C IAL Department of State '' E O 11652 GDS t CACID PINT AR AmEmbassy BUEt'iOS AIRES June 16 1975 i5 Political Violence in Argentina • Sf - -- Summary Prospects are not good for arry significant dilnunition oi' the level of political violence that has plagued Argentina in 1·ecent ycarr Rightwing terrorists continue to operate freely and account i'or nearly as many deaths as leftists and security forces together ' fh e le1 'i i Jt guerrilla groups while f'orced into a somewhat defensive posture a re still active and are attempting to exploit worker discontent henever ' possible Given the wo -r sening economic dii' ficulties these oppo rt·uni- · ties will be abundant £hd SU11l11la 'Y o· Violence to Continue When confronted with the topic of violence and terrorism in their country ma11y Argentines attempt to dismigs the subjact by saying '·it s a worldwide p robleni hile political violeuce is certainly not tu 1 'Jtl'3 to Argentina the 1 vels it ha s reached in this countl'Y in recent years have few parallels Recently there h'l s been so ne hope for a le sf ning of the violence Opero tions by leftist terrorists have been some'C hat redu c ed as security forces have had scme success in ccY ribat J ng th£ Slibversive organizations Rightwi ng terrorists have suppo ted ly announced a 90 day ·truce to give the government time to flnd effective mechanisms to col'1bat the lef't BA 371 2 Do th se events offer any rea 1 hope of rettu·nlng to a more peace t'Ul politice l pJ •ocess Unfortunately th unsue r would nppcar to be th - they do not The basic conflicts uithin t he 1oci0ty ar 'l st'ill unresolved and neither ext reme seems lil ely to renom1 e the us cf' violGil-t G _ - -- - - -- H ---- - - _ 2 Violence from the left Leftist terrorism inspired by the example of Che Guevara has b en a common occurrence since the kidnapping and murder · Of former President a'ambu ru in 1970 Leftist Peronists pressur i ng fQr an end to military rule and the return of General Peron and the non-Peronist loft demanding the creation of a socialist governmen·c both began to m l ke increasing use of terrorism Well organized and financed n ith millions of dollars raised from kidnapping these groups operated with success and some public support prior to the election in 1973 Fo Ll owing the election of Peron their popular support dropped airay and these groups found themselves isolated f'rom the main bcdy of Peronism as the GOA took on more and more of a rightist hue From the point of vie1·r of the left 1 the Peroni st government turned out to be no batter than that of th milital 7 - The GOA has had sonie success· in hindering operation _of the ERP and Montoneros in many instances1using inform3 tion obtained from guerrillas who are illegally detained tortured during interr03ation and then eliminated Newspapers are very cautiCUG about what they publish regarding terrorism fran either extreme The stories have become nothing more than recapitulations of official press releases about successfuJ operations by security forces Despite the fact that tales of many unpublicized crimes are circulated the self censorship by the press which the GOA enforces adds to the image of a reduced threat from the left T'ne successes against the lefiist guerrillas have forced them into a defensive position and brou 1ht about a change in tactics Attacks on police end aru w posts have Cl windled and the emphasis seems ·to b on tryi 11g to survive intact In addition a ampaign to organize the workers and p asants appears to have been embarked upon though the latter has been hurt by Ancy' operations in Tucuman While leftist terrorism has diminished to some extent recently prospects for eliminating the leftist guerrillas are not good Their determined opposition to this government extensive financial resources and orea nization plus growing popui a r oppositio11 to the goverD llent itself all mili tate against it The increasingly chaotic economic situation and eontinued s lienation of the labor rank and file f'rom orthodox union leaders Yill provide the left ample opportunities foi m ploitation of worke1 discontent and from the i t The Buenos Aires Herald published on· Jay 29 its tally of the number of deaths due to political caut es uhich have occurred since Hrs Peron nn sumcd the Presidency on July 1 1974e The totaJ numbc 1 of death3 uas put at 503 o nd i -as brclr e ' l doun as follows 190 uith leftist political a 'f'5 lill tion 33 with rightist affiliations 54 policemen 22 f rrey 13 busirw srxon 4 chi 1 dren 1 diplomat the U s Consular 1 'Serrl in Cordoba 1 20 others ·who did not f1 t any of the above catc orieo 70 unidentified bodir s and 91 killed in gun fights with security forces · Looking at it another t m y riiht iling terrod ct killed rou htl y 190 p3opJ e lei'twing terrorists l 8 security fo rc n 11ccoantc d fer 91 t nd 94 more d i d at the ha nds o f persons uhosc ideolO ' J ic uncl a r Tho' vast majortty oJ the later category were most likely vlctil '1 a of the right as it is common practice for r lghtwing groups to disfi£ 'llre theb - victimo in a n attempt -'co render their remains unidentifiable -· · · ' A communique supposedly signed by the leading rightuing terrorist organization the AAA recently ca 11 d for a 90-rley truce to give the GOA time to develop legal means to combat l1 ftist terrorism tthin days ho - ever other death lists appeared BA 3832 and the bodies of youn lef·t ists continue to turn up Perhaps one f lection of' the AAA has dec lded to