1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,880
Speaker 1: Hello, Avenger listeners, It's Steve Fishman and I'm really glad

2
00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,120
Speaker 1: you've tuned in. I hope you love this show as

3
00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,200
Speaker 1: much as we do. A quick word on an upcoming

4
00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:14,160
Speaker 1: bonus episode. We're doing a bonus with Miriam, the real Miriam.

5
00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:18,720
Speaker 1: We'll be asking her questions, your questions and getting answers.

6
00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:21,840
Speaker 1: She'll update us on what's going on in her world

7
00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:26,040
Speaker 1: and a lot has Please email your questions or thoughts

8
00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:32,840
Speaker 1: or comments too. Info at Orbitmedia dot fm. Oh and

9
00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,120
Speaker 1: Fisher Stevens can answer your questions too. He's our co

10
00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,639
Speaker 1: founder and resident Oscar winner. He's an actor you saw

11
00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:43,520
Speaker 1: him in Succession and director of actors like al Pacino

12
00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:48,760
Speaker 1: and Justin Timberlake. For Avenger, he directed Alexis Bledel, who

13
00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:52,720
Speaker 1: voices Miriam. If we're lucky, Alexis who was the star

14
00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,400
Speaker 1: of Gilmore Girls and Handmaid's Tale and is the daughter

15
00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:01,639
Speaker 1: of an Argentine. We'll chip in answers to so let

16
00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:05,600
Speaker 1: us know your thoughts and questions, hopes and prayers. Info

17
00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:12,120
Speaker 1: at Orbitmedia dot fm. Thanks. One quick note on the

18
00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,600
Speaker 1: production as Andres, our host is about to tell you,

19
00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:20,640
Speaker 1: we translated Spanish interviews into English and then we were

20
00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:24,000
Speaker 1: very excited that we were able to get Alexis Bledell

21
00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,959
Speaker 1: to voice the person at the center of this story, Miriam.

22
00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,120
Speaker 1: Alexis was a star of Gilmore Girls, an Emmy winner

23
00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:37,080
Speaker 1: and Emmy winner for Handmaid's Tale. Also, and crucial for us,

24
00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:42,160
Speaker 1: her father is Argentine. Spanish was her first language. Alexis

25
00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,360
Speaker 1: told us that she's determined to explore her roots, which

26
00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,560
Speaker 1: is just one reason her participation in this story has

27
00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,560
Speaker 1: been so powerful. In today's episode, Miriam gets a terrible

28
00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:57,760
Speaker 1: lesson about the cost of survival. A quick word about subscriptions.

29
00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,720
Speaker 1: If you love ads on If you're not so keen

30
00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,480
Speaker 1: on ads, sign up for True Crime Clubhouse on Apple

31
00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:10,120
Speaker 1: Podcasts that entire subscription channel. You'll get no ads, and

32
00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:14,960
Speaker 1: also you can binge the entire Avengers series. It's just

33
00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,560
Speaker 1: two ninety nine a month. Thanks.

34
00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,440
Speaker 2: Before we begin, please note that for this story we

35
00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:26,480
Speaker 2: interviewed Medium and everyone else for dozens of hours in Spanish.

36
00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:38,320
Speaker 2: We hired actors to voice their words in English. By now,

37
00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:42,079
Speaker 2: Medium Lewin has been a hostage of Argentina's military junta

38
00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:50,480
Speaker 2: for weeks. Her captors tester. She recalls the first warning

39
00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:54,160
Speaker 2: she received the day of her kidnapping. If you don't cooperate,

40
00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:59,440
Speaker 2: you die. Her captors constantly bring the phone to her cell.

41
00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,040
Speaker 2: They want information about her comrades, so they make her

42
00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,360
Speaker 2: call the safe house she reported to every day she

43
00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:09,200
Speaker 2: was in hiding, and they're persistent despite the fact that

44
00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,040
Speaker 2: no one has picked up after dozens of attempts, until

45
00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:15,119
Speaker 2: the day someone breaks protocol.

