Chamorro, Rubén Jacinto

(d. 1986)

   Nicknamed “Dolphin” or “Máximo.” An Argentine navy captain (later rear admiral) who commanded the Escuela Mecánica de la Armada (ESMA, Navy Mechanics School), the most notorious of the Centros Clandestinos de Detención (Secret Detention Centers). Under his command, from 1976 to 1979, at least 5,000 suspected subversives were detained, tortured, and murdered, many of them thrown alive into the Atlantic Ocean from navy aircraft. He died of a heart attack on 2 June 1986, at age 61.

   See also Desaparecidos.