Latin American Dictator: The Numerous Bloody Crimes of Argentina's General Jorge Rafael Videla

The region of Latin America has seen the rise of several dictators who were deposed by the people of their countries. Argentina's General Jorge Rafael Videla was a Latin American dictator known for his ruthless campaign of political killings and forced disappearances.

Videla's rise to power started with him being a military career officer. According to Britannica, he graduated from the National Military College in 1944 and was commissioned in the army of Argentina.

In 1971, he rose to the rank of brigadier general and was appointed Army General Staff in 1973. He led a military coup that ousted President Isabel Peron from his position in 1976. Videla then became the president of Argentina as head of a three-man military junta, which later became a five-man.

What Did Jorge Rafael Videla Do for Argentina?

Citing the government's estimates, The New York Times reported that at least 15,000 people were killed or "disappeared" during Jorge Rafael Videla's regime. However, human rights officials noted that the figure was closer to 30,000.

Videla promised to restore civilian rule immediately after establishing a military junta or a government led by a committee of military leaders. However, he declared as a priority the "eradication" of the leftist guerillas who were on the offense against Isabel Peron's government.

During Videla's rule, Congress was suspended, political parties were disbanded, and strikes were made illegal. In addition, death squads also roamed around Argentina.

Videla imposed the "dirty war" after he and his colleagues decided that as their enemies were not a real army, any tactics were legitimate against them, according to the Independent.

Under the "dirty war," the armed forces could torture and kill without regard for legality and had no obligation to reveal what they were doing to anyone. In the years between 1976 and 1978, a total of 364 secret detention centers were used to hold the thousands of "disappeared."

The victims of enforced disappearance were tortured and killed, with their bodies buried in mass graves or thrown out of planes at night over the River Plate. The Argentinian dictator retired in 1981 and was succeeded by another general, Roberto Viola.

Charges were brought against former junta leaders for the human rights abuses committed by the military during the "dirty war" after Argentina went back to civilian rule in 1983.

Videla was eventually convicted of direct responsibility for 66 murders, 93 cases of torture, 306 kidnappings, and four theft. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1985. In 1998, Videla finally admitted that there had been a plan to eradicate left-wing groups in Argentina in this way.

He noted that he could not place all left-wing members in front of a firing squad as it would raise questions such as "who killed them, where, and how." Videla died in May 2013 at age 87 while serving life imprisonment for crimes against humanity.

Argentina's Disappeared

In 2021, the government of Argentina sent hundreds of DNA testing kits to its consulates worldwide to identify the unknown victims killed in the "dirty war," The Guardian reported.

Argentina's officials pushed forward the effort in collaboration with the National Commission for the Right to Identity, the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo movement, and Argentinian Forensic Anthropology Team investigators.

Pregnant prisoners during the "dirty war" were kept alive until they gave birth and were then murdered. At least 500 babies were taken from their parents and given to childless military couples to raise as their own. The first DNA collection kits arrived at the Argentinian consulate general in Rome in May 2021.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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