The Nizkor Project: Remembering the Holocaust (Shoah)

The Skinhead International: Argentina


A racist Skinhead scene emerged in Argentina in the mid-1980's. Since then, its numbers have fluctuated and appear to have peaked in 1991 when they claimed approximately 100 Skinheads in Buenos Aires alone.

Many Argentine Skins harbor xenophobic views, blaiming immigrants - some singling out Bolivians and Koreans - for the country's problems. Skinheads have also sparked violent confrontations in Buenos Aires clubs and discos, usually with other young toughs, particularly punk rockers. Nazi medals and tattoos are popular among Skins, and Nazi and racist graffiti attributed to them has appeared, occasionally written in English. Argentine Skins mix their cult of violence and hate with an enthusiasm for soccer and beer. As in Europe, it is often difficult to distringuish between Skinheads and soccer hooligans, and the two groups are known to overlap.

A neo-Nazi influence has pervaded the Argentine Skinhead movement from the start. Some Skins have been linked with Movimiento Nacional Socialista, a neo-Nazi organization.

Comando Suicida

The Argentine Skinhead movement has followed the fortunes of the Skin band Comando Suicida. Started in 1984, the band has folded and reformed several times. Its lyrics (and interviews) express hostility toward immigrants, homosexuals, Catholics and Jews. The band has connections with Skinheads in Germany, and has been interviewewd in English and Brazilian zines. One of the band's members - formerly associated with Movimiento Nacional Socialista - offered the following commentary on contemporary Europe:

Since World War II ended there's been a plot to destroy Europe, a racial destruction, I mean.... They filled Germany with Turks, France with Algerians, England with Pakistanis... That's a way of filling Europe with shit, to mix, to mix them to spoil the good that is left in European blood. (Anti-Defamation League, 10)

Work Cited

Anti-Defamation League. The Skinhead International: A Worldwide Survey of Neo-Nazi Skinheads. New York: Anti-Defamation League, 1995. Anti-Defamation League, 823 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017.


Disclaimer: not all skinheads are neo-nazis or white supremacists. There are many skinheads who are non- or anti-racist, and who come from a variety of different religious and cultural backgrounds. Nizkor recognizes their achievements in anti-racism: they are part of the traditional, non-racist skinhead subculture and are not the perpetrators of the hate crimes discussed here.

Unless otherwise specified, the word "skinhead" within these pages refers only to neo-Nazi and white supremacist skinheads, the perpetrators of hate crimes and participants in racist organizations. We cannot edit the body of the text above, because it was not written by Nizkor, and to change the wording would be fraudulent. Please keep in mind that not all skinheads are racist.


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