Gladys Cabezas led the act that took place this morning in Pinamar to honor Jose Luis Cabezasthe photojournalist of NEWS assassinated on January 25, 1997. With the participation of local authorities, journalists and political figures, his name was once remembered, which became an emblem for freedom of expression. With all the murderers free (they have already served their sentence), the speeches made reference to the importance of keeping his memory alive.
The mayor of Pinamar Martin Yeza He could not be there because he is in India, on a trip organized by the embassy. In his place was Alejandra Apolino as interim mayor. There was a presence of municipal officials, but the national and provincial leaders of Together for Change stood out. Christian Ritondo Y Hernan Lombardi they arrived early, they hugged each other with Gladys and they accompanied her at the end of the tribute, when they planted a pine tree in the name of Jose Luis Cabezas.
From the municipality they gave the woman a portrait of her brother made by the artist from Pinamar Carlos Sugliano. “Gladys represents the Argentines who fight for Justice so that there are never more victims or want to silence the voice of the media,” he said. apollinus.
Lombardi He assured that an act of this type is “a show of tenacity”. He recalled that he met Cabezas in the ’90s, when he was covering the seasons for NOTICIAS in Pinamar and Mar del Plata and told how in those years he ended up becoming friends with Gladys. “It’s not easy. It’s been 26 years, more than a generation. But being persistent is what gives it meaning.” Ritondo did not speak but talked with the sister of heads before and after the event. They are not only friends, but Gladys He joined the work team of the former Buenos Aires minister.
The journalist also joined Pablo Servenwhich had covered two seasons with Jose Luis Cabezas and that on the day of his murder he was in Pinamar, no longer as editor of NOTICIAS but as executive editor. He remembered when Gabriel Michi gave him the news of the murder:
“In the first hours I didn’t feel anything. I was only able to free myself when the fireworks of the Giordano parade exploded at midnight. That’s when I started crying a lot. It was a very wild contrast of that time. Then came the fears, wondering if they were going to follow other crimes. The magazine closures that followed were hellish,” he said.
The former mayor of Pinamar Roberto Porretti He emphasized how, in those years, impunity had developed in the town among the political, economic-business and police power.
To the strong concurrence of referents of Together for Change was added the participation of Maria Jose Lubertino. She was one of the first to arrive and recorded everything that happened on her networks. “We never have to stop remembering it,” she told NEWS.
The last to speak was Gladys. He thanked his friends for accompanying him and stopped for a moment in the freedom of the murderers. “Sometimes they ask us if we are going to do something to get them back in jail. But we already did everything and it’s not up to me,” she said.
The truth is that all those involved in the crime who are alive, from Gustavo Prellezo until “The Ovens”They are free since their sentences expired.
“What am I going to explain to people? There is no Justice in this country? They already know. We see it every day. We have to remember Jose Luis working for all the victims and please ask Justice not to be slow, not to be wrong and not to lie to the relatives. If there are exemplary codes, the one who is going to kill will think about it, “he said. Before finishing, he read a letter that he dedicated to his brother.
The full letter:
Dear brother: today I want to talk to you and tell you that we are remembering you here in Pinamar like every year. Today, 26 years old, how crazy. I feel like it was yesterday when we and the old folks found out on the radio that they had found a reporter from NOTICIAS magazine burned and handcuffed. “For God’s sake!” Mommy said. “It can’t be,” Papi said. Your nephew Sebastián, my son, when he was only 9 years old, went out into the street shouting “They killed my uncle”.
How much pain, how much helplessness, how many lies, how much hypocrisy. But the worst: how many corrupt. How much corruption in the hands of sinister characters. And the trial came and they lied to us saying life imprisonment. And it wasn’t like that, it was behaving well in jail and getting out.
Then the good citizens came to us, they gave us strength and they continue to be here every January 25 in Pinamar, in the cellar and in every place in the world where they remember you. Yes, in the world, believe it or not. Well… don’t get too big.
You were a good photographer, a good son, a good husband, a good brother, but above all else, a very good person. I feel like they didn’t kill you, they didn’t make it because you’re always in me and in those who remain. Too bad you couldn’t meet your grandson who is one year old and is beautiful. But he is going to talk about you when he grows up and he will say “José Luis Cabezas, present.”
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