ARGENTINE MILITARY DICTATORSHIP: CAUSES, ECONOMY AND CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2024

The Argentine military dictatorship, called by its protagonists the National Reorganization Process, ruled the country from 1976 to 1983. Although Argentina had already suffered other military dictatorships during the 20th century, the latter is considered the most bloody and repressive.

The death of Perón had meant an increase in the internal tension of the country. His widow, María Estela Martínez de Perón, replaced him in office, although from the beginning she was under strong pressure to leave him. Meanwhile, Argentina was going through economic difficulties and growing political violence.

Demonstration against dictatorship 1982 - Source: See page for author, via Wikimedia Commons

The coup that established the dictatorship took place on March 24, 1976. The military organized into a first Junta to govern the country, which would be followed by three others. During that stage several presidents succeeded: Videla, Viola, Galtieri and Bignone.

The repression against all those who seemed to sympathize with the left was fierce. The number of disappeared is estimated at between 9000 and 30,000, many of them killed during the so-called "death flights". Likewise, the rulers established a systematic policy of theft of children and a repressive policy towards minorities.

Causes

The dictatorship established in 1976 was the last in a series that began in 1930 and continued with the coups carried out in 1943, 1955, 1962 and 1966. All this had created a society accustomed to the intervention of the army in public life.

According to the published data, the 1976 coup had been in the works for more than a year. The documents show that, for example, the US State Department knew of the coup plotters' intentions twelve months before they acted.

Armed activity of leftist groups

Born from the bosom of Peronism, the Montoneros carried out a large number of armed attacks during the 1970s. In the years prior to the coup, they had radicalized, drawing ever closer to the ERP.

According to historians, in early 1976 a political assassination was committed every five hours, although not all were carried out by leftist organizations. The truth is that political violence represented an important factor of instability, to which it was necessary to add the growing workers' demonstrations.

The army had reacted in February 1975 when, on the 5th, Operation Independence began. It was a military intervention that intended to end the guerrillas stationed in the jungle of Tucumán. In October of that year the country was divided into five military zones, unleashing a wave of repression.

The actions of the army were not limited to the members of the ERP and Montoneros, but also affected political parties, students, religious or popular activists. In practice, they developed state terrorism that was the precedent for the actions that the dictatorship would later carry out.

The Triple A

Another of the actors that contributed to the destabilization of the country was Triple A (Alianza Anticomunista Argentina), a right-wing organization that supported the army.

Triple A had also emerged from the ranks of Peronism and had members of the Federal Police and the Armed Forces. It is estimated that it caused the disappearance and death of almost 700 people, in theory linked to leftist movements.

This paramilitary group was dismantled shortly before the start of the dictatorship. From that moment on, it was the military government itself that assumed its objectives and part of its methods.

Economic crisis

Between the instability and the government's management, Argentina had a big inflation problem. In addition, the suspension of international payments was on the verge. To try to solve the problems, in 1975 the currency was devalued and a large rate was decreed.

Calls from big businessmen

Some of the large private companies had directly requested the intervention of the army. In part of the sector they accused the constitutional government of being "sovietizing."

National Security Doctrine and Condor Plan

The coup in Argentina and the subsequent dictatorship was also framed in the international context. In the middle of the Cold War, the United States maintained a concept in its foreign relations called by experts the "Doctrine of national security."

Through this formula, the US encouraged or supported the military to take power in those Latin American countries with leftist governments. One of the centers in which the military was trained was the School of the Americas, where a good part of the dictators of the time passed.

In Argentina there was already a precedent for the application of this doctrine. It was the CONINTES plan (Internal Concussion of the State), launched during the Frondizi government in 1957. This plan unleashed internal repression and the arrest of opposition leaders.

Although the role of the United States in the Argentine dictatorship was always taken for granted, the declassified documents demonstrated the support of Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State, for the coup plotters.

In them, Kissinger expresses his desire to encourage them, despite the US intelligence warning that it could lead to a bloodbath.

Social and political context

Juan Domingo Perón was overthrown in 1955, three months after a massacre in the Plaza de Mayo. From that moment on, several de facto governments alternated with other elected ones, without the instability disappearing. The Peronist parties were also banned for many years.

