Horacio Verbitsky - Biography

Horacio Verbitsky (born 1942 in Buenos Aires) is a prominent Argentine investigative journalist and author. He writes for the left-leaning Argentine newspaper Página/12 and heads up the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), an Argentine human-rights organization.

He is also a member of the Directive Board of Human Rights Watch/Americas, and of the New Iberoamerican Journalism Foundation created by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, as well as an active member at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism.

Life

Since 1960, Verbitsky has earned national acclaim for his writings and political columns, focusing primarily in the unmasking of political corruption and the promotion of a free press, denouncing any government policies that may affect the counstitutional rights of free speech to journalists and citizens. He has also become known under the nickname "el perro" ("the dog").

Years as militant

During the seventies he was a member of Montoneros, a guerrilla organization. According to him, he participated in shootings, but during which "luckily" nobody died.<REF NAME=Perf/> He also stated that he had no important functions in the Montoneros organization <REF NAME=Perf/>

Conferences

In Atlanta, (July 1992), with James Carter.

In the OEA, Washington DC, with Raúl Zaffaroni; (February 2, 1995).

In Washington DC, by Freedom Forum, «La situación de la prensa en la Argentina»; with Kenneth Freed, from Los Angeles Times (September, 1995).

In Ghana, Africa, with Freedom Forum and ex director of The New York Times, organized by Committee to Protect Journalists, from New York (August 1998).

In the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, conference «La deshonestidad: la diferente actitud de las empresas en el hemisferio norte y en el sur» (November 1998).

In Venice, Italy, with Amnesty International: Per non Chiudere Gli Occhi (December 10, 1998).

In the Central European University, Budapest: «El Derecho a la Justicia y a la Verdad en Transición», organized by the Open Society Institute (May 1999).

In the OEA, over Human Right, Washington (1999).

In the Columbia University, New York, (March 2001).

In Sweden, (March 2001) in:
- Estocolmo University
- Lund University.

In New York, with Mark Malloch Brown (PNUD), and others from United Nations. (January 17, 2002).

In USA: in the Americas Conference, organized by The Miami Herald; with Peter F. Romero (Assistant Secretary of State) and Susan Segal (president from Council of Americas); (September 2004).

Italy (May 2006):
- In the Book Fair Turín, with The silence.
- In the University of Milan.
- Seminar organizated by the University of Rome y the Latinoamerican Institute from Italy.

In Norway: conference «América Latina – Sobrevivir a la dictadura», in Kapittel Festival; Stavanger (September 15, 2007).

In Spain: Casa de América and the Festival de la Palabra de la Universidad de Alcalá, by Juan Gelman (April 22, 2008).

In Madrid: seminar organized by FNPI (Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano) of Gabriel García Márquez (June 2008).

In Bruselas: United Nations and the European Union by 60° of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; conference «Los defensores toman la palabra», (October 2008).

In the University of Florence, conference «Giustizia e Desaparizione» in Polo delle Scienze Sociali (October 23, 2008).

In Washington DC, in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) (November 2009).

In Washington DC, in the Inter American Dialogue (November 2009).

In Columbia University open to International Conference "Voces del Sur en la Agenda Global de Derechos Humanos" with Oscar Vilhena Vieira (directory of Conectas Dereitos Humanos) and Maja Daruwala (directory of The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative en India -CHRI-). in Jerome Greene (Law), 410 West 117th St., New York (March 23, 2011).

In Washington DC, conference over DD.HH., organized by the American University (April 28, 2011).

In Italy: seminar over the Catholic Church (September 2011).

In the University of York, United Kingdom: Conference “Forced disappearances in Argentina during the last dictatorship (1976-1983)” (Thursday 10 November 2011).

In the Universitat Ramon Llull, FC Blanquerna, (Barcelona); Spain. Conference: "Els reptes del periodisme actual" (November 15, 2011).

In the Casa Amèrica Catalunya, (Barcelona); Spain. Conference: "Un any sense Néstor Kirchner" (November, 15 2011).

Work

He quickly attained to international fame when he published the account of the 1976–1983 dictatorship's brutality, courtesy of a confession by naval officer Adolfo Scilingo. The subsequent book – The Flight: Confessions of an Argentine Dirty Warrior – became a bestseller and was internationally praised for its accurate insight into the inhuman methods used by the armed forces, which included the dumping of naked prisoners into the Atlantic Ocean from airplanes, a system that Scilingo claimed to have been approved by the Church. The book was republished following Scilingo's trial and conviction on human rights abuses in Spain, and translated into English in the United States, to a warm response, and in French, Portuguese and Italian.

By The Flight, Mike Wallace, from 60 minutes, say:

"This is as Watergate".

See also Time (magazine), March 27, 1995; pp 16-17: "A voice from the past", by Paul Gray.