lay low· but the rest are clearly active Right·w·ing terrorism has arisen as a reaction against the leftist guerrillas WhUi the judicial sy-Stem rem ins hopelessly inadequate·and sentences are lenient or nonexistent se-£ious consideration is being given to court no the officilll response has been the implementation o a 3tate of sieie under which according to official figures 1400 to 1800 are re£orm rather being held without charges at the disposit lon of' the executive prn·1er The uno ficial response has been AAA type operations and a liberal applic tion of the ''ley de fuga - under which suspects are· shot by police t1hile sup posed cy- resisting arrest Such actions lmve taken place with the awareness of the gene rai public and the encouragement of' certa i '1 sectors of' the GOA namely Lopez Bega and his allies in the government Indeed as long us Lopez Rega maintains his position of power any ethical restraint in ·che struggle a ga inst the left wi Ll continue to be proplinent by tb ei r e t'sonce Given the success of the ilfegal methods b3ing used and sJnce leGal m ac ures hav·e proved ineffective in the past rightwing terrorism is no t liltely to disappea ro · The labor unions and the political wing of the Peronist partiJ h i ve both proved themselves inadequate to check Lopez Rega ts continuin acctu' UlKtion of power BA 3425 His most recent ac iuisition is his mm Ii7J n Cclcr r ino Rodrigo as M l nisti r of Econ cr JY Given th worsEming econO' 'llic situation and political climate the probable course is fo1 the Army once gain to see itself and to be seen by many as the savior of the countrJ 'l'h0 m l litarJ could p r obably__ f orce Lopez Rega' s ouster in a tm y that iTould not provol1 e widespread violence r iven that the lattert s base of support ii1 so narrow 'Fae re axe few who lrovJ d riok their liveo to protect him Jf' -o n attempt ·1 s made to set up ru1 unconstitutional government resintnnce · could be met ± ' roru som3 milite 1 f comtri 'mders bent on prcs rving t 1e instit· ·· ticns It scc'Ils likely how ver that the coug plotters TOU-lc'l t·mit to m i c thnir move until the krrrzy- develops a couscrrnus that d1·astic u - ian is riaceecary ihilH a relatively nonviolent transition r ocms racrcc likel r th period fol lo··1in a cho nge o f r ovornmcmt wonJ d be more v5_olcn c - -on a J e '1 lst t'3't' rc-riBGg could be • octed -to cl up theh• uctivi·tice to d nt •• ever c tcnt p 35 i lle the milit i 'Y ngalnnt o mil tt u-y go re ·n 1t I ll ev i80 th'J new gov rn-nen-'c i o 1 d or one C'Ont ro J c4 b J' t l r e hat re n z t• ivo -·-·--------' measures it felt necessary to ma int a in itself While there are dozena of imponderables in arry scenario of this kind the milit lr ia not likely to move until it has a good deal of pub1ia support for sucli action The lessons of 1966 73 and the unpopularity of the Axmed Forces tha 'G era pro duced will bear heavily in the minds of the array officers Given this _ and the increasing unpopularity of Mrs P ron'a government it is unlikely that the left or any other sector coul d gettera te enough of a react5-a '1 on the part of the public to crea te widespread disturbances U I l I I s Interests T' a e violence from the left will continue to threaten foreign investment and businessmen in general While ltidnappi ngs have fallen off lefti s t guerrillas will exploit and ageravnte worker-discontent whenever possible The- r have also of late assassinated several executives in i'il lns that have had labor problems -·lli e 'threat of violence and even more import •m t ly the ·increasingly diffiCU t economic situation will be strong disincentives to· foreign investment · l The lef'tist guerrillas Will continue to have the capabUity to undertake attaclts against Embassy staff members and couJ d do so at any time Ultra nationalistic rightwing terrorists will probably continue to concern themselves strictly with leftists and should not pose a threat to American business interests or USG employees i • • Since the AAA appears to h c some GOA backil'lg 7 rightwing vlolen ce has the potential to result in serious human rights problems lill ile wershad J Jed by events in Chile Argentina is beginning to receive more notoriet-y in this ai ea Four Fr nch representatives of the Internationai Federation of Human Rights and the International Movement of' Catholic Jurists completed a short visit to Argentina on Msy 24 Upon their departure they stated that the right to defend and f'reedom_o r expression WGre empty phrases 11 in Argentina A full report is to be issued before the end or June The new York Times correspondent here told an Emboff recently that two leftist Peronist Youth leaders have been severely tortured since they lTere arrested on April 17 BA 2'765 despite the fact that their detentions uere well publicized One of the two Dardo Gabo bas lost the use of' one of his arms as a resu1 t of the torture according to his parents The lJSG of course deplores terrorism of a ay kind Leftist terrorism· ts a threat to u s business interests and to the Embassy staf while tbat from tho right 't1hen officially encotu·aged is a violation of hum m ricJri s It is unfortunate that the GOA has used the lo tter to combat the former ixzy- repl nentat ions made to the GOA should underline the· UEG opposi·t ton to violence from either extreme of the political spGctx'Ulll to avoid givin3 nry indication that extralegal means e re acceptable This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu