1. Argentina’s “Dirty War”
Jacqueline Hyatt
Christabel Escarez

2. Juan Domingo Perón (1895 – 1974) Peronism or Justicialism
“Third Position”
Hailed for efforts in eliminating poverty and dignifying labor
Detracted as dictator/demagogue

3. Perón Time Line 1951 June 1955 Sept. 1955 1946 1966 1970 1973 1974
Perón elected
Onganía seizes power;
military rule imposed
Onganía overthrown;
PLA, Montoneros form
Peronist party wins elections; Perón returns from exile
Perón reelected with huge majority
Navy-led coup fails; army loyal to Perón
Coup by 3 branches of armed forces succeeds;
Perón resigns and goes into exile
Perón dies

4. Military Junta
“In order to guarantee the security of the state, all the necessary people will die.” -General Jorge Rafael Videla

5. Post- Perón 1976 1977 1978 1981 1982 1983 1985 Viola in power;
Galtieri in power
Trial of the Juntas
Videla seizes power;
Forms National Reorganization Process
Argentina returns to civilianian rule;
Alfonsin becomes president
Falkland Islands invaded (April);
Galtieri replaced by Bignone (June)
Appeals for Argentine and
international intervention/justice
Weekly Mothers marches begin;
Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo formed

6. Desaparecidos
8,960 originally reported missing but more realistic estimates argue for 20,000
Treatment
Abducted men, women, and children from streets, homes, and workplaces
Held in clandestine detention centers
Drugged victims and threw them from planes into the ocean and buried them in mass graves
Victims: lawyers, artists, educators
Brain drain: 400 journalists flee
Newspapers stay silent

7. Falkland Islands War April 2, 1982-June 14, 1982 Goals:
decrease focus on domestic issues
Improve public view of the military government
Complete failure for Argentina
Great Britain responds with significant force and outplays the Argentine forces
Impacts:
Increase patriotism within Argentina
Protests against the military junta
Still a topic of discussion for Argentines

8. Dirty War in Argentina today
NPR Feb. 27, 2010 “Weekend Edition”
80 year old grandmothers search for their grandchildren lost during the war
Disappeared mothers kidnapped and killed after giving births the their babies
Babies given to military families to raise
Listen-35sec-2:55…423-end

9. Literature Cited
Arditti, Rita. Searching for Life: The Grandmothers of the Plaza De Mayo and the Disappeared Children of Argentina. Berkeley: University of California Press, Hodges, Donald Clark. Argentina's "Dirty War": An Intellectual Biography. Austin: University of Texas Press, Knudson, Jerry W. "Veil of Silence: The Argentine Press and the Dirty War, " Latin American Perspectives (1997):