Minori'ethage Memories and Deschooling Society in Verónico Cruz. La deuda interna (Argentina, 1988): A Decolonial Tribute to the Qulla Culture of Jujuy

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the early 1980s, the Argentine filmmaker Miguel Pereira was a student at the London Film School. He was moved by Argentina’s social reality and the fact that young conscripts from Jujuy, and other local settings, were sent to fight in the Malvinas War. In 1988, he paid what I call a decolonial tribute to the Qulla people of Jujuy with his first feature film Verónico Cruz. La Deuda Interna. I argue that Pereira’s cinematic commemoration reinterprets sites of memory, such as the Argentine flag and the monument to General Belgrano, revealing their ambiguity. Adding another layer to the process of memorialization, it represents the warship ARA General Belgrano as a site of international conscience. it reflects on the deschooling of society undertaken by the dictatorship. Ultimately, it denounces the marginalization of the Qulla culture, despite the community’s significant contribution to their country.