46
00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,160
Speaker 3: They were taking me to the location where my friend,

47
00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:26,800
Speaker 3: the guy who broke protocol asked to meet. They blindfolded me,

48
00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:29,600
Speaker 3: and then they put me inside the trunk of a

49
00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:33,200
Speaker 3: Ford falcon. All I could think about was how this

50
00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:37,320
Speaker 3: meeting should not be happening. We had agreed on a

51
00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,880
Speaker 3: protocol with our comrades. If any of us were captured alive,

52
00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,720
Speaker 3: pick up the phone, but always assume the person calling

53
00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:49,840
Speaker 3: has been compromised. I still don't get why he broke

54
00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,880
Speaker 3: the protocol, or why he picked up the phone in

55
00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,280
Speaker 3: the first place and gave me a code with a

56
00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:58,800
Speaker 3: meeting location. In that confusion, I was still sure no

57
00:03:58,840 --> 00:03:59,760
Speaker 3: one would show up.

58
00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:08,080
Speaker 2: Medium arrives at the agreed meeting place, closely monitored by

59
00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:08,720
Speaker 2: her captors.

60
00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,040
Speaker 3: It was near a gas station at a busy intersection.

61
00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:16,039
Speaker 3: My captors had told me to tap on my head

62
00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,640
Speaker 3: as soon as I saw my friend. Suddenly, out of

63
00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,560
Speaker 3: the corner of my eye, I see someone waving at me,

64
00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:28,159
Speaker 3: trying to get my attention. It's my friend. Instead of

65
00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,159
Speaker 3: tapping my head, I ignore him and immediately look the

66
00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:34,839
Speaker 3: other way. But when I turn, my captor is right there,

67
00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,599
Speaker 3: watching everything, and then he grabs my arm and drags

68
00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:40,120
Speaker 3: me away.

69
00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:44,320
Speaker 2: Medium's comrade is captured, abducted.

70
00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:49,279
Speaker 3: I see him on the floor. He's bleeding from his stomach.

71
00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,440
Speaker 3: They ask me who is he. I tell them I

72
00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:57,880
Speaker 3: don't know him. They take us back to the detention

73
00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,240
Speaker 3: center and they drag my friend away. I thought they

74
00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:04,200
Speaker 3: were going to torture me for saying I didn't know him,

75
00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:08,400
Speaker 3: but instead they just slap me, insult me, and throw

76
00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:11,000
Speaker 3: me back in my cell. But then they leave my

77
00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,880
Speaker 3: door open so I would hear everything they're doing to

78
00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:20,080
Speaker 3: him in a nearby cell. The worst torture is listening

79
00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:24,600
Speaker 3: to another person being tortured, the crying, the screaming, and

80
00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:28,240
Speaker 3: not being able to do anything about it. It's worse

81
00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:29,760
Speaker 3: than your own torture.

82
00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:35,360
Speaker 2: Listening to her friend. Medium thinks about her suicide attempt

83
00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:36,560
Speaker 2: the day she was kidnapped.

84
00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,320
Speaker 3: I was willing to swallow that cyanide pill because I

85
00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:45,280
Speaker 3: wanted to protect my friends so badly, so badly that

86
00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:46,920
Speaker 3: dying was the only option.

87
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,440
Speaker 2: But now here she is living a scenario she feared.

88
00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:54,560
Speaker 2: At the end of the day, she collaborated in the

89
00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:59,400
Speaker 2: capture of her comrade, and now she's being tortured too, psychologically.

90
00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:05,440
Speaker 3: And when my friend's torture ends, a guard walks over

91
00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:09,640
Speaker 3: to my cell and point blank tells me, by the way,

92
00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:11,559
Speaker 3: Juan is dead.

93
00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,440
Speaker 2: Juan, the guy she had married and got into hiding

94
00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:16,760
Speaker 2: with before her kidnapping.

95
00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:25,840
Speaker 3: I cried for days. They still miss him.

96
00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:30,560
Speaker 2: From Orbit media, I'm Andrescaba Scheedo. This is Avenger, the

97
00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:54,960
Speaker 2: story of Medium Lewin Episode three, the World Cup. I've

98
00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,960
Speaker 2: spent more than half of my life outside Argentina. Now

99
00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,599
Speaker 2: as a journalist, reconnecting with my homeland, learning more about

100
00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,920
Speaker 2: this horrific part of my country's history. I can't help

101
00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,760
Speaker 2: but ask did people know about what the military junta

102
00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:13,440
Speaker 2: was doing about the clandestine torture centers in the middle

103
00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,440
Speaker 2: of Buenos Aires. People in Argentina had plenty to worry

104
00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:22,600
Speaker 2: about inflation, keeping their jobs, ongoing violence, in the streets.

