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Chapter 3 How to scam the State The complex business framework we have described provides the starting point for the asset-stripping and bankruptcy of the Bauen hotel, which was a scam on the treasury right from the beginning. The plot of this operation is widely detailed in a work by Federico Tonarelli (former president of the cooperative, current vice-president, and president of the Argentine Federation of Self-Managed Worker Cooperatives, FACTA) and Fabián Pierucci (economist and filmmaker, director of the documentary… Read More »BAUEN, day 18

Here is where Marcelo Iurcovich appears: according to an article published by journalist Santiago O’Donnell in the newspaper Página/12,1 his excellent relationships with the military government, especially with Brigadier General Osvaldo Cacciattore, by then the de facto mayor of the City of Buenos Aires, and with ship captain (later rear admiral) Carlos Alberto Lacoste, who was the head of the EAM 78,2 allowed Iurcovich get a very favorable loan from BANADE for the construction of a five-star hotel right at… Read More »BAUEN, day 17

The Iurcoviches Marcelo Iurcovich was born in 1923 and died April 3, 2003. He was married to Raquel Kaliman, daughter of Moisés Israel Kaliman. Their son, Hugo Iurcovich, succeeded him at the head of his businesses, and he continues there today. The civilian-military dictatorship that came to power with the coup d’etat on March 24, 1976, inherited an excellent opportunity from the government of María Estela Martínez de Perón to try to bleach its image and take advantage of the… Read More »BAUEN, day 16

The origins of the Bauen: the 1978 World Cup “Even though it cost 700 million dollars, for the first time, we Argentines know what things cost, and we will pay that debt, even if it does not turn out to be easy.” This was the opening of an editorial in the magazine Gente from June first, 1978, one of the many media outlets committed to propaganda service to the military dictatorship. In those days, they devoted their full efforts to… Read More »BAUEN, day 15

The Bauen and the dictatorship When talking about business complicity with the dictatorship, it is well worth taking the Bauen hotel as an example, as one of many negotiated in the crude complicity of those years. This relationship meant not only the support of the business community for those who committed genocide, but the repayment of that connivance with businesses and specific benefits. Marcelo Iurcovich was one of these beneficiaries. The building was constructed in record time with public money,… Read More »BAUEN, day 14

Chapter 2 Bauen SACIC’s hidden plot “Too much money for a few people,” said Senator Federico Pinedo in opposition to the expropriation of the hotel Bauen for the cooperative, when it was being discussed in the National Senate. This a common ideological stance, which is also held by some judges who objected to the Constitutionality of expropriation laws for businesses recovered by their workers, which says that the “public utility” on which these laws are based would not make sense,… Read More »BAUEN, day 13

The story does not end there Endless hugs, shouts of jubilation, tears, and a tumult of joy met Federico and María Eva when they left the chamber. Everyone burst into song, and started to march to their building at Callao 360, with the flag of the cooperative at the front, to celebrate with their compañeros, the workers who had remained in the hotel. There, an improvised party was put together in the rooms, which soon included more and more people,… Read More »BAUEN, day 12

Irrazábal made a brief argument for the bill: This is a half-sanctioned bill that tries to give a definitive solution to a situation that is taking place in the BAUEN hotel. There, a worker cooperative has been managing the hotel for almost fourteen years. It’s a very long story, and I won’t tell it now. Faced with muttering and questions from some Senators, Irrazábal cut them off. “You want me to make it short? All right, I’ll make it very… Read More »BAUEN, day 11

Prayers and WhatsApp messages Irrazábal asks for the floor: “Aware of how late it is, and of the imminent possibility of the loss of parliamentary status of a half-sanctioned bill that comes unanimously approved by the Chamber of Deputies, I am going to request that the work plan be modified.” The proposal is received with murmurs and agitation by the opposition Senators, but the vote takes place, after a certain stalling by Michetti. The result is favorable: 42 to 17.… Read More »BAUEN, day 10

The budget was voted on after 9:00 PM, with less than three hours remaining for the expropriation to be approved. Meanwhile, night had fallen, and people were waiting and worrying outside. Inside, they moved on to deal with the proposals from the floor, and the first was a bill about wetlands. The debate on this bill took time. The nervousness grew. There were several bills from the floor to be dealt with, and it was already obvious that there was… Read More »BAUEN, day 9