The dictatorship in Argentina March 24, 1976 – December 10 1983

1. The dictatorship in ArgentinaMarch 24, 1976 – December 10 1983 Main Facts

2. March 24, 1976 • On March 24, 1976, Isabel Perón was deposed and arrested. • The Military Junta took power. • The junta named Jorge Rafael Videla president of Argentina, and established that the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force would compose the future government. • This was the beginning of the so-called “National Reorganization Process.”

3. What were the events that led to such actions? • Recession. • Budget crisis: foreign debt (US$2.5 billion)/budget deficits (over US$5 billion), in 1975. • The President was accused of having embezzled large sums from a government-run charity into her personal accounts in Spain

4. Beginning of the military regime • The junta announced its plan to contain inflation, stop speculation, and stimulate foreign inversion. But it was a slow start. • In such economic climate, the military junta imposed “terrorism of State,” which targeted the elimination of any type of popular participation. • The military regime started an implacable repression over all democratic forces: political, social, and unionist, with the objective of subduing the population through terror. Their objective was to restore “order.” • This day inaugurated the bloodiest authoritarian government in the history of Argentina. Students, union workers, intellectuals, professionals, and many others were kidnapped, murdered and, later on, disappeared. Those who could went on exile.

5. Censorship • Announcement number 19, March 24, 1976: • The Military Junta announces to the people that any person who spreads, reveals, or promotes announcements or images, through any type of media, produced by or related to illicit associations, or to persons or groups dedicated to subversive activities or terrorism, will be punished with confinement for an indefinitely period of time. Any person who spreads, reveals, or promotes news, announcements, or images, through any type of media, with the purpose of disrupting, prejudicing, or discrediting the activities of the Armed Forces, the Security Forces, or the Police, will be punished with confinement for up to ten years. (Newspaper “The Press,” March 24, 1976)

6. Dirty War • The “disappearance” was the most sinister formula of the “dirty war”: the “target” was abducted (“sucked”) by a paramilitary squad (“patota”); the “target” would become a number and have no legal warranty nor rights; the “target” was at the mercy of her/his captors. • The “disappeared ones” were thrown to the Río de la Plata (Silver River), previously sedated, from military planes or helicopters, or to common graves with no identification whatsoever.

7. The “disappeared ones” Percentages of disappeared people according to their profession: • Blue collar workers..............................................30,0% • Students................................................................21,0% • Other workers.......................................................17,8% • Professionals.........................................................10,7% • Teaching staff..........................................................5,7% • Self-employed............................................................5% • Housewives.............................................................3,8% • Conscripts and military personnel...........................2,5% • Journalists................................................................1,6% • Actors and artists......................................................1,3% • Priests and nuns........................................................0,3% (Conadep Report, 1984)

8. Detention camps • Detention camps were clandestine. People who were taken to these centers were tortured and eventually killed. • However, they were centrally located, in downtown! • There were 340 in the whole country.

9. Theft of children • Besides adult kidnapping, many children were literally stolen. The stolen kids, many times children of detained pregnant women who gave birth at detention camps, were registered as kids of military families; other times they were sold or abandoned in orphanages. • The military government thought that children of the “disappeared ones” should loose their identities. For this reason, the military made them disappeared. The government thought that subversion was hereditary or, at least, passed on by family links.

10. Mother of the Plaza de Mayo • Born in 1977, this group was formed by the mothers of the “disappeared ones.” • This group became the most active group opposing the government. They wear white head scarves with their children’s names embroidered. • The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo is a unique organization of Argentine women who have become human rights activists in order to achieve a common goal. For over three decades, the Mothers have fought for the right to re-unite with their abducted children. They still gather every Thursday afternoon for a half hour walk around the plaza. • The 14 founders of the association were Azucena Villaflor de De Vincenti, Berta Braverman, Haydée García Buelas, María Adela Gard de Antokoletz, Julia Gard, María Mercedes Gard and Cándida Gard (4 sisters), Delicia González, Pepa Noia, Mirta Baravalle, Kety Neuhaus, Raquel Arcushin, and Sra. De Caimi. They started the demonstrations on the Plaza de Mayo, in front of the Casa Rosada, on April 30, 1977. • Some of the founders of this group were also abducted.