105
00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:25,920
Speaker 2: All of this is happening as the junta prepares to

106
00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:33,880
Speaker 2: host the biggest sports event on the planet in Argentina.

107
00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,480
Speaker 2: Soccer or football, as most of the world calls it,

108
00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:42,000
Speaker 2: is the ultimate distraction. Argentina had been chosen to host

109
00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:44,280
Speaker 2: the World Cup for the first time in its history,

110
00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:55,000
Speaker 2: right in the middle of a dictatorship. More people watch

111
00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,520
Speaker 2: the World Cup than the Olympics. The Super Bowl doesn't

112
00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:02,360
Speaker 2: even compare for the Junta. That timing couldn't be better.

113
00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,960
Speaker 2: There's brutal repression, but that's not what the world's paying

114
00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:10,680
Speaker 2: attention to. What everyone sees is a well ordered pageant,

115
00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:13,480
Speaker 2: cheering fans, celebrity athletes.

116
00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:16,720
Speaker 3: Alden Dayocho.

117
00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:25,920
Speaker 2: SOCASA said, this event, according to the propaganda machine, shows

118
00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:30,880
Speaker 2: the world what Argentines are capable of, but medium. She's

119
00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,640
Speaker 2: captive in a small cell inside a Coindestine detention center

120
00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:36,040
Speaker 2: in the middle of the city.

121
00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:41,040
Speaker 3: My holding cell was so close to an apartment building

122
00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:46,160
Speaker 3: where regular families lived. I could hear them singing happy birthdays,

123
00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:50,600
Speaker 3: and I could hear siblings fighting, a mom calling her

124
00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:55,600
Speaker 3: kids to dinner, sounds of dishes being washed, life as usual,

125
00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:57,440
Speaker 3: And there I was.

126
00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:03,040
Speaker 2: Frozen in time not quite frozen. Medium is well aware

127
00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:04,400
Speaker 2: of the World Cup approaching.

128
00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:09,480
Speaker 3: Every morning, the guards would tune into Radio Rivadabya. There

129
00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:13,680
Speaker 3: was a show hosted by a legendary sports announcer everyone loved.

130
00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:17,839
Speaker 3: He was pro dictatorship and the junta used him for

131
00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:22,560
Speaker 3: political propaganda. He would announce how many days were left

132
00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,280
Speaker 3: until the start of the World Cup. Then you would

133
00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,480
Speaker 3: talk about how we Argentines were great humans and that

134
00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:32,920
Speaker 3: all that talk about human rights violations were nothing but lies.

135
00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,360
Speaker 2: For Medium, the psychological torture inside the detention center starts

136
00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:42,800
Speaker 2: getting worse. The captors play good cop, bad cop with

137
00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:45,760
Speaker 2: the prisoners, and they tell them that if they cooperate,

138
00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,640
Speaker 2: if they show remorse for their actions, they won't be punished,

139
00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:52,720
Speaker 2: and that death and harm to their loved ones outside

140
00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:57,319
Speaker 2: is the cost of not complying. Medium has found a

141
00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:00,280
Speaker 2: way to survive. She will play by the room rules,

142
00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:01,640
Speaker 2: their rules.

143
00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:05,079
Speaker 3: One day they took me out of the cell and

144
00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:07,400
Speaker 3: they put me in front of a camera where I

145
00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,880
Speaker 3: had to explain why I had chosen violence as a

146
00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:15,480
Speaker 3: way to protest against the government. They also asked me

147
00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:17,920
Speaker 3: what family, God, and country meant to me.

148
00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:23,360
Speaker 2: She's being forced to apologize for her mistakes. She knows

149
00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:25,800
Speaker 2: they're making an example out of her. She had never

150
00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,920
Speaker 2: been a violent activist, but she went along with it.

151
00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,160
Speaker 3: I was absolutely against their values, but I had heard

152
00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:36,959
Speaker 3: their rhetorics so much I was very familiar. It was

153
00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:39,240
Speaker 3: easy for me to tell them what they wanted to hear.

