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Today in Labor History January 16, 1919: Semana Tragica (Tragic week) ended on this date in Buenos Aires. The authorities slaughtered as many as 700 workers and wounded 2,000. The government repression that followed decimated the militant Argentinean anarchist labor movement. From 1902 until 1909, the Federacion Obrera Regional Argentina had waged a series of General Strikes against the bosses and anti-labor legislation. The Semana Tragica began as a strike at the Vasena metal works. On January 3, striking workers fired on the police, wounding three. On January 7, the maritime workers voted for a General Strike for better wages and hours. On that same date, militant workers shot and killed an army lieutenant at the Vasena metal works. The police responded by killing five workers. That night, militant workers killed two more soldiers. On January 8, the waterfront strike began, halting all loading and unloading of cargo. On January 8, hundreds marched in a funeral procession for the workers who had been killed by the cops. Along the way, they attacked property and burned cars. The police fired into the procession, killing several people. Mobs then rampaged throughout Buenos Aires, burning streetcars and buildings, looting sporting goods stores for guns and ammunition. 3,000 stormed the Lacrose Station. The Argentine Chamber of Deputies fought with each other, but took no action on the violence in the streets. The violence and killings continued for days, with right-wing vigilantes joining the police and soldiers, assaulting workers and committing pogroms against the city’s Jews.