A stand at the Mendoza Book Fair was attacked for its LGBT and feminist content.
"When Milei wins, this will all be over," said a group of anti-rights activists, who threatened to burn down a stand at the Mendoza Book Fair containing feminist and sexual diversity content.
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The Workers of Literature stand at the Mendoza International Book Fair was attacked on Saturday by a group of at least four people who threatened to burn it down to destroy their books. They also tried to steal materials and assaulted those present, reports from the attacked stand.
“When Milei wins , this is over,” the anti-rights protesters shouted. It was Saturday afternoon, during the eighth day of the fair, which ended on Sunday. On that final day, an assembly was held to decide on the next steps.
Mendoza Literature Workers ' Assembly network . She was at the stand when this group of violent individuals approached and attacked them. She recounts that the anti-rights people walked past the stand once, looked at the materials, and then continued on their way.
Then they went straight back to attacking. “ They wanted to destroy the material. They were trying to repeat this discourse about families educating their children, that this was prostitution, and saying a series of things that show a total ignorance about the material that was on the stand .
The stand that was attacked was collectively organized by several independent publishers, so the Pride March and imprints such as Fractura Ediciones, Venenos Fanzine , Ediciones del Instituto del Pensamiento Socialista «Karl Marx» , La Montaña Ediciones Socialistas , Payana Libros and Ediciones Desde el Clítoris were also participating .
It was organized this way because this year the Mendoza Culture Department, the source adds, reduced the number of participants, leaving many people out. “It was a collective stand so that everyone could have access to show their work,” Sandra points out.
The video of the attacks was shared from the Instagram account of Trabajadorxs de la Literatura (Literature Workers ).
How those present stopped the aggression
The attackers said that these books—referring to their feminist and diverse content—were "unnatural" and an attack on "the family." They said they wanted to burn down the stand containing the books. They even threatened to vomit them up because of their political content, their focus on comprehensive sex education , and their portrayal of LGBTQ+ issues. "Feminism must die," they said.
“This is prostituting children,” shouted a man who, along with several others identified with the La Libertad Avanza party, attacked and looted stand 15.
The attack was stopped by the very people who were at the fair. “ The destruction was prevented because people intervened. That's hopeful, positive, and something we should highlight, even more so than the actions of this group. It was wonderful to see the reaction of the public, who began to applaud and ask them to leave,” Sandra emphasizes.
The organizers of the Mendoza Pride March explained that there was a positive reaction from the public, who, far from supporting the violent protesters, shouted at them, “Get out!” According to the organizers, the response from the fair organizers was minimal, and from the Mendoza Culture Department, it was almost nonexistent.
On Sunday, after the events had already come to light, Mendoza's Minister of Culture and Tourism, Nora Vicario, condemned them on social media. It seemed insufficient.
“We condemn all acts of offense and violence that seek to censor freedom of expression and thought, such as those experienced yesterday at the Book Fair, where we celebrated plurality, inclusion and diversity for 40 years of Democracy,” he said on the X network (Twitter).
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Another organized attack
Sandra recalls that this isn't the first time this has happened in Mendoza. When she saw the attackers walk by, she remembered seeing some of those faces in the video of the attack artist Cristina Pérez 's artwork on March 8th.
“This shows us that these ideologies are present, hidden. And that in these times when all this thinking is growing, it resurfaces, emboldened and aggressive.”
The events took place within the framework of a fair dedicated to 40 years of democracy with the motto "The voices of letters", which was held in the Ángel Bustelo Auditorium from September 29 to October 8.
How is the complaint progressing?
On Sunday, during the last day of the fair, a meeting was held at the stand, where various organizations convened to make a collective decision on how to proceed after this attack. “This cannot be overlooked in any way, nor is it a minor incident. We are talking about a book fair dedicated to 40 years of democracy, and this absolutely symbolic event occurs.”
Regarding reporting the incident, Sandra states that it was the main topic of discussion at the meeting. “We were waiting for the provincial Ministry of Culture to take action regarding a criminal complaint. But they haven't responded yet, so we're looking into filing the complaint ourselves. We don't think this can be treated as a minor matter,” she adds. “It reminds us of very dark times in the country's history, and we also want those responsible to be held accountable. We expect a formal and strong response from the Ministry of Culture, including a condemnation of these acts.”
Who are the aggressors?
Melisa Carrasco, from Fractura Ediciones , reported that the attackers were four men. “One is an academic at the University of Cuyo, affiliated with Opus Dei. The other three were recognized because months earlier they vandalized an exhibition of women and LGBTQ+ artists at the National University of Cuyo,” she said in an interview with the program Caballero de Día on El Destape .
The same source said they shouted threats: “This ends with Milei.” “They are Milei’s militants. They arrived and said they were going to vomit on us, that they were going to burn everything down, that the feminists should die; they spat on one of our comrades.”
Carrasco described how the security personnel at that time did "nothing more than detain them" and that "the fair authorities did not appear."
A space for the Pride March
Cero is part of the organizing committee of the Pride March and was part of the collective stand that was attacked on Saturday afternoon during the eighth day of the Mendoza Book Fair.
The committee joined the stand as part of the activities prior to the march with the intention of disseminating material from LGBT writers and filmmakers from Mendoza and also to raise funds for the march since this year they did not receive any support from the provincial government.
“As soon as it happened, messages and photos of the people who vandalized the place began circulating. This isn't an isolated incident; these same people were also involved in the attack on the Rectorate of the University of Cuyo, where the exhibition of dissident feminist artists was held as part of the March 8th events. They are the same people. There aren't many of them, but these things happen,” Cero explains.
Remember that a few weeks ago, a mural painted on a parking lot gate was vandalized with the graffiti "go back in the closet." This happened twice, and it's worrying that it's happening so frequently. The same thing happened when the march committee analyzed the primary election results on their social media; dozens of insults appeared.
“We haven’t received any support from the government this year, with them arguing that the elections make things difficult for them. However, many people who attended the fair on Saturday and Sunday kept checking in to see if we were okay. It was striking that neither the Book Fair organizers nor the Culture Department reached out to offer their support,” Cero explains.
Politics
The stand of the Mendoza Literature Workers received many visitors. Cero reports that comic artist Robin Rodera sold out his entire comic book collection in a short time. The same thing happened with writer Ika Fonseca .
“There is interest from the public and from people to support us despite the fact that we are being made invisible. It is clear that these people who attacked the stand were not there for the book fair, they were there to attack us. The public who were at the fair had a different attitude; they approached us to ask questions or to look at the books,” says Cero.
She also analyzes that this growing violence is not accidental, but rather closely linked to the political and electoral context. “This violence intensified after the primaries. We still have comments on our Instagram from when we expressed our position. We are on alert because our work today is relevant and necessary,” she adds.
“During the debate, no support for dissident groups was mentioned. None of the candidates said anything about it. It’s a power struggle, which is why when we need support, we find it among ourselves and among the people who come to help,” says Cero. “As long as there are setbacks, there will be resistance. These kinds of incidents—these four libertarian men—represent a small number of people, but we are the majority. In Mendoza, our first Pride march had ten people, and last year there were more than 5,000 of us. It’s not that we’re becoming more numerous, but rather that we’re becoming more courageous.”
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