Cold War

At that time, the world was immersed in the so-called Cold War, which faced the United States and the Soviet Union without using weapons. The Cuban Revolution and Castro's rise to power had encouraged leftist movements on the continent. The United States tried to prevent the revolution from spreading.

The way to do this was to support, either openly or indirectly, military coups against governments that he considered pro-communist. By 1973, all the countries of the Southern Cone, except Argentina, were military dictatorships.

María Estela Martínez de Perón

Perón returned from exile in 1973 and was willing to stand in the elections again. Their previous governments had had a marked populist character, but that of 73 was characterized by their approach to the military.

The death of Juan Domingo Perón in 1974 became a new element for the destabilization of the country. Within his movement there were several factions and a good part of the Armed Forces did not approve of his replacement by Isabelita, his widow.

Maria Estela Martínez de Perón, her real name, was pressured to leave office, but she refused to do so.

Jose Lopez Rega

José López Rega is called by some historians "the Argentine Rasputin." His influence on Isabelita Perón was undeniable and played a fundamental role in subsequent events.

Rega was the cause of the resignation of Gelbard, Minister of Economy of Perón, which caused the union bureaucracy to strengthen. This coincided with an escalation of violence. The problems increased when Celestino Rodrigo was appointed new head of the national economy.

Economic measures

With the support of López Rega, Rodrigo decreed a series of highly questioned economic measures. Among them, a devaluation of the peso that ranged between 100% and 160%. The price of gasoline increased 181% and that of transportation 75%.

In practice, these measures led to a sharp cut in the purchasing power of wages, while agricultural exports benefited. Inflation rose sharply, causing a serious political crisis.

National Counterinsurgency Strategy

In September 1975, the President requested a temporary leave of absence for health reasons. His post was held by Senator Ítalo Luder, who reinforced the power of the military. One of his first decisions was to give the order to "annihilate" the guerrillas, creating a National Defense Council controlled by the Army.

The Armed Forces proceeded to divide the country into five military zones. Those in charge of each of them had absolute power to order repressive actions that they considered necessary.

Luder also decreed the advancement of the elections scheduled for March 1977. The new scheduled date was the second half of 1976.

According to historians, during this period there was a meeting led by Jorge Rafael Videla, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, with other high-ranking officials and the participation of French and American advisers.

At that meeting, they secretly approved the National Counterinsurgency Strategy, which dispensed with the guarantees of the rule of law in the fight against the insurgency.

Videla himself declared, during a Conference of American Armies held on October 23, 1975, that "if necessary, in Argentina all the people necessary to achieve peace in the country must die."

Coup attempt

Isabelita Perón returned to the presidency in October of that same year. Two months later, on December 18, there was an attempted coup by the ultra-nationalist sector of the Air Force.

The uprising, during which the Casa Rosada was machine-gunned, was unsuccessful. However, he did succeed in his objective of displacing the commander of the Air Forces, Héctor Fautario, from his position. This was the last military man who supported the president and, furthermore, the main obstacle for Videla to take power.

On Christmas Eve of that year, Videla addressed the Armed Forces and issued an ultimatum to Isabel to order the country in 90 days.

In February, Viola planned the following moves to carry out the coup, such as the clandestine detention of opponents on charges of "anti-subversive actions."

Military Boards

The coup began at 3:10 a.m. on March 24, 1976. That night, General Villarreal announced the following to the President:

"Madam, the Armed Forces have decided to take political control of the country and you are arrested."

Once the coup plotters had controlled the entire country, they organized a dictatorial government. As the leading body, they created a Board of Commanders with the participation of the three branches of the Army, granting each one independence to act without the need to agree on anything.

The Board called his government the National Reorganization Process or simply The Process.

First Military Government Junta (1976-1980)

The first Military Junta was formed by Jorge Rafael Videla, Emilio Eduardo Massera and Orlando Ramón Agosti. According to the rules they established, direct command should be in the hands of a president, with executive, legislative and judicial powers. The first elected, for a period of 5 years, was Videla.

The first decisions of the Board were to dissolve the National Congress, remove the members of the Supreme Court and the provincial authorities, and establish censorship.

