming. Yesterday I was not afraid but I was afraid that the situation would get out of control. If people lost control, a Cro-Magnon would occur, ”reiterates Alan (30) and insists on comparing Thursday night with the 2003 tragedy.
New appeal to ask for justice
During the symbolic embrace, the date of a new request for justice was sealed for the death of César Rodríguez. The idea of the residents of La Plata is to focus again on the Mitra Monument – a few meters from the stadium – next Tuesday at 11am and walk to the headquarters of the Ministry of Security in La Plata, about 10 blocks. There they will again ask for justice for the death of the former player and will also ask, as they did on Friday afternoon, the resignation of the Minister of Security, Sergio Berni. Among the many songs there was a very euphoric one that asked for Berni’s departure and even compared him to his political enemies. So far nobody says anything. The feeling of anger and helplessness will persist until justice is done for the death of an innocent person.
Source: Clarin
