The History of the Dirty War, or La Guerra Sucia
Men detained during anti-government demonstrations in Buenos Aires, March 30, 1982. At least 30,000 people were arrested, tortured and ‘disappeared’ during Argentina’s 1976-1983 dictatorship.
AP Photo/Eduardo DiBaia
In 1976, the Argentine military overthrew the government of Isabel Perón, the widow of populist president Juan Perón, who served three terms as President spanning the years of 1946-1974. It was part of a larger series of political coups called Operation Condor. The military dictatorship that resulted, also known as the junta, called itself the “Process of National Reorganization,” or “Proceso,” and dubbed its activities the Dirty War. But the war wasn’t with outside forces: It was with the Argentinian people. The junta tried to imply that there was a civil war happening within the country in order to justify their actions, but in reality, the Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored torture and terrorism. The junta turned against Argentina’s citizens, whisking away political dissidents and people it suspected of being aligned with leftist, socialist or social justice causes and incarcerating, torturing and murdering them. Young professionals, high school and college students, and trade union members were the main targets. In total, an estimated 30,000 people were kidnapped from the streets, tortured in secret concentration camps, and murdered without any documentation of their fate. These victims became known as desaparecidos as they literally disappeared. The junta was brutal and employed vicious tactics. According to experts, victims died during torture, were machine-gunned at the edge of enormous pits, or were thrown, drugged, from airplanes into the sea. Some pregnant young women were kidnapped and kept alive only long enough to give birth to their babies. They were then murdered and their children were given to other families, often in the military. An estimated 500 children were given away in this manner.
Mothers and relatives of people gone missing during Argentina's Dirty War stage protests at the Plaza de Mayo in the 1980s.
Horacio Villalobos/Corbis/Getty Images
By “disappearing” people and disposing of their bodies without a trace, the junta could in effect pretend they never existed. But the family members and friends of the disappeared knew they had existed, and they searched desperately for traces of their loved ones. The efforts of mother and grandmothers to find their children turned into the one form of protest that was sustained for years. Beginning in 1977, women began to protest in the Plaza de Mayo. Some of the protest organizers were kidnapped and killed, but the women persisted. They protested throughout the 1978 World Cup hosted by Argentina to make their cause known internationally. In 1981, they staged their first “March of Resistance,” which was a 24 hour protest that became an annual event. Their efforts and the international attention they brought to the Dirty War helped turn the public against the junta. Finally, in 1983, after losing the Falklands War to Britain, the junta were forced out and free elections were held and the democatic government of Raul Alfonsin took office.
Sifting through remains in search of people who went missing during military repression in Argentina’s “Dirty War”.
(Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team).
In the years since the Dirty War, mass graves have been discovered and documents have been revealed to show that high-ranking state department officials in the United States secretly backed the junta. In 2019, additional U.S. documents were declassified that shed more light on what happened during the Dirty War, helping Argentinian leaders and activists in their search for answers and justice. Some justice has been served. Nearly 900 former members of the junta have been tried and convicted of crimes, and prosecutions continue today. In October 2020, a trial began in the city of La Plata where multiple men face charges ranging from abduction to crimes against humanity, including torture, baby thefts and executions. The mothers and grandmothers of the desaparecidos have continued their fight to find out what happened to their loved ones. With the help of geneticists and DNA technology, more than 130 stolen children have been identified. For many Argentinian survivors and families, the work for answers and justice continues.