Historians point out that Videla's stage as President was the bloodiest of the entire dictatorship. Among other things, he is considered responsible for the so-called “final solution”, which established the murder of the disappeared. In addition, he was responsible for the beginning of the robberies of children.

One of the events that marked the period of the first Military Junta was the organization of the 1978 Soccer World Cup. The military wanted to take advantage of the sporting event to whitewash its international image.

However, the repression continued and foreign journalists saw their work hampered when they wanted to gather information on concentration camps, torture centers and other issues.

Second Military Government Junta (1980-1981)

The members of the second Military Junta were Roberto Viola, Armando Lambruschini and Omar Graffigna.

Videla's stage ended in 1980 with a major economic and financial crisis. Likewise, there were differences within the members of the Board and among the Armed Forces. For these reasons, Videla announced that his successor would be Roberto Viola, who was to govern until 1984.

Viola began his term by decreeing a significant devaluation of the currency. Her intention was to correct the inheritance left by Videla, but it ended up causing a significant increase in prices and an increase in inflation.

Only six months after starting his presidency, there were already voices calling for his removal. This finally occurred when Viola was admitted for health problems. His first replacement was Lacoste, although Leopoldo Galtieri soon took over.

Third Military Government Junta (1981-1982)

The following Military Junta was formed by Leopoldo Galtieri, Jorge Anaya and Basilio Lami Dozo. The first assumed the position of President on December 22, 1981 and formed a government in which he introduced civilians into some ministries.

However, the country's economy did not improve and the measures taken had a negative effect on the population.

For its part, the opposition had begun to organize itself into the so-called Multiparty, composed of a multitude of parties and movements. Among the participants were the Communist Party, the Socialists, the Church and the CGT, among many others.

Under the slogan of "Bread, Peace and Work" several workers' demonstrations were called, some of which were violently repressed. In Mendoza, for example, one person was killed and more than 1,000 arrested during one of the rallies.

The Junta needed an outlet that would reduce the pressure of the street. Three days after the Mendoza demonstration, Argentina went to war against Great Britain to try to recover the Falkland Islands.

Many historians consider that Galtieri sought a way for the population to support the government in a war for a generally shared cause. However, the defeat ended up causing his downfall.

Fourth Military Junta (1982-983)

The last of the Military Juntas was composed of Cristino Nicolaides, Rubén Franco and Augusto Jorge Hughes

The elected President was Reynaldo Benito Bignone, a Lieutenant General who had been Secretary General of the Army and head of the Military College. His arrival to power occurred in the midst of the crisis caused by the defeat in the Malvinas.

Bignone began his government by removing restrictions on political parties. Likewise, it established talks with the Multipartidaria and, in August 1982, approved the statute of the parties.

The opposition, for its part, presented an economic plan to improve the situation, but it was rejected. Given this, the Multiparty called a rally, the "March for Democracy." More than 100,000 people gathered on December 16. The security forces reacted with violence, murdering a participating worker.

Four months later, on April 28, 1983, the dictators published a report called "Final Document of the Military Junta." Its content was a justification for his actions during the entire dictatorship.

Return to democracy

Finally, the Junta called elections for October 30, 1983. The winner of the elections was Raúl Alfonsín, candidate of the Radical Civic Union.

Economy

The first person in charge of the economy of the dictatorship was José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz, who held the ministry until 1981. The Junta granted him great power, since its objective was to totally transform the economic functioning of the country.

Liberal politics

Martínez de la Hoz presented his economic program on April 2, 1976. In principle, it was a program based on liberalism that sought to promote free enterprise and increase production. Likewise, it promised to diminish the role of the state in the economy.

The first measures enacted sought to stabilize the country and had the support of the IMF and foreign private banks. One of the first steps was to devalue the currency and reduce the public sector deficit through a wage freeze. Similarly, it managed to obtain external financing.

In the social sphere, Martínez de la Hoz eliminated the right to strike and reduced the participation of wage earners in GDP.

Initially, the measures managed to control the crisis created after Rodrigo's administration. The next step was to open up the economy and liberalize financial markets.

Market opening

Martínez de la Hoz intended to open the domestic market to foreign competition. To do this, it reduced tariffs on imported products. However, this greatly affected domestic productive activity.