154
00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,160
Speaker 3: Days later, they came into my cell and told me

155
00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:45,079
Speaker 3: I had saved my own life.

156
00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:03,240
Speaker 2: The World Cup was just days away, and I kept.

157
00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,160
Speaker 3: Hearing that same sports show coming from the Guards radio

158
00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:08,520
Speaker 3: with the World Cup countdown.

159
00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,240
Speaker 2: This massive event that people around the world would tune

160
00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,000
Speaker 2: in to see. Little did Medium know that she would

161
00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:16,840
Speaker 2: soon be thrust into the middle of them.

162
00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:22,439
Speaker 4: Get provided by another Privaan and now the beginning of

163
00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:24,800
Speaker 4: the arrade of representative.

164
00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:29,760
Speaker 2: The World Cup's opening ceremony takes place at the River

165
00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:33,319
Speaker 2: Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires in front of eighty thousand people.

166
00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:37,880
Speaker 2: On TV, you can see hundreds of pigeons released into

167
00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:38,240
Speaker 2: the air.

168
00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:44,360
Speaker 4: This is Augentina, sevent to eight of the eleven World

169
00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:52,120
Speaker 4: Cup final sixteen times Tenian.

170
00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:01,920
Speaker 2: The announcer introduces General Horge Raphael Videla, who stands in

171
00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:06,640
Speaker 2: front of two microphones. He's ditched his military uniform for

172
00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:09,960
Speaker 2: a gray suit and a blue tie. He looks dapper.

173
00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:12,520
Speaker 2: Everyone turns around to face.

174
00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:16,200
Speaker 4: Him, Senor, Senor.

175
00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:29,840
Speaker 2: In his speech, Midela talks about the World Cup bringing

176
00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:39,959
Speaker 2: happiness to the entire country, about diversity, unity, Yes, the EVENTO,

177
00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:44,319
Speaker 2: and then he calls on God, the Lord. He talks

178
00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:48,319
Speaker 2: about how the event affirms world peace. It's a pass

179
00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:58,839
Speaker 2: that piece that we all long for, he says, I

180
00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:00,640
Speaker 2: know what it's like to be a sess with the

181
00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:04,040
Speaker 2: World Cup. I wasn't alive yet in nineteen seventy eight,

182
00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,280
Speaker 2: but I grew up watching countless video replays of the

183
00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:12,319
Speaker 2: final game. A ruthless striker Mario Kempis taken on the

184
00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:26,959
Speaker 2: Dutch defenders, the entire stadium erupting with each goal. I

185
00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,199
Speaker 2: recently went back to Buenos Aires. I took a tour

186
00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,520
Speaker 2: of the stadium where that final took place during the dictatorship.

187
00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:37,520
Speaker 2: One thing that took me by surprise was how close

188
00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:43,439
Speaker 2: the stadium was from those who were being tortured. When

189
00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,319
Speaker 2: the tour ended, I got into a cab, and about

190
00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:48,920
Speaker 2: a mile away from the stadium, we passed the very

191
00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:53,600
Speaker 2: building where Medium was imprisoned. It's behind a black iron gate.

192
00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:58,319
Speaker 2: There's big trees and these stately white pillars, and above

193
00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:02,719
Speaker 2: them the words etched them Black. The Naval School of Mechanics,

194
00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:08,200
Speaker 2: also known as ESTHMA. There's nothing clandestine about this building,

195
00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:11,839
Speaker 2: but in nineteen seventy eight during the World Cup, what

196
00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,040
Speaker 2: went on inside was kept secret.

197
00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:22,080
Speaker 3: The stadium was just blocks away. Depending on the direction

198
00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,120
Speaker 3: of the wind, we could hear the sounds of the

199
00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:27,840
Speaker 3: euphoric crowd seeping into the torture chambers.

200
00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:34,640
Speaker 2: And if the wind blew in a different direction, Medium

201
00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:37,760
Speaker 2: could still hear the World Cup madness coming from the

202
00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:40,480
Speaker 2: radio that the guards huddled around in the hallway.

203
00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:49,080
Speaker 3: The World Cup stirred rage inside me. I felt helpless.

204
00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:53,440
Speaker 3: It was painful because the World Cup blinded all Argentines

205
00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:58,080
Speaker 3: from what was happening, and we the disappeared were the

206
00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:00,600
Speaker 3: number one victims of that blindness.

