Daniela Calarco is the only woman still detained after the repression in Congress
Daniela is 39 years old and an environmental activist. Her partner, Emilia, has not yet been able to see her.
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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. On Tuesday night, following the demonstration in Plaza de Mayo, 11 of the 16 people arrested during the June 12 crackdown near the National Congress were released. Of the five who remain in custody, only one is a woman: Patricia Daniela Calarco Arredondo.
Federal Judge María Servini ruled that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the charges against those who were released and issued indictments against the five who remain in custody for protesting. These five are Patricia Calarco Arredondo, David Sica, Cristián Fernando Valiente, Roberto María de la Cruz Gómez, and Facundo Ezequiel Gómez. The judge will review the legal status of the detainees in the coming days.
The measure was taken after the massive demonstration in Plaza de Mayo where relatives of the detainees, along with human rights organizations and political leaders, demanded the release of the imprisoned protesters.
Lesbian woman and environmentalist
Of the six women who remained in the Ezeiza prison, only one was not released: Patricia Daniela Calarco Arredondo.
The woman is being prosecuted for arson and aggravated damage. She is accused of setting fire to trash cans in the Congreso area.
Despite the accusation, Patricia was arrested at the intersection of Avenida de Mayo and Avenida 9 de Julio. That is, almost ten blocks from Congress.
In Presentes, we revisit the stories of the six women who remained in custody. Among them, the story of the only woman arrested.
Daniela is 39 years old, from the Hipódromo neighborhood of Mar del Plata, and has lived with Emilia in Lomas de Zamora since 2021. She is an environmental activist, a cause she championed in her hometown against fumigation. She wanted to study psychology, but the demands of work prevented her from finishing her degree. She held several jobs simultaneously in the food service industry until she began working in 2019 at the former Ministry of Social Development. In March of this year, she and several other employees of that ministry were laid off.
At the time of the repression, during the demonstration, Patricia Daniela Calarco Arredondo was with her partner and fellow activists in the column of the Teresa Rodríguez Movement (MTR) "We Vote to Fight for Social Change." They marched along Avenida de Mayo and, when they managed to turn onto 9 de Julio, they were flanked by police officers who were firing rubber bullets and pepper spray.
“We were tripping over each other because we couldn’t see,” María Emilia “Coca” Manazza, Daniela’s partner, told Presentes . “We were about 13 blocks from Congress when a plainclothes police officer grabbed her from behind, with all the brutality and impunity they have. I tried to struggle to get her out, but I couldn’t.”
Since early Saturday morning, she's been in Ezeiza prison. As of Tuesday, her partner, Emilia, still hadn't been able to visit her. However, she was able to speak with her: “She's showing great strength in prison. As part of her training and awareness in the struggle, she knew that these are the consequences we face, especially with governments that give free rein to repression.”
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