# Operation Primicia

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**Operation Primicia** ("Scoop") was a large [guerrilla](/source/Guerrilla) assault that took place on 5 October 1975, in [Formosa, Argentina](/source/Formosa,_Argentina). It was the largest attack ever launched by the paramilitary group [Montoneros](/source/Montoneros), which attempted to seize the barracks of the 29th Forest Infantry Regiment. The incident escalated the [Dirty War](/source/Dirty_War), which led to the [1976 Argentine coup d'état](/source/1976_Argentine_coup_d'%C3%A9tat) the following year.[1]

## Overview

The attack was carried out in five phases. As a first step, [Montoneros](/source/Montoneros) hijacked a flight of [Aerolíneas Argentinas](/source/Aerol%C3%ADneas_Argentinas) from the province of [Corrientes](/source/Corrientes) (with 102 passengers and six crew). Then the airliner, a [Boeing 737](/source/Boeing_737)-200, was redirected to Formosa. The [Formosa International Airport](/source/Formosa_International_Airport) was captured at the same time by Montoneros gunmen already in the province. During this initial attack they fired a [rocket propelled grenade](/source/Rocket-propelled_grenade) at a police patrol vehicle, killing a police officer and wounding another. The group held 200 hostages at the airport. Then, they assaulted the 29th Infantry Regiment.[2]

The surviving militants escaped in the Boeing and a [Cessna 182](/source/Cessna_182). The Boeing landed in the countryside near [Rafaela](/source/Rafaela), [Santa Fe Province](/source/Santa_Fe_Province), and the Cessna in a ricefield in [Corrientes Province](/source/Corrientes_Province).[1][3]

The attack was planned by [Raúl Yaguer](/source/Ra%C3%BAl_Yaguer) and approved by Montoneros' commanders [Mario Firmenich](/source/Mario_Firmenich), [Roberto Perdía](/source/Roberto_Perd%C3%ADa) and [Roberto Quieto](/source/Roberto_Quieto).[1]

## Attack on the barracks

Montoneros attacked the Regiment facilities at 16:25, the time of the local [siesta](/source/Siesta). Most military personnel were on leave: some of them had a day off, and others were sleeping at the military neighbourhood next to the regiment. Montoneros thought that the remaining soldiers, most of them just young [conscripts](/source/Conscription), would join them, but they did not. Ten conscripts and two policemen died during the attack, and a total of 28 people died during the whole operation.[1] Montoneros expected to seize some 200 [FN FAL](/source/FN_FAL) assault rifles, but could only take 50.[4]

## Consequences

The acting president of Argentina at that time was [Ítalo Lúder](/source/%C3%8Dtalo_L%C3%BAder), as [Isabel Perón](/source/Isabel_Per%C3%B3n) had taken a leave of absence. Lúder signed three decrees urging the military to ["annihilate the subversive elements"](/source/Dirty_War#Annihilation_decrees). The armed forces were already waging the [Operativo Independencia](/source/Operativo_Independencia) against the [Maoist](/source/Maoism) [ERP](/source/People's_Revolutionary_Army_(Argentina)) in the [Tucumán Province](/source/Tucum%C3%A1n_Province). This decree expanded their area of operations to the whole country.

There was wide support for Lúder to stay as president, but Isabel Perón returned to the presidency.[5] The military deposed her during the [1976 Argentine coup d'état](/source/1976_Argentine_coup_d'%C3%A9tat), and continued the [Dirty War](/source/Dirty_War) during the *[National Reorganization Process](/source/National_Reorganization_Process)*. Montoneros and ERP were eventually defeated. The military fell from power in 1983, and the [National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons](/source/National_Commission_on_the_Disappearance_of_Persons) (CONADEP) listed several thousand [forced disappearances](/source/Forced_disappearance) carried out by the military during the conflict with the guerrillas.[1]

The late president [Néstor Kirchner](/source/N%C3%A9stor_Kirchner) made a controversial change to the CONADEP report in 2006. He included the gunmen that died during the attacks as victims of [state terrorism](/source/State_terrorism), allowing their relatives to receive state compensations.[1][6]

## References

### Footnotes

1. Ceferino Reato (29 August 2010). ["Operación Primicia"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110727210736/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1298901-operacion-primicia) (in Spanish). La Nación. Archived from [the original](http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1298901-operacion-primicia) on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2012.

1. Reato, Ceferino (29 September 2015). ["A 40 años del sangriento debut del Ejército Montonero"](http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1832208-a-40-anos-del-sangriento-debut-del-ejercito-montonero) (in Spanish). *La Nación*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20161220061331/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1832208-a-40-anos-del-sangriento-debut-del-ejercito-montonero) 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-04-14.

1. Lois 2007, p. 282.

1. Lois 2007, p. 283.

1. Galasso 2011, p. 501.

1. Manfroni 2012, p. 279.

### Bibliography

- Galasso, N. (2011). *Historia de la Argentina* (in Spanish). Vol. 1–2. Buenos Aires: Colihue. ISBN 9789505634781.
- Lois, E. (2007). *Morir por Perón* (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Editorial del Nuevo Extermo. ISBN 9789871427000.
- Manfroni, C. (2012). *Montoneros: soldados de Massera* (in Spanish). Buenois Aires: Sudamericana. ISBN 9789500737999.
- Reato, C. (2010). *Operación Primicia* (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Sudamericana. ISBN 9789500732543.

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