1976 Argentine coup d'état

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1976 Argentine coup d'état
Part of the Operation Condor / the Dirty War and the Cold War

Jorge Rafael Videla swearing in
as President on 29 March 1976
Date24 March 1976
Location
Casa Rosada, Buenos Aires
Result Overthrow of Isabel Perón. Jorge Rafael Videla becomes President of Argentina.
Belligerents

Argentina Government

Argentina Armed Forces

Supported by:
United States United States[1][2][3]
Commanders and leaders
Isabel Perón Argentina Jorge Videla
United States involvement in
regime change
20th century
21st century

The 1976 Argentine coup d'état overthrew Isabel Perón as President of Argentina on 24 March 1976. While it had some right-wing elements, such as its emphasis on order and security, it was not a traditional right-wing coup and did not adhere to a specific ideology. [citation needed] A military junta was installed to replace her; this was headed by Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla, Admiral Emilio Eduardo Massera and Brigadier-General[4] Orlando Ramón Agosti. The political process initiated on 24 March 1976 took the official name of "National Reorganization Process", and the junta, although not with its original members, remained in power until the return to the democratic process on 10 December 1983. The coup was planned and executed within the framework of the Condor Plan, a clandestine system of repressive coordination between Latin American countries promoted by the United States, as part of the national security doctrine, which generalized dictatorships in Latin America in order to maintain the control over those countries during the Cold War.

The military coup had been planned since October 1975; the Perón government learned of the preparations two months before its execution.

human rights abuses grew in the United States.[5][2][3]

Given the systematic persecution of a social minority, the period has been classified as a genocidal process.[6][7][8] This has been established in the sentences of the trials of the perpetrators for crimes against humanity.[9][10][11]

Prelude to the coup

When president Juan Perón died of natural causes on 1 July 1974, he was succeeded by his wife (then vice-president) Isabel Perón, also known as "Isabelita." Despite her claim as the country's rightful ruler, she rapidly lost political gravitas and power. A group of military officials, tasked by Perón to aide the vice-president,[citation needed] took control in an effort to revitalize Argentina's deteriorating political and social climate[clarification needed]. This shift in governance paved the way for the ensuing coup.

On 5 February 1975

Operativo Independencia was launched. This Vietnam-style intervention aimed to eliminate the guerrillas in the Tucumán
jungle, who had maintained strongholds in the area as early as May 1974. In October the country was divided into five military zones, with each commander given full autonomy to unleash a carefully planned wave of repression.

On 18 December, a number of warplanes took off from Morón Air Base and strafed the Casa Rosada in an attempt to overthrow Isabel Perón. The rebellion was brought to a halt four days later through arbitration by a chaplain.

However, the military did succeed in removing the only officer remaining loyal to the government,

Héctor Fautario
. Fautario drew harsh criticism from the Army and Navy owing to his vehement opposition to their repressive plans, and for his refusal to mobilize the Air Force against the guerrillas' strongholds in the north. Fautario was Videla's final obstacle in his pursuit of power.

By January 1976 the guerrilla presence in Tucumán had been reduced to a few platoons. Meanwhile, the military, fully backed by the local élite, along with Chilean

strongman Augusto Pinochet, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the administration of President Gerald Ford, bided its time before ultimately seizing power.[2][12][13]

Isabel Perón's loss of legitimacy

Peron's loss of power, besides the public ridicule, was magnified by the loss of her congressional majority. In addition, her popular support was reduced to a right wing section of

López Rega, announce an investigation of the AAA group, though the group had been active for 550 days without a single arrest. As the government finally addressed the AAA, it indicated public dissatisfaction with the current regime’s treatment over the AAA.[15] By late March 1976, local press was open reporting on a coup happening within hours, which led to ramped up political violence between left and right, as those were interested in "settling scores" which led to about 165 people killed from the start of the year until then, of which the Perón regime was powerless to stop.[15]

The coup

Shortly before 01:00 am, President Perón was detained and taken by helicopter to the El Messidor residence. At 03:10 all television and radio stations were interrupted. Regular transmissions were cut and replaced by a military march, after which the first communiqué was broadcast:

[...] People are advised that as of today, the country is under the operational control of the General Commanders Junta of the Armed Forces . We recommend to all inhabitants strict compliance with the provisions and directives emanating from the military, security or police authorities, and to be extremely careful to avoid individual or group actions and attitudes that may require drastic intervention from the operating personnel. Signed: General Jorge Rafael Videla, Admiral Emilio Eduardo Massera and Brigadier Orlando Ramón Agosti.

A

state of siege and martial law
were implemented, as military patrolling spread to every major city. The morning was seemingly uneventful, but as the day progressed, the detentions multiplied. Hundreds of workers, unionists, students, and political activists were abducted from their homes, their workplaces, or in the streets.

