Proceso de Reorganización Nacional
Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (
Spanish, "National Reorganization Process", often simply
Proceso) was the name used by its leaders for the
right-wing military dictatorship that ruled
Argentina from
1976 to
1983 (in Argentina it is simply known as
"the Military Junta", even though several of them existed throughout its history). The Argentine military seized political power by force during violent factional conflicts between far-left and far-right-wing supporters of recently deceased
President Juan Domingo Perón. With the support of
United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger[
1], the junta continued the so-called
Dirty War, the ongoing disappearance,
torture, and
murder of thousands of suspected
political dissidents and
leftists during the junta's rule; the
SIDE secret service also cooperated with
DINA and other South American intelligence agencies in
Operation Condor. After losing the
Falklands War to the
United Kingdom in 1982, mounting public opposition to the junta led to its voluntarily relinquishing power in 1983.
The
military has always been highly influential in Argentine politics. The extremely popular Argentine leader, Juan Domingo Perón, three times President of Argentina, was himself a
colonel in the army, and initially came to power in the aftermath of a military coup in 1943. His policies were highly nationalistic and he claimed to be opposed to both
capitalism and
Communism, proferring a
third way between the two that became known as "
Peronism". After winning re-election to the office of President in a popular vote, Perón was deposed and exiled by
another military coup in 1955.
After a series of weak governments, and yet another short-lived military coup, Perón returned to Argentina amidst escalating political unrest and outbreaks of politically motivated violence. He was democratically elected President in 1973, but died in July 1974. His vice-president was his third wife,
Isabel Martínez de Perón (not to be confused with
Eva Perón), but she proved to be a weak, ineffectual ruler. A number of revolutionary organizations — chief among them
Montoneros, a group of far-left-wing Peronists — escalated their campaign of political violence (including
kidnappings and
bombings) against the campaign of harsh repressive and retaliative measures enforced by the military, the police, and right-wing paramilitary groups such as the
Triple A, founded by
José López Rega, Peron's Minister of Social Welfare and a member of
P2 masonic lodge. The situation escalated until Martínez was overthrown and replaced by a military junta led by General
Jorge Rafael Videla, on
1976-03-24.
The expression "national reorganization process" was used to imply orderliness and control of the critical sociopolitical situation of Argentina at the time, but the dictatorial regime soon showed its true colours.
Forced disappearances on ideological grounds and illegal
arrests, often based on unsubstantiated accusations, became common. Armed soldiers arrived at randomly selected people's houses to rob them. The police would pull over cars for no reason, beat the occupants senseless, and leave without explanation, as part of a program to intimidate the populace and decrease its willingness to protest against the government. Government were dispatched to infiltrate the
universities; students who openly professed even slightly leftist political opinions would simply disappear. Official investigations undertaken after the end of the Dirty War documented the "disappearance" of about nine thousand persons, noting nevertheless that the correct number is bound to be higher, since many cases were not reported and the records were destroyed by the military authority [
2]; unofficial estimates by most human rights organizations place the number closer to 30,000. Among the "disappeared" were pregnant mothers whose babies were then illegally adopted by military families.
SIDE secret service also cooperated with
DINA and other South American intelligence agencies in
Operation Condor. It would also train the
Nicaraguan
Contras, for example in
Lepaterique's base (
Honduras).
The regime shut down the
legislative branch and abolished
freedom of the press and
freedom of speech, adopting a severe media
censorship. The
1978 World Cup, which Argentina hosted and won, was used as a means of propaganda and to appease the citizens.
Corruption, a failing economy, growing public awareness of the harsh repressive measures taken by the regime, and the military defeat in the
Falklands War to the United Kingdom in 1982, eroded the public image of the regime. The last
de facto president,
Reynaldo Bignone, was forced to call for elections by the lack of support within the Army itself and the steadily growing pressure of public opinion. On
1983-10-30 elections were held, and democracy was formally restored on
December 10 with the assumption of President
Raúl Alfonsín.
General Videla appointed
José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz as Minister of Economy, charged with stabilizing it and privatizing state-owned companies, along what would later be known as
neoliberal lines. He was opposed by General Ramon Díaz, the Minister of Planning, who favored a
corporatist model, with the state retaining control of key industries. Although Díaz resigned, military officers, many of whom looked forward to jobs running state enterprises, blocked Martínez de Hoz's privatization efforts. Meanwhile, the Junta
borrowed money abroad for
public works and social welfare spending. Martínez de Hoz was forced to rely on high
interest rates and an over-valued
exchange rate to control
inflation, which hurt Argentine industry and exports.
Following a decree of President Alfonsín mandating the initiation of legal accusations and trial against the leaders of the
Proceso, they were judged and convicted in 1985 (
Juicio a las Juntas), but they were
pardoned by President
Carlos Menem in 1989, a highly controversial action.
Adolfo Scilingo, an Argentine naval officer during the junta, was tried for his role in jettisoning the drugged, naked bodies of political dissidents from military aircraft into the
Atlantic Ocean during the junta years. He was convicted of
crimes against humanity and sentenced to 640 years in prison in
Spain in 2005.
Cristian Von Wernich, a Catholic priest and former
chaplain of the
Buenos Aires Province Police, was arrested in 2003 on accusations of torture of political prisoners in illegal detention centers, and is awaiting trial.
Former United States Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger has evaded
arrest warrants in several jurisdictions issued by Spanish judge
Baltasar Garzón, who wishes to question Kissinger on possible
war crimes and
crimes against humanity charges for his alleged knowledge and encouragement of the Junta's crimes (among other things). [
3], [
4]
In 2006, thirty years after the coup d'état that started the
Proceso, the Argentine Congress declared the date of 24 March a national holiday (
Día de la Memoria), intended as a memorial for the disappeared and to increase public awareness. The anniversary of the coup was remembered by massive official events and demonstrations throughout the country.
*
History of Argentina*
Politics of Argentina*
Doctrine of the two demons*
CONADEP*
Nunca Más ("Never Again") - Report of
CONADEP (National Commission on the Disappearance of Individuals) - 1984
*
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report on Argentina
*
Search on Google for "national reorganization process"
*Horacio Verbitsky, OpenDemocracy.net,
28 July 2005,
"Breaking the silence: the Catholic Church in Argentina and the 'dirty war'"*
The Dirty War in Argentina -
George Washington University's National Security Archive page on the Dirty War, featuring numerous recently-declassified documents which clearly demonstrate Kissinger's knowledge and complacency in the junta's human rights abuses