In his country, Verbitsky plays a major role in the uncovering of corruption in political affairs. In 1991, his story on the brother-in-law of ex president Carlos Menem and his maneuver to obtain a bribe from a company for the granting of a tax exemption, resulted in the nationwide "Swiftgate" scandal. Verbitsky was questioned by Menem but the accusations were found to have solid grounds, and the ex president was forced to change half his cabinet in an attempt to regain the lost political credibility.

Verbitsky was also active in organizations promoting the free press, such as Periodistas, the former Latin American organization for the free press, which he helped found.

Recently, Verbitsky has worked hand-in-glove through his reporting in Pagina/12 to promote the political agenda of the government of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner heading into the 2011 elections.

He wrote for the newspaper El País (Spain); The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times (USA).

To this day, Verbitsky has published twenty books, besides his journalistic work.

Books in Spanish

Prensa y poder en Perú, Extemporáneos (México), 1975.
La última batalla de la Tercera Guerra Mundial, Editorial Legasa (Buenos Aires, Argentina), 1984.

Ezeiza, Contrapunto, (Bs. As.) 1985. Available in Spanish here
La posguerra sucia, Sudamericana (Bs. As.) 1985. ISBN 978-987-503-429-7 (13).
Rodolfo Walsh y la prensa clandestina 1976-1978, Ediciones de la Urraca (Bs. As.), 1985.
Civiles y militares: memoria secreta de la transición, Ed. Contrapunto (Bs. As.), 1987.
Medio siglo de proclamas militares, Editora/12 (Bs. As.), 1987. ISBN 950-9586-15-3.
La educación presidencial: de la derrota del ’70 al desguace del Estado, Editora/12: Puntosur (Bs. As.), 1990. ISBN 950-9889-55-5.
Robo para la corona: los frutos prohibidos del árbol de la corrupción, Planeta (Bs. As.), 1991. Available in Spanish here. ISBN 950-742-145-9.
Hacer la Corte: la construcción de un poder absoluto sin justicia ni control, Planeta (Bs. As.), 1993. ISBN 950-742-394-9.
El vuelo, Planeta (Bs. As.), 1995. Available in Spanish here ISBN 950-742-608-6.
Un mundo sin periodistas: las tortuosas relaciones de Menem con la ley, la Justicia y la verdad, Planeta (Bs. As.) 1997 ISBN 950-742-886-0
Hemisferio derecho, Planeta (Bs. As.), 1998. ISBN 950-742-953-0.
Malvinas: la última batalla de la Tercera Guerra Mundial, Sudamericana (Bs. As.), 2002. ISBN 950-07-2231-3.
El Silencio: de Paulo VI a Bergoglio: las relaciones secretas de la Iglesia con la ESMA, Sudamericana (Bs. As.), 2005. ISBN 950-07-2035-3.
Doble juego: la Argentina católica y militar, Sudamericana (Bs. As.), 2006. ISBN 978-950-07-2737-2 (13).
Cristo vence: la Iglesia en la Argentina: un siglo de historia política (1884-1983). I, Sudamericana (Bs. As.), 2007. ISBN 950-07-2803-4.
La Violencia Evangélica, de Lonardi al Cordobazo. II. Sudamericana (Bs. As.), 2008. ISBN 978-950-072-918-5.
Vigilia de armas. III. Del Cordobazo de 1969 al 23 de marzo de 1976, Sudamericana (Bs. As.) 2009. ISBN 978-950-07-3049-5.
La mano izquierda de Dios. IV. La última dictadura (1976- 1983). Sudamericana (Bs. As.) 2010. ISBN 978-950-07-3275-8 (Diario Perfil).

AAVV (1998). Diario de la CGT de los Argentinos. Quilmes: UNQ- Ed. La Página. ISBN 987-503-046-5.

Books in English

The Flight. Confessions of an Argentine dirty warrior. The New Press (New York), 1996. Afterward by Juan Méndez, General Counsel, Human Rights Watch.
The Flight. Confessions of an Argentine dirty warrior. The New Press (New York), 2005. Afterward by Juan Méndez. With a new preface by judge Gabriel R. Cavallo and a new afterword by the author.
The Silence, extract transl. in English made available by Open Democracy: Breaking the silence: the Catholic Church in Argentina and the "dirty war", July 28, 2005 (concerning the Cité catholique fundamentalist group, etc.).

Awards

Latin American Studies Association Media Award (LASA), (USA, 1996)
Konrad Adenauer Fundation and Centro de Estudios Unión para una Nueva Mayoría, (Argentina, 1997)
Hellman/Hammett Grant, (USA, 1998)
Martín Fierro to the best journalist on TV (Argentina, 2000)
One of four winners of the CPJ International Press Freedom Awards[1] for his reporting and his work in defending press freedom in Argentina (USA, 2001)
Commission Nationale Consultative des Droits de l’Homme, for the Center for Legal and Social Studies in Argentina. "por el proyecto de despenalización de 'calumnias e injurias' en casos de interés público". (Francia, December 2009). Eduardo Febbro, París, Página/12
Award Gruber, for the CELS, by the National Constitution Center, of Philadelphia (October 2011).