207
00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:09,240
Speaker 2: That disappeared or disapparicidos the term given to people who

208
00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:15,960
Speaker 2: were kidnapped and never heard from again. Inside Esthma, Medium

209
00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:20,760
Speaker 2: starts noticing something new. Prisoners who showed more resistance were

210
00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:23,280
Speaker 2: starting to be quote transferred.

211
00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:28,760
Speaker 3: The transfers happened on Wednesdays, and they would tell people

212
00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:31,160
Speaker 3: they were taking them to a ranch in the south,

213
00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:33,880
Speaker 3: where they would have a better life and where they

214
00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:35,480
Speaker 3: would be re educated.

215
00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:41,480
Speaker 2: Five thousand prisoners passed through the detention center. Medium was

216
00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,600
Speaker 2: among the few, just three hundred or so who survived.

217
00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:49,280
Speaker 2: She had convinced her captors that she was reformed, that

218
00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:54,200
Speaker 2: she had repented from her leftist sins. The reformed prisoners

219
00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:57,440
Speaker 2: were being kept in detention and forced to work jobs

220
00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:02,680
Speaker 2: mundane stuff like the cells doing laundry. But if a

221
00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:07,200
Speaker 2: prisoner had special skills, they'd get a special assignment. Medium

222
00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:11,400
Speaker 2: had studied journalism, and that's useful to the junta. She's

223
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:15,320
Speaker 2: assigned to the press office. In exchange, she's rewarded with

224
00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:16,560
Speaker 2: better living conditions.

225
00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:20,880
Speaker 3: We got to sleep on beds with sheets, We could shower,

226
00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:23,440
Speaker 3: We had access to phones we could use to call

227
00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:26,160
Speaker 3: our families, and I was allowed to make short calls

228
00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:28,320
Speaker 3: to my parents to let them know I was alive.

229
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,440
Speaker 3: During the first year after my kidnapping, I would call

230
00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:34,240
Speaker 3: them and I would tell them I was in hiding.

231
00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:39,080
Speaker 3: They didn't know I'd been captured. When my mother asked

232
00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:41,440
Speaker 3: me where I was, I would just tell her I

233
00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:45,400
Speaker 3: couldn't say for safety reasons. I would assure my parents

234
00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,520
Speaker 3: I was okay, and they believe me.

235
00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:52,760
Speaker 2: The men in charge of everything that happens at the

236
00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:58,040
Speaker 2: detention center is Navy Admiral Emilia Massea. He helped orchestrate

237
00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:01,160
Speaker 2: the coup. He'd like to be president, and he's been

238
00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:05,600
Speaker 2: assigned a crucial task for the junta. Admiral Maceda is

239
00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:10,760
Speaker 2: running the propaganda campaign. News about human rights violations in

240
00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:14,240
Speaker 2: Argentina is heating up in the international press ahead of

241
00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,760
Speaker 2: the World Cup. Marcera's job is to spin a counter

242
00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:22,360
Speaker 2: narrative that the junta is creating law and order. Part

243
00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,080
Speaker 2: of that effort is masterminded by an American public relations

244
00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:30,920
Speaker 2: firm hired by the junta, Burson Marstellar. It turns out

245
00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:34,640
Speaker 2: that hiding the truth is one of the PR firms specialties.

246
00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:38,959
Speaker 2: Their involvement helping dictatorships and other immoral types clean up

247
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:43,879
Speaker 2: their image was part of Burson Marstellar's portfolio, and before

248
00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,240
Speaker 2: Medium was captured, the junta was already putting its PR

249
00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:52,960
Speaker 2: plan in action. Their target audience the United States, Great Britain, Canada,

250
00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:56,360
Speaker 2: and a handful of other countries where news of torture

251
00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:03,480
Speaker 2: is becoming a political problem. So ahead of the World

252
00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:06,879
Speaker 2: cup William F. Buckley Jr. Is invited to record his

253
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,000
Speaker 2: PBS show in Buenos Aires in front of high school students.

254
00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:14,040
Speaker 2: Buckley seems like a safe bet for the junta. He's

255
00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:16,720
Speaker 2: known to be friendly with the powers that be, a

256
00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:18,520
Speaker 2: law in order advocate.

