Business Actors, Repression and Justice: The Role of Tucumán’s Sugar Mills in Crimes against Workers

Abstract This article examines the role of business sectors in crimes against humanity – specifically in violence perpetrated against workers – as well as progress in accountability for their participation in such crimes, with specific reference to the Tucumán sugar mills of La Fronterita and Concepción. This historical analysis explains how in Tucumán – whose central activity is still the sugar agro-industry – the corporate sector participated in the repression and subjugation of workers. It also shows that local economic actors held significant power to obstruct any resulting Memory, Truth and Justice processes. However, local social institutions, organisations and human rights actors have marshalled their resources and designed strategies to fight back, and they have sometimes achieved notable successes.