For its part, the government liberalized the interest rate and new banks were authorized. The state, which renounced controls, guaranteed fixed-term deposits.

In 1978 the so-called “tablita” was established, a measure that established the monthly devaluation of the peso. The objective was to control inflation, but it was a failure.

Instead, the measure fostered strong speculation with large sums placed in the short term seeking to benefit from high interest rates and the state guarantee on the repurchase price of dollars.

Indebtedness

The productive sector, in contrast to the financial sector, soon fell into brutal debt. This particularly affected the industry, which not only decreased its production, but also suffered the closure of many companies.

The entire Martinez de Hoz plan collapsed in 1980. Several financial entities went bankrupt and the State had to pay the liabilities they maintained.

1981 crisis

The departure of Videla from the presidency, replaced by Viola, also led to a change in the Ministry of Economy. That year, however, the disaster reached its peak: the peso was devalued 400% and inflation soared 100% annually. The State ended up nationalizing the debts of private companies, aggravating public debt.

Despite having presented a liberal program, Martínez de Hoz had greatly expanded the role of the state in the economy. The Military Junta did not want to lose control of the public companies and the military occupied its most important positions.

The government also increased public investment, although many of the works were carried out by private companies. In the end, a powerful group of state contracting companies was formed.

On the other hand, some private companies that were experiencing difficulties were nationalized, which further increased public spending.

Consequences of the dictatorship

Tens of thousands of people were arrested, killed, sent into exile or disappeared. It was a plan established to eliminate internal dissent against the Military Junta.

Between 1976 and 1983 several clandestine detention centers were established, the best known being the School of Mechanics of the Navy (ESMA) in Buenos Aires.

The number of disappeared has not been reliably established. The numbers vary according to the sources, from the 30,000 reported by human rights organizations, to the 8,961 cases reported by CONADEP. Finally, the Undersecretariat for Human Rights assures that there were 15,000.

Theft of children

Among the practices of the dictatorship, one of the most cruel was the theft of newborn babies. It was a way of ending the ideologies that they considered enemies of the homeland, since it prevented ideas from passing from father to son.

Part of the children were kidnapped along with their parents. Oros, whose mothers were in detention centers, were robbed as soon as they were born.

The fate of those babies was not always the same. Some were sold, others adopted by the same people who had murdered their parents, and the rest were abandoned in high schools without providing any information about their origin.

As of December 2017, 126 of those children had been found, who were able to recover their identity. An estimated 300 more are missing.

Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo

The first group that took to the streets to oppose the dictatorship was the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. They were the mothers of many of the victims of the repression. They began to demonstrate on April 30, 1977.

Since all demonstrations were prohibited, the mothers only gathered in the Plaza, with white headscarves on their heads, and marched in a circle.

Flights of death

Experts estimate that some 5,000 people were victims of the death flights. These consisted of throwing detainees from airplanes in mid-flight during their transfer from clandestine detention centers.

Investigations showed that, on many occasions, a priest traveled in these planes to give the victims extreme unction.

Fearlessness against minorities

The ideology of the military that staged the coup did not accept any deviation from what they considered "normal." This affected all minorities, from ethnic to sexual. In this way, their repressive policies affected groups such as homosexuals, Jews, transsexuals, etc.

The authorities came to form special commandos to persecute these people. One of these was the Condor Command, destined to apprehend homosexuals.

Anti-Semitism was also very common as an arrest and repression factor, as the Never Again report showed. Something similar happened with Jehovah's Witnesses, who suffered frequent torture in detention centers.

Judgments

After democracy returned to Argentina, the authorities tried and convicted some of those responsible for state terrorism. The Alfonsín government promoted the so-called Trial of the Juntas, although later it yielded to pressure from military sectors and promulgated the Due Obedience and End Point laws.

These last two norms extinguished criminal actions against middle managers, regardless of their degree of participation in the dirty war.

Carlos Menem, President in 1990, pardoned Videla and Massera, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment. Both former military men remained under house arrest on charges not included in the pardon, such as theft of babies.

On April 15, 1998, the Final Point and Due Obedience laws were repealed, something that was corroborated on September 2, 2003.

Jorge Videla lived through a long trial process that ended with his imprisonment and subsequent death in prison in 2013.

References

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