257
00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,359
Speaker 4: As I understanded, as I understanding you're interest in human rights,

258
00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:25,359
Speaker 4: your INSIDR rights, I'm inst in human rights, and we

259
00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:27,439
Speaker 4: think that general be then as interested in your right right.

260
00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,080
Speaker 2: One of Buckley's guests is the US Ambassador to Argentina,

261
00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:37,399
Speaker 2: Robert Hill. Oddly, it's the US Ambassador who gets agitated

262
00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:39,639
Speaker 2: and starts interrogating Buckley.

263
00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:42,320
Speaker 4: What caused the human rights problems the Buckley in your

264
00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:45,719
Speaker 4: opinion in Argentina, Well, what caused the human rights problem

265
00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:50,240
Speaker 4: is a series of reports by people who are allegedly

266
00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:56,199
Speaker 4: innocent who have disappeared. Essentially that the failure of the government,

267
00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:58,320
Speaker 4: who releases the names of those who doesn't. That's not

268
00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:00,000
Speaker 4: that's not correct in my opinion.

269
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,359
Speaker 2: It's not a hard hit against the dictatorship. But even

270
00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:08,040
Speaker 2: this soft criticism from Buckley was unexpected, so the US

271
00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:11,440
Speaker 2: Ambassador quickly jumps in to set the record straight.

272
00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:14,120
Speaker 4: The human rights problem was caused by the terrorists.

273
00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:16,440
Speaker 1: They were killing innocent people.

274
00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,600
Speaker 2: Week two months after this interview, Medium is kidnapped off

275
00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:27,600
Speaker 2: the streets. Now Medium finds herself deep inside the junta's

276
00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:28,520
Speaker 2: propaganda machine.

277
00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:32,520
Speaker 3: I also knew English and French, so they asked me

278
00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:34,720
Speaker 3: to help out in the translations department.

279
00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,680
Speaker 2: She scans foreign newspapers to see what they're saying about

280
00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:43,240
Speaker 2: Argentina and the dictatorship. She writes articles for media sources

281
00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:44,399
Speaker 2: controlled by the junta.

282
00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:48,040
Speaker 3: We were hostages. They would tell us what to write,

283
00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:50,600
Speaker 3: and one day they asked me to write about the

284
00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,960
Speaker 3: World Cup. They brief me to make sure the script

285
00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:58,320
Speaker 3: had a patriotic spirit, a nationalist tone. I knew none

286
00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:01,639
Speaker 3: of us had guarantees of coming out alive simply for

287
00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,399
Speaker 3: being part of the staff. And sure I could have

288
00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,560
Speaker 3: resisted and earned myself a spot on a death flight,

289
00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:10,679
Speaker 3: but I wanted to live.

290
00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:21,879
Speaker 2: Less than a week until the World Cup final. Former

291
00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,679
Speaker 2: US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger lands in Buenos Aires.

292
00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,440
Speaker 2: It's not just an American pr firm that is burnishing

293
00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:33,439
Speaker 2: the junta's image. Kissinger is invited to the games by

294
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:39,280
Speaker 2: his friend, the dictator, General Videla. Kissinger had helped orchestrate

295
00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:42,600
Speaker 2: Nixon's war in Vietnam. He helped organize the rights of

296
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:46,880
Speaker 2: Chili's dictator at Gusto Pinochet, and he supported Videla's claim

297
00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:54,960
Speaker 2: to impose law and order in Argentina. At the airport,

298
00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:59,600
Speaker 2: he's welcomed by journalists and military officers in uniform. The

299
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:03,320
Speaker 2: class if I transcripts show that Kissinger was briefed soon

300
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:07,159
Speaker 2: after Villela took power. He was told to expect to

301
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:11,040
Speaker 2: quote a fair amount of repression, probably a good deal

302
00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:15,359
Speaker 2: of blood in Argentina before too long. He doesn't seem

303
00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:20,000
Speaker 2: to mind in about the military junta. He responds, quote,

304
00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:24,560
Speaker 2: whatever chance they have, they'll need a little encouragement, because

305
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:30,840
Speaker 2: I do want to encourage them. End quote. By now,

306
00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:35,160
Speaker 2: Kissinger is no longer Secretary of State, but his visit

307
00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,960
Speaker 2: helps legitimize the dictatorship in the eyes of the world.

