Dirty War

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Emblem of the Argentine Federal Police

Insignia de la Gendarmería de Argentina

Dirty War (Guerra Sucia in Spanish) refers to a period of state terrorism in Argentina from roughly 1974 to 1983, during which military and security forces and right-wing death squads in the form of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance (AAA), hunted down any political dissidents and anyone believed to be associated with socialism, left-wing activism, or subversive activities. The government targeted these individuals, many of whom were young people, students, intellectuals, trade unionists, writers, and activists, leading to widespread human rights abuses including kidnapping, torture, and murder. The exact number of the disappeared is disputed, but estimates suggest up to 30,000 people may have been killed or disappeared.

Background

The Dirty War is part of the broader phenomenon of Operation Condor, a campaign of political repression and state terror involving intelligence operations and assassination of opponents, officially implemented in 1975 by the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America. The Argentine military seized power in a coup d'état in 1976, overthrowing Isabel Perón, and established a military junta led by General Jorge Rafael Videla. The junta cited the need to eliminate Marxist or Peronist insurgency and to restore order as justification for its actions.

Human Rights Violations

During the Dirty War, the Argentine military government instituted a secret campaign against suspected dissidents. Methods of repression included forced disappearances, secret detention centers such as ESMA (Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada), and the infamous "death flights," in which victims were drugged, flown over the Atlantic Ocean or the Rio de la Plata, and thrown alive from airplanes to their deaths. The government's tactics also involved the appropriation of children from the disappeared, who were then given to military families or allies of the regime.

International Response and Aftermath

The international community largely remained silent during the early years of the Dirty War, though human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo began to bring global attention to the atrocities. Following the return to democracy in 1983, the newly elected government of Raúl Alfonsín moved to prosecute several key figures from the military junta. The Trial of the Juntas in 1985 was a landmark event, resulting in life sentences for several top commanders. However, subsequent governments issued pardons and amnesty laws, leading to widespread public outrage and the eventual annulment of these laws, allowing for renewed prosecutions of Dirty War crimes.

Legacy

The Dirty War left a deep scar on Argentine society. Efforts to remember and come to terms with this period include the establishment of former detention centers as museums, the annual March of Remembrance, and ongoing human rights trials. The struggle of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who continue to demand information about their disappeared children, remains a powerful symbol of resistance against state terrorism.