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| Trelew massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Dirty War | |
 Almirante Marcos A. Zar Airport | |
| Location | Almirante Zar Aeronaval Base, Trelew, Chubut Province, Argentina |
| Coordinates | 43°13′01″S 65°16′11″W / 43.2169°S 65.2697°W |
| Date | 22 August 1972 03:30 a.m. (UTC−03:00) |
| Target | Members of the left-wing guerrillas Montoneros, ERP and Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (FAR) |
Attack type | Execution by firing squad |
| Deaths | 16 |
| Injured | 3 |
| Perpetrator | Argentine Navy |
| Motive | Elimination of political dissidents following their successful escape from the Rawson Prison on 15 August and subsequent recapture |
The Trelew Massacre was a mass execution of 16 political prisoners, militants of different Peronist and leftist organizations, in Rawson prison by the military dictatorship of Argentina. The prisoners were recaptured after an escape attempt and subsequently shot down by marines led by Lieutenant Commander Luis Emilio Sosa in a simulated new attempt to escape. The marines forced the prisoners to fake a new escape, then executed them as revenge by the Revolución Argentina for the successful escape of some of their comrades during the initial prison break. The massacre took place in the early hours of 22 August 1972 in the Almirante Marcos A. Zar Airport, an Argentine Navy airbase located near the city of Trelew, Chubut in Patagonia.