The “ dirty war ” is the name used by Argentina's military junta or civic-military dictatorship for the period of state terrorism in Argentina as part of Operation Condor, originally planned by the CIA, since approximately 1974, during which forces Right-wing military and security and death squads in the form of the Argentine Anti-Communist Alliance hunted down any kind of political dissidents.
Around 30,000 people disappeared, many of whom were impossible to formally report due to the nature of state terrorism.
The targets were students, militants, trade unionists, writers, journalists, artists, and anyone suspected of being a left-wing activist, including Peronist guerrillas. The “disappeared” (kidnapped, tortured and murdered victims whose bodies were disappeared by the military government) included those who were thought to be politically or ideologically a threat to the military junta, even vaguely; and they were assassinated in an attempt by the junta to silence the social and political opposition.
Most of the members of the Board are currently in prison for crimes against humanity and genocide.
Two decades before the 1976 coup, the military, supported by the Argentine establishment, opposed the populist government of Juan Perón and attempted one coup in 1951 and two in 1955 before succeeding with one later that year known as the Liberating Revolution. After taking control, the armed forces outlawed Peronism. Shortly after the coup, the Peronist resistance began to organize in the workplaces and unions as the working classes sought economic and social improvements.
In 1973, when Perón returned from exile, the Ezeiza massacre marked the end of the alliance between the left and right factions of Peronism. In 1974, Perón withdrew his support for the Montoneros shortly before his death. During the presidency of his widow Isabel, the far-right paramilitary death squad, the Alianza Anticomunista Argentina (Triple A), emerged. In 1975, Isabel signed a series of illegal decrees empowering the military and the police to “annihilate” left-wing activists.
State Department documents indicate that the Gerald Ford administration, which preceded the Carter administration, sympathized with the junta and that Kissinger had succeeded in strengthening the junta in October 1976 by successfully advising Argentine Foreign Minister César Guzzetti to carry out his anti-communist campaign. policies "before Congress returns." These documents also reveal that President Carter initially congratulated the Argentine military junta for "fighting left-wing terrorism without quarter."