Media coverage

At the end of the day on March 24, the

Jorge Videla, those being Albano Harguindeguy, Ricardo Franke, Julio Gómez, Osvaldo Cacciatore, Jose A. Martínez de Hoz, Ricardo Bruera, Horacio Liendo, and Julio J. Bardi, all high ranking military officers. On the release of the March 28th publication, the newspaper also explained that the Junta had been recognized by thirty two countries already as the government of Argentina.[17]

Censorship and bias in the media

Under Isabel Perón's presidency, media coverage had been severely restricted, applying to both local press as well as foreign press coverage of Argentina. Under Perón, several decrees had been released, one being a news agency registry, and the requirement that all local as well as foreign news outlets follow all the guidelines, the main one being that "domestic and foreign news media are forbidden to carry news about Argentina supplied by foreign news agencies" through decree 1273.[18] Several newspapers, such as La Prensa and La Opinión immediately spoke out against the restrictions, condemning them, and explaining how they are "ambiguous, arbitrary, and absurd". These same newspapers were punished by having their government funding suspended.[19] Under the Military government, media coverage was also restricted, with the Junta exercising control over the media. The difference between the two regimes was in the message, however. When the foreign media representatives met with the interim Junta press secretary, Jorge Luis Argiotti, in which he requested "collaboration when reporting matters other than material contained in the communique", which some foreign media outlets took as implicit control over the media.[20] All the same, radio and television in Argentina strictly broadcast Junta communiques, but foreign news reporters still had access to international news as of March 1976.

Subsequent events

The Junta assumed the executive power until 29 March when Videla was designated president. Congress was disbanded with senators, deputies and staff members being arrested, brutally beaten and thrown out of doors and windows of the

Congressional Palace. An entity known as Legislative Assessment Commission (in Spanish: Comisión de Asesoramiento Legislativo - CAL), composed entirely of officers from the military and police, assumed a Legislative role.[21]

Human rights activists state that in the aftermath of the coup and ensuing

U.S. Ambassador to Argentina at the time, Robert Hill.[2]

The dictatorship counted on the complicity of civil and ecclesiastical sectors, therefore it is usually characterized as a civic-military-ecclesiastical-business dictatorship.[23][24][25][26]

The Junta remained in power until Raúl Alfonsín, democratically elected, took office as President of Argentina, in December 1983.

The 24 March anniversary of the coup is now designated in Argentina as the Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice.[27]

US interest in regime change

The American government paid close attention to any changes in regime in Latin America, and had been carefully watching Argentina throughout Peron's presidency. Guerrilla warfare under Perón's presidency had resulted in serious political violence, as well as the murder of John Egan, a US consular to

State Department were not worried about major fundamental changes, citing that left wing groups did not have enough support for a coup and the military was not interested in making sweeping reforms.[citation needed
]  

See also

References

  1. ^ "Military Take Cognizance of Human Rights Issue" (PDF). National Security Archive. 16 February 1976.
  2. ^ a b c d "Kissinger approved Argentinian 'dirty war'". The Guardian. 6 December 2003. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0415686174
    .
  4. Brigadier-general#Argentina
    for more information.
  5. ^ "Military Take Cognizance of Human Rights Issue" (PDF). National Security Archive. 16 February 1976.
  6. S2CID 150960533
    .
  7. S2CID 55213118
    .
  8. S2CID 56220219
    .
  9. S2CID 53624651
    .
  10. ISBN 978-1-351-62762-7
    .
  11. ISSN 1911-0359
    .
  12. ^ "Transcript: U.S. OK'd 'dirty war'" (PDF). The Miami Herald. 4 December 2003.
  13. ^ "New Details Revealed About U.S. Support for 1976 Coup in Argentina & Dictatorship". Democracy Now!. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  14. ^ a b Grafeld, Margaret (24 March 1975). "25 Political Murders in 48 hours". foia.state.gov. US State Department. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  15. ^ a b Woodward, Robert (22 March 1976). "Terrorist Toll continues high". foia.state.gov. US State Department. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  16. ^ Magnetto, H (24 March 1976). "Nuevo Gobierno". Clarin Portadas Históricas (in Spanish). Clarín. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  17. ^ H, Magnetto (28 March 1976). "Sera Anunciado hoy el Nuevo Gabinete". Clarin Portadas Históricas (in Spanish). Clarín. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  18. ^ a b Saunders, Harold (10 February 1976). "Argentina: Division and Crisis". foia.state.gov. US State Department. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  19. ^ Grafeld, Margaret (22 May 1975). "Freedom of the Press in Argentina". foia.state.gov. US State Department. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  20. ^ Woodward, Robert (24 March 1976). "Junta's relations with local and foreign media". foia.state.gov. US State Department. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  21. ISBN 978-3-030-18301-1
    .
  22. ^ a b Goni, Uki (22 July 2016). "How an Argentinian man learned his 'father' may have killed his real parents". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  23. ^ "¿Por qué se dice que la dictadura es cívico-militar?". La tinta (in Spanish). 23 March 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  24. S2CID 38077134
    .
  25. ^ "Empresas y dictadura". www.cels.org.ar. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  26. ^ "The Last Military Dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983): the Mechanism of State Terrorism | Sciences Po Mass Violence and Resistance - Research Network". last-military-dictatorship-argentina-1976-1983-mechanism-state-terrorism.html. 25 January 2016. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  27. ^ Law 25633, Argentine Congress, 22 August 2002 Archived 5 August 2012 at archive.today.
  28. ^ Grafeld, Margaret (1 March 1975). "Terrorists murder US Consular agent in Argentina". foia.state.gov. US State Department. Retrieved 2 March 2023.

External links

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