308
00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,680
Speaker 2: On June twenty fifth, nineteen seventy eight, Argentina plays the

309
00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:54,320
Speaker 2: World Cup final against Holland. Video from the opening ceremony

310
00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:59,119
Speaker 2: shows hundreds of soldiers and military bands marching. Kissinger is

311
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:05,560
Speaker 2: there too. Then General Videla makes his entrance, anal pal

312
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:15,159
Speaker 2: who's excellent. Yes, the announcer calls Videla, his excellency and

313
00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:23,520
Speaker 2: commander in chief and excellent your president. General Videla makes

314
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,720
Speaker 2: his way through the stands and sits next to Navy

315
00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:30,640
Speaker 2: Admiral Marcera, the top boss at Esthma and the man

316
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,760
Speaker 2: leading the propaganda campaign that Medium is now helping to implement.

317
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:50,840
Speaker 2: Medium is watching the game live from inside the prison.

318
00:22:54,359 --> 00:23:01,160
Speaker 4: You stop your mob of the casino stopt.

319
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:04,760
Speaker 3: And they forced us to watch the games. Some of

320
00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:08,240
Speaker 3: my fellow captives, I must confess, sometimes got carried away

321
00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:13,600
Speaker 3: by emotions and embrace their tortures. When Argentina scored, it

322
00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:15,520
Speaker 3: made me sick to my stomach.

323
00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:27,280
Speaker 2: With less than five minutes left, Argentina scores the third

324
00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:31,480
Speaker 2: goal and clinches its first World Cup title ever a

325
00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:53,520
Speaker 2: Cana Canina. The sounds of people celebrating seep through the

326
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:58,280
Speaker 2: walls in the windows of the colandestine center. Suddenly, a

327
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:00,800
Speaker 2: guard in the hallway starts yelling out names.

328
00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:06,200
Speaker 3: I hear my name and my friends Gracila Valleo. The

329
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,320
Speaker 3: guards took us outside with a dozen other people, and

330
00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,880
Speaker 3: then they forced us into a car that was part

331
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:13,640
Speaker 3: of a convoy.

332
00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:18,040
Speaker 2: The gate opens and they drive out into the mass

333
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:27,520
Speaker 2: of people. It's pure euphoria. The guards instruct Medium and

334
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:30,840
Speaker 2: Gracila to look out the car windows and look happy

335
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:36,359
Speaker 2: like everyone else. Gracila asked for permission to stick her

336
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:37,960
Speaker 2: head out of the car sunroof.

337
00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,439
Speaker 3: People were getting out of their cars to hug one

338
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:46,359
Speaker 3: another on the sidewalks. We drove through traffic slowly. It

339
00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,080
Speaker 3: was incredible, so many people.

340
00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,920
Speaker 2: The cars with Medium and Gracila eventually stop. They part

341
00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:07,040
Speaker 2: in front of a restaurant. The waiter puts some tables

342
00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:10,320
Speaker 2: together while the guards order pizza and beer and share

343
00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:14,160
Speaker 2: it with their prisoners, including a woman that Medium knows

344
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:16,480
Speaker 2: they had just raped and tortured.

345
00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:20,760
Speaker 3: People were literally jumping on top of the tables. There

346
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:25,920
Speaker 3: was no end to it. It was pure, uncontrollable joy.

347
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:33,160
Speaker 3: And I sat there silent pale. I looked at my friends, thinking,

348
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 3: how do they not realize we're being held captive? How

349
00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:42,360
Speaker 3: do they not know these men are torturers. It made

350
00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:46,240
Speaker 3: us think that the dictatorship would easily last another forty years.

351
00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:50,800
Speaker 2: At one point, her friend Razila gets permission to use

352
00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:54,720
Speaker 2: the bathroom. Once there, she takes out a red lipstick

353
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:56,960
Speaker 2: one of her captures had given her so she would

354
00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:00,480
Speaker 2: look like any other woman celebrating with their friends. With

355
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:06,200
Speaker 2: the lipstick, she writes the words quote military murderers, Maceda

356
00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:10,399
Speaker 2: the murderer, all over the walls. She goes back to

357
00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,560
Speaker 2: her table. They sit watching people dance.

358
00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:22,080
Speaker 3: What Graciela did was basically a modest act of rebellion.

