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Jorge Rafael Videla

Jorge Rafael Videla (/vɪˈdɛlə/; Spanish: [ˈxoɾxe rafaˈel biˈðela]; 2 August 1925 – 17 May 2013) was an Argentine military officer and dictator, Commander in Chief of the Army, member of the Military Junta, and de facto President of Argentina from 29 March 1976 to 29 March 1981. His reign, which was during the time of Operation Condor, was among the most infamous in Latin America during the Cold War, due to its high level of human rights abuses and severe economic mismanagement.

Jorge Rafael Videla
Videla in 1976
President of Argentina
In office
29 March 1976 – 29 March 1981
Appointed byMilitary junta
Vice PresidentNone
Preceded byIsabel Martínez de Perón
Succeeded byRoberto Eduardo Viola
Governor of Tucumán
In office
4 August 1970 – 10 December 1970
Preceded byJorge Daniel Nanclares
Succeeded byCarlos Alfredo Imbaud
Personal details
Born(1925-08-02)2 August 1925
Mercedes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died17 May 2013(2013-05-17) (aged 87)
Marcos Paz, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Resting placeMemorial Cemetery, Pilar, Buenos Aires
Political partyNone
Spouse
Alicia Raquel Hartridge
(m. 1948)
Children7
EducationColegio Militar de la Nación
ProfessionMilitary
Signature
Military service
AllegianceArgentina
Branch/service Argentine Army
Years of service1944–1981
Rank (Pre-1991 epaulette) Lieutenant General
CommandsArgentine Army
Battles/warsInternal War

Beagle conflict

Criminal details
Conviction(s)Crimes against humanity; illegal repression during the last military dictatorship
PenaltyLife imprisonment
TrialTrial of the Juntas
Imprisoned atMarcos Paz Prison

He came to power in a coup d'état that deposed Isabel Perón. In 1985, two years after the return of a representative democratic government, he was prosecuted in the Trial of the Juntas for large-scale human rights abuses and crimes against humanity that took place under his rule, including kidnappings or forced disappearance, widespread torture and extrajudicial murder of activists and political opponents as well as their families at secret concentration camps. An estimated 13,000[1] to 30,000[2] political dissidents vanished during this period. Videla was also convicted of the theft of many babies born during the captivity of their mothers at the illegal detention centres and passing them on for illegal adoption by associates of the regime. In his defence, Videla maintained the female guerrilla detainees allowed themselves to become pregnant in the belief they would not be tortured or executed.[3] On 5 July 2010, Videla took full responsibility for his army's actions during his rule. "I accept the responsibility as the highest military authority during the internal war. My subordinates followed my orders," he told an Argentine court.[4] Videla also sheltered many Nazi fugitives as did Juan Perón before him, as Alfredo Stroessner did in Paraguay and as Hugo Banzer did in Bolivia; he was sometimes known as the "Hitler of the Pampa".[5] He was under house arrest until 10 October 2008, when he was sent to a military prison.[6]

Following a new trial, on 22 December 2010, Videla was sentenced to life in a civilian prison for the deaths of 31 prisoners following his coup.[7][8] On 5 July 2012, Videla was sentenced to 50 years in civilian prison for the systematic kidnapping of children during his tenure.[9] The following year, Videla died in the Marcos Paz civilian prison five days after suffering a fall in a shower.[10]

Early life and family

Jorge Rafael Videla was born on 2 August 1925 in the city of Mercedes. He was the third of five sons born to Colonel Rafael Eugenio Videla Bengolea (1888–1951) and María Olga Redondo Ojea (1897–1987) and was christened in honor of his two older twin brothers, who had died of measles in 1923. Videla's family was a prominent one in San Luis Province, and many of his ancestors had held high public offices. His grandfather Jacinto had been governor of San Luis between 1891 and 1893, and his great-great-grandfather Blas Videla had fought in the Spanish American wars of independence and had later been a leader of the Unitarian Party in San Luis.[11]

On 7 April 1948, Jorge Videla married Alicia Raquel Hartridge (28 September 1927 – 5 November 2021[12]) daughter of Samuel Alejandro Hartridge Parkes (1891–1969), an English Argentine professor of physics and Argentine ambassador to Turkey, and María Isabel Lacoste Álvarez (1893–1939).[13] They had seven children: María Cristina (1949), Jorge Horacio (1950), Alejandro Eugenio (1951–1971), María Isabel (1954), Pedro Ignacio (1956), Fernando Gabriel (1961) and Rafael Patricio (1963). Two of these, Rafael Patricio and Fernando Gabriel, joined the Argentine Army.[11]

Army career

Videla joined the National Military College (Colegio Militar de la Nación) on 3 March 1942 and graduated on 21 December 1944 with the rank of second lieutenant. After steady promotion as a junior officer in the infantry, he attended the War College between 1952 and 1954 and graduated as a qualified staff officer. Videla served at the Ministry of Defence from 1958 to 1960 and thereafter he directed the Military Academy until 1962. In 1971, he was promoted to brigade general and appointed by Alejandro Agustin Lanusse as Director of the National Military College. In late 1973 the head of the Army, Leandro Anaya, appointed Videla as the Chief of Staff of the Army. During July and August 1975, Videla was the Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Estado Mayor Conjunto) of the Argentine Armed Forces.[14] In August 1975, the President, Isabel Perón, appointed Videla to the Army's senior position, the General Commander of the Army.

Rank Date of promotion
Second Lieutenant 22 December 1944
Lieutenant 15 June 1947
First Lieutenant 3 November 1949
Captain 1 March 1952
Major 18 July 1958
Lieutenant Colonel 28 December 1961
Colonel 17 January 1966
Brigade General 23 November 1971
Lieutenant General 20 October 1975[15]

Coup d'état

 
Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla swearing the Oath as President of Argentina, 29 March 1976.

Upon the death of President Juan Perón, his widow and Vice President Isabel became President. Videla headed a military coup which deposed her on 24 March 1976, during increasing violence, social unrest and economic problems. A military junta was formed, made up of him, representing the Army; Admiral Emilio Massera representing the Navy; and Brigadier General Orlando Ramón Agosti representing the Air Force.[16]

Presidency

Two days after the coup, Videla formally assumed the post of President of Argentina.

Human rights violations

A terrorist is not just someone with a gun or a bomb, but also someone who spreads ideas that are contrary to Western and