Videla in uniform (center).
Jorge Rafael Videla, a.k.e. The bone, (born August 2, 1925 in Mercedes), was a Argentine soldier and politician. He was dictator of Argentina from 1976 to 1981, heading the military junta. His regime is known for its numerous 'disappearances' and baby-kidnappings in the so called 'Dirty War'.
Note: This article also includes the whole Dirty War (which does not have a seperate entry) from 1976 till 1983, althought Videla resigned in 1981, since he was the most important leader of the military junta.
Raise to power
In 1975 President Isabel Perón, under pressure from the military establishment, appointed him commander in chief of the Argentinan Army. He was one of the military heads of the coup d'etat that overthrow Isabel Perón in 1976. In her place, a military government was installed, which was headed by Videla, with the assistance of the Admiral Emilio Massera and General Orlando Agosti.
Mid 1975 the country was in chaos. Extreme right death squads and leftish guerrilla movements (like the Montoneros led to bloodshed. In July a big strike broke out. The powerful landowners contacted the army, which prepared to take control by making lists of people who should be 'dealt with' after the planned coup. 'As many people as necessary must die in Argentina so that the country will again be secure', Videla declared in 1975 in support of a "death squad".
Human rights violations
The junta was responsible for the slaughtering of an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 Argentineans, mostly trade-union members, students and people thought to have progressive ideas.
Relatives of the victims, however, continued to uncover evidence that children taken from their mothers' wombs sometimes were being raised as the adopted children of their mothers' murderers, like in the case of Silvia Quintela. For 15 years, a group called Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo has been demanding the return of these kidnapped children, estimated to number as many as 500. The victims were often pushed out of planes planes and into the water of the Rio de la Plata or the Atlantic Ocean to drown.
In 1977 Videla told British journalists: 'I emphatically deny that there are concentration camps in Argentina, or military establishments in which people are held longer than is absolutely necessary in this ... fight against subversion'.
Anti-Communism
Videla employed sophisticated public relations methods. He was fascinated with techniques for using language to manage popular perceptions of reality. The junta's mission was to defend against international communism. They worked closely with the Asian-based World Anti-Communist League and its Latin American affiliate, the Confederacion Anticomunista Latinoamericana. In 1980 the Argentine military helped Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and major drug lords mount the bloody Cocaine Coup in neighboring Bolivia.
Because of the anti-communistic point of view, when Reagan came to power in 1981 he quickly reversed former president Carter's condemnation of the regime on record on human rights and authorized CIA collaboration with the Argentine intelligence service for training and arming the Nicaraguan contras.
In 1981 Videla retired and General Viola replaced him, but nine months later, Roberto Eduardo Viola stepped down for reasons of health, and General Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri took the post.
Invasion of Falkland Islands
In 1982, however, the Argentine military went too far and invaded the British-controlled Falkland Islands, but was quickly crushed by the British as they retook the islands. The loss of the war led to the resignation of Galtieri from on June 17 the same year and a third (and last) junta was placed in power under a new president, Reynaldo Bignone. The occupation of the Falklands accelerated the end of the junta rule.
See also: Falklands War
Truth commission
The junta relinquished power in 1983. After democratic elections, the new president Raul Alfonsin created a truth commission] to collect evidence about the Dirty War crimes. The growsome details shocked the world. Videla was among the generals convicted of human rights crimes, including "disappearances," tortures, murders and kidnappings. In 1985, Videla was sentenced to life imprisonment at the military prison of Magdalena. But on December 29, 1990 amid the threat of another possible military coup, President Carlos Menem pardoned Videla and other convicted generals. Many politicians considered the pardons a pragmatic decision of national reconciliation that sought to shut the door on the dark history.
He was however not able to leave his house, since every time he went out in public he risked insults or assault. At one time, the street was painted with enormous signs pointing to his house with arrows, and the words: '30,000 disappeared, assassin on the loose'.
Foreign governments whose citizens were victims of the Dirty War are pressing individual cases against the former military regime.
In 1998 he received a prison sentence for his responsibility in the kidnapping of 11 children during the regime and for the falsification of the children's identity documents.
Jorge Zorreguieta, minister in the Videla regime in Argentina, became controversial recently as a result of his daughter, Maxima, becoming the wife of the Royal Dutch Prince. Some claim that makes him responsible for the atrocities committed in the 1970s and early 80s while he was a member of that government. Others say he was just minister of agriculture.
| Preceded by: Military Junta |
Presidents of Argentina | Succeeded by: Roberto Eduardo Viola |