359
00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:26,280
Speaker 3: It was a statement. There wasn't much else we could

360
00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:29,840
Speaker 3: do to say. We were kidnapped right at that moment,

361
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:35,159
Speaker 3: out in the open. It was completely unthinkable. No one

362
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,920
Speaker 3: would have believed us. For me, it would have been suicidal.

363
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:42,359
Speaker 3: It would have put my friends' lives in danger. It

364
00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:46,400
Speaker 3: was like another form of torture, another test of how

365
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:49,600
Speaker 3: submissive we were. The junta had won.

366
00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,719
Speaker 2: After about an hour, Medium and Grazila are taken back

367
00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:58,720
Speaker 2: to the Clendestine Center to be tortured by the sounds

368
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:00,800
Speaker 2: of joy that would contain you through the name.

369
00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:06,080
Speaker 3: The way the dictatorship used this passion shared by the

370
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:11,360
Speaker 3: Argentine people. It was just horrible. It's hard to think

371
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:11,800
Speaker 3: about it.

372
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:29,160
Speaker 2: In the next episode, Medium and Giancarlo continue their hunt

373
00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:33,880
Speaker 2: for the planes, and they finally come across one promising lead.

374
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,240
Speaker 2: On one list, there was a plane called the Rio

375
00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:40,880
Speaker 2: Grande for more than a decade. It sat there, motor less,

376
00:27:41,280 --> 00:28:04,800
Speaker 2: right under our noses. From Orbit Media, This is Avenger,

377
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:08,480
Speaker 2: the Story of Medium Lewin. I'm your host and Senior

378
00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:13,720
Speaker 2: producer Andrescavachedo. The series was produced by Seguiel Rodrie Sandino

379
00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:19,359
Speaker 2: and edited by Monica Campbell. Original score Nicolas Paschela, mixing

380
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:24,479
Speaker 2: and mastering Christopher Hoff and Austin Smith. Assistant producers Andres

381
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:30,200
Speaker 2: Feschtenholz and Eleana Gillespi. FactCheck Alejandro Marinelli and leonardos Canone.

382
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:35,879
Speaker 2: Legal review Neil Rossinia, Casting director Paula Gammon Wilson. The

383
00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:40,480
Speaker 2: executive producers from Orbit Media are Steve Fishman Fisher, Stevens,

384
00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:45,160
Speaker 2: Marcy Wiseman, and Katie Springer. The voice actors in Avenger

385
00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:49,840
Speaker 2: include Alexis Bloddell as Medium Lewin, Fulio de la Volta

386
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:55,120
Speaker 2: as Giancarlos Siraudo, Gonzalo Vargas as Enrique Pinedo, Edgardo Manono

387
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:59,920
Speaker 2: Castro as Bruno Vain and Tom Schubert as Carlos, Macosmiliana

388
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:04,720
Speaker 2: and Gustavo. This podcast was produced in association with Sonodo.

389
00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:10,160
Speaker 2: The Sonoto executive producers are Camilla Victoriano, Joshua Weinstein, and

390
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,800
Speaker 2: Jasmine Romero. The rest of the Sonoda production team includes

391
00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:20,160
Speaker 2: Senior producer Carmel Gratol, editor Rodrigo Crespo, Producer Paloma Navarro, Nicoletti,

392
00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:26,120
Speaker 2: Evelyn Urivea, Marianna Cornelo, Sara Mota, Manuel Parra, Hanna Baram

393
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:30,680
Speaker 2: and Tasha Sandoval. Special thanks to Radio and CASA and

394
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:35,080
Speaker 2: Pomeeranek Recording Studios in Buenos Aires, and to Medium Lewin

395
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:38,640
Speaker 2: and Giancarlo Serraaldo for letting us tell their story. Thank

396
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:39,320
Speaker 2: you for listening.

397
00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:05,840
Speaker 1: A quick word about subscriptions. If you love ads, listen on.

398
00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:08,960
Speaker 1: If you're not so keen on ads, sign up for

399
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:15,720
Speaker 1: True Crime Clubhouse on Apple Podcasts no ads and also Bingeability.

400
00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:19,680
Speaker 1: You can hear the entire Avenger series all at once.

401
00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:21,800
Speaker 1: It's just two ninety nine a month.