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InArgentina, there were sevencoups d'état during the 20th century: in 1930, 1943, 1955, 1962, 1966, 1976, and 1981. The first four established interimdictatorships, while the fifth and sixth established dictatorships of permanent type on the model of abureaucratic-authoritarianstate. The latter two conducted aDirty War in the line ofstate terrorism, in whichhuman rights were systematically violated and there were tens of thousands offorced disappearances.[citation needed][1]
In the 53 years since the first military coup in 1930, until the last dictatorship fell in 1983, themilitary ruled the country for 25 years, imposing 14 dictators under the title of "president", one every 1.7 years on average. In that period, the democratically elected governments (radicals,Peronists andradical-developmentalists) were interrupted by coups.
Themilitary coup of September 6, 1930 was led by GeneralJosé Félix Uriburu and overthrewpresidentHipólito Yrigoyen of theRadical Civic Union, who had been democratically elected to exercise his second term in 1928. In an unprecedented move, Uriburu also dissolved Parliament.[2] Paradoxically, General Uriburu had been one of the organizers of theRevolution of the Park, a civic-military uprising that gave rise to theRadical Civic Union.
On September 10, Uriburu was recognized as the "interim"president of the nation by theSupreme Court by the agreement that led to the doctrine ofde facto governments and that would be used to legitimize all other military coups.[3]
Following a trend which was repeated in future coups, Uriburu appointed a civilian as head of theMinistry of Economy, José S. Pérez, who had links with the large landowners and the more conservative factions.[4]
The military leadership established afascist government and, for drafting the first proclamation, appointed the writerLeopoldo Lugones. Lugones had joined the fascist cause in 1924 by giving a speech called "The Hour of the Sword", where he declared the deterioration of democracy, its instability and its evolution towardsdemagoguery. One of Uriburu's first initiatives was to establish an illegal repressive state structure, creating a "special section" of the police which could be used to systematically torture his opponents and which was the first such police division to use thepicana, originally for cattle, against its victims.[5]
When Uriburu was unable to shore up the necessary political support to fully establish his fascist political regime, he called elections, but decided to prohibit the participation of theRadical Civic Union. The reinstituation of democracy was false, restricted and controlled by the Armed Forces. Thiselectoral fraud gave rise to a period of conservative, corrupt governments which was dubbed the "Infamous Decade".[6][7] On February 20, 1932, General Uriburu handed over power to GeneralAgustín P. Justo, the true force behind the coup who, although involved in the coup, wanted a democratic and limited government.
TheRevolution of '43 which started with a coup d'état by the military on June 4, 1943, was distinct from the other Argentine coups in the following ways:
TheRevolution of '43 was a confusing political process during which various groups, many of whom had never played a role in Argentina's history, vied for power. The coup itself was not executed to permanently establish control, so it was a transitorydictatorship that followed.
All of the military groups fighting for power during theRevolution of '43 were markedlyanti-communist and maintained strong ties to theCatholic Church which reestablished its presence (absent since the 19th century), especially in the area of education. Internal fighting unleashed two more coups, meaning there were three dictators succeeding each other in power and carrying the title of "president":Arturo Rawson,Pedro Pablo Ramírez andEdelmiro Farrell.[9][10]
During this period, the Argentinianunions, mainly thesocialists and thesyndicalists as well as a fewcommunists, formed an alliance with a group of young army officials led by the ColonelJuan Perón. This alliance constituted the successfulnationalistlabor movement which prevailed by winning popular support from theworking class and which was given the name "Peronism". This period was characterized by extreme polarization of thesocial classes and led to the formation of a large social block that was strongly anti-Peronist and made up mostly of the middle class and upper class.[11]
Economically, theRevolution of '43 saw the continuation of the policy ofImport Substitution Industrialization.
The dictatorship ended with a call for ademocratic elections on February 24, 1946, which all the sections of society accepted as perfect.Juan Domingo Perón won the elections and assumed the presidency on June 4, 1946. Perón would later be overthrown by the military in 1955, before he finished his second term.
The so-calledRevolución Libertadora was a transitionalmilitary dictatorship, brought about by a coup d'état which overthrew the presidentJuan Domingo Perón and lasted between 16 and 23 September 1955.[12] On the last day of this period, the leader of the insurrection,Eduardo Lonardi, was sworn in as president and congress was dissolved. On the following day, he designated AdmiralIsaac Rojas as vice president.
During theRevolución Libertadora, the military government created aCivilian Advisory Board composed in large part of thepolitical parties of theRadical Civic Union, theSocialist Party, theNational Democratic Party, theChristian Democratic Party, and theDemocratic Progressive Party.[13]
The group behind the coup was divided in two parts: aCatholic-nationalist part led by GeneralEduardo Lonardi, who took charge of the government initially, and aliberal-conservative part led by GeneralPedro Eugenio Aramburu and AdmiralIsaac Rojas. The latter group ended up gaining power and executing another coup, replacing Lonardi with Aramburu as president.[14]
The dictatorship in power imposed a ban on Peron'sJusticialist Party and began the persecution of its sympathizers, policies that would be maintained by successive governments over the following 18 years. The government also took over theunions. In actions that were unprecedented in the modern history of Argentina, it executed its opponents by firing squad, sometimes in public and sometimes clandestinely.
The government appointed civilians to run theMinistry of Economy, which was run successively byEugenio Folcini,Eugenio A. Blanco,Roberto Verrier andAdalberto Krieger Vasena, who pursued policies favorable to the most well-off and economically powerful sectors of society.[15]
One of the most significant institutional measures taken by the military dictatorship was to send out a proclamation abolishingipso facto, the then national constitution, known as theConstitution of 1949, and replacing it with the text from Argentina'sConstitution of 1853. This measure would later be endorsed by theConstitutional Convention which was elected in 1957 without following the constitucional procedure and prohibiting the participation of the Justicialist Party. After convening under the leadership and influence of the military regime, "article 14bis" was added to the constitution.
In 1958, the government of theRevolución Libertadora held a limited form of elections, overseen by the Armed Forces, in which the Peronist party was banned. The elections were won by theIntransigent Radical Civic Union (UCRI), a group from the fracturedRadical Civic Union, led byArturo Frondizi, who had established a pact with Perón in order to attract the decisive Peronist vote. President Frondizi was, in turn, overthrown by the military four years later.
The military coup of March 29, 1962 was unique in that, after overthrowingArturo Frondizi (of theIntransigent Radical Civic Union - UCRI), it was not a member of the military who took power, but rather a civilian.[16][17]
Frondizi endured repeated protests and military insurrections during his rule, during which even the Minister of the Economy (Álvaro Alsogaray) opposed him. These events ended in the coup of March 29, 1962, led by GeneralRaúl Poggi.
The event that led to the coup was the sweeping victory ofPeronism in the elections held eleven days before and in which ten of the fourteen then-existent provinces, including the strategicProvince of Buenos Aires where the textileunion leaderAndrés Framini won.Peronism had been banned by the government of theRevolución Libertadora but Frondizi had allowed it in the elections, although he continued to prohibitJuan Perón from returning to the country and from running as a candidate. Frondizi immediately moved to establish his power in the provinces in which Peronist parties had won, but the coup proved to be unstoppable.
After the military uprising of March 29, 1962, President Frondizi, who had been arrested by the military and was being held atIsla Martín García, refused to resign saying "I will not commit suicide, I will not resign and I will not leave the country".[18] This led to turmoil, threats and negotiations which exhausted the leaders of the insurrection who went to bed that night before formally assuming power. On the morning of March 30, the leader of the insurrection GeneralRaúl Poggi went to theCasa Rosada (where the office of the president is located) to take charge of the government and was surprised to find that there were journalists telling him that a civilian,José María Guido, had been sworn in president that morning in the palace of theSupreme Court.[19] Guido was asenator from theUCRI who was temporarily presiding over the senate, due to the resignation of VicepresidentAlejandro Gómez. The night of the coup, some lawyers associated with theSupreme Court, one of whom was Horacio Oyhanarte, decided that the downfall of Frondizi had led to the case of a leaderless government and proposed to Guido that, since he was next in line of succession, he assume the presidency, which he did on the morning of March 30.
The military leaders of the coup, who were surprised, skeptical and angry, ended up reluctantly accepting the situation and called Guido to theCasa Rosada to inform him that he would be recognized as the president, provided that he promised committed in writing to execute certain policies stipulated by the Armed Forces, the first of which was to annul the elections won by the Peronist factions. Guido accepted the military impositions, signed an act affirming this support and only then was he allowed to be given the title "president", but with the obligation of bringing the National Congress to a close and taking control of the provinces.
Guido upheld the military orders he had been given, annulling the elections, shutting down the National Congress, reinstating the ban on Peronism, taking control of the provinces and designating aright-wing economic team which included such figures asFederico Pinedo andJosé Alfredo Martínez de Hoz.
In 1963, there were more elections called in which Peronist factions were banned and which were won byArturo Illia of theRadical Civic Union of the People (UCRP). After Illia, most votes were cast forNone of the Above which Peronists took advantage of as a form of protest. President Illia assumed power on October 12, 1963, and would later be overthrown by a military coup on June 28, 1966.
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On June 28, 1966, a military uprising led by GeneralJuan Carlos Onganía overthrew PresidentArturo Illia (of the Radical Civic Union of the People - UCRP). The coup gave rise to a dictatorship which called itself the "Argentine Revolution", which didn't claim to be aprovisional government, as was the case with the previous coups, but rather established itself as a permanent government.[20] At the time, there were many similar permanent military dictatorships coming to power in various Latin American countries (e.g.Brazil,Chile,Uruguay,Bolivia,Paraguay, etc.) and they were analyzed in detail by thepolitical scientistGuillermo O'Donnell who gave them the name "bureaucratic-authoritarianstate" (EBA).[21]
The "Argentine Revolution" issued a statute in 1966 which held a superior judicial position to theconstitution and, in 1972, introduced constitutional reforms. This was another action that distinguished this dictatorship from the previous ones. In general, the dictatorship adopted afascist-Catholic-anticommunist ideology and was supported openly by theUnited States as well as byEuropean countries.[22]
The deep political and social conflict generated during the "Argentine Revolution" and the infighting between the many military divisions led to two internal coups, with three dictators succeeding each other in power:Juan Carlos Onganía (1966–1970),Marcelo Levingston (1970–1971) andAlejandro Agustín Lanusse (1971–1973).
On the economic front, the dictatorship handed over theMinistry of Economy to the mostconservative-liberal sectors of the civilian population, which was epitomized byAdalberto Krieger Vasena, who had already served as minister under the "Revolución Libertadora". However, during the dictatorship ofLevingston, anationalist-developmentalist group of the Armed Forces became dominant and namedAldo Ferrer of theIntransigent Radical Civic Union as Minister of the Economy.[23][24]
Threatened by a growing popular insurrection, the government organized an election to exit power in whichPeronist parties were allowed (althoughPerón's candidacy was banned). The election took place in 1973 and thePeronist candidateHéctor José Cámpora won with 49.53% of the votes. He assumed power on May 25, 1973.
Cámpora then resigned in order to allow free elections to take place.Juan Perón won with 62% of the votes, but died less than a year after being elected. The Peronist government, which was subsequently led by vice presidentIsabel Perón, who succeeded her husband as president, was overthrown by a military coup in 1976.
On March 24, 1976, a new military uprising overthrew presidentIsabel Perón and established a permanent dictatorship (a bureaucratic-authoritarian state), calling itself the "National Reorganization Process".[25] The country was governed by amilitary junta made up of three members of the military, one for each faction. This junta appointed a functionary with the title "President" and withexecutive andlegislative power.
Similarly to the previous dictatorship, the military junta passed a statute and two acts which were higher on the judicial hierarchy than theconstitution.[26]
TheNational Reorganization Process consisted of four successive military juntas:
During these periods, the juntas appointed the military membersJorge Rafael Videla,Roberto Eduardo Viola,Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, andReynaldo Benito Bignone, respectively, asde facto presidents. Among these, Bignone was the only one not belonging to the junta.
TheNational Reorganization Process began theDirty War, a type of state terrorism which massively violatedhuman rights and led to thedisappearance of tens of thousands of opponents.
Internationally, the Argentinian dictatorship, along with the human rights violations, had the active support of the government of theUnited States (except during theJimmy Carter administration) and was tolerated by theEuropean countries, theSoviet Union, and theCatholic Church, without whose inaction it would have been difficult for the dictatorship to sustain itself. Also, throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, military dictatorships were established in almost every country in South America (Brazil,Bolivia,Chile,Ecuador,Peru, andUruguay). These countries, along with the US, jointly coordinated the repression viaOperation Condor.
In economic matters, the dictatorship formally handed over the Ministry of the Economy to the most conservative business associations which promoted economic policies which were openly de-industrialist andneoliberal, and with a maximum expansion of theforeign debt.
In 1982, the military government entered into theFalklands War against theUnited Kingdom in an event of which the causes continue to be unclear. The defeat inflicted in this war sparked the fall of the third military junta and, a few months later, the fourth junta called elections for October 30, 1983.Raúl Alfonsín of theRadical Civic Union won the elections and assumed power on December 10, 1983.
The military leaders were tried and convicted, many of them being imprisoned after long and complex processes.
The "National Reorganization Process" was the last dictatorship. Even though there were various military insurrections between 1987 and 1990, called the "Carapintadas", none of them succeeded in toppling the democratic government.
On November 21, 1981, the military junta declared Roberto Eduardo Viola incapable of exercising his functions as president of Argentina due to "health problems." Viola was known to be a chain smoker,[27] and among the "health reasons" that the junta used to force him to take medical leave was an alleged "coronary insufficiency and hypertension."[28] In his place, the Minister of the InteriorHoracio Tomás Liendo was appointed to the executive branch. Viola's intention was to resume office on the 23rd.
Although Viola had not interrupted the repressive actions or the operations against subversion at any time, on Thursday, December 10, the military junta issued an ultimatum to Viola, urging him to resign, with the decision taken to remove him from the presidency. The next day, the junta met with the dictator. Viola insisted on not resigning, so the junta informed him that he was being relieved - Viola did not resign. On the same day, the junta announced the imminent assumption of the presidency by General Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri. Vice AdmiralCarlos Alberto Lacoste temporarily replaced General Viola, until December 22, 1981, when Galtieri took office as president of Argentina, becoming the new dictator of his country.
The coups d'état in Argentina generated a series of specific political-judicial problems:
It is also possible to see an escalation in the repressive violence and a decline in respect for legal norms in each of the coups. In particular, whereas the first four coups d'état (1930, 1943, 1955, 1962) were defined as "provisional governments" and acted with the intention of calling democratic elections within a short time period, the two last coups (1966 and 1976) brought to powermilitary dictatorships which were permanent and adhered to the idea of the bureaucratic-authoritarian state, described byGuillermo O'Donnell.
The economic teams formed by the military government tended to be made of the same figures, mainly coming from theconservative-liberal sections of society, leading some to say that theArmed Forces behaved as a political party of theupper classes.[30][31]The coups that took place in Argentina, especially those starting from the 1960s, were part of a widespread trend in theLatin America in which there were many military coups, most of which were supported or promoted by theUnited States through the operations of theSchool of the Americas, located inPanama and through the US doctrine ofNational Security.[32]
During the1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution, the doctrine ofde facto governments and methods of preventing them from establishing themselves in future coups d'état were discussed at length. The result was the adoption of the first paragraph of article 36 of the National Constitution, also known as the "defense of democracy and defense of constitutional order":
This Constitution shall maintain its rule, even when its observance is interrupted by acts of force against the institutional order and democratic system. These acts will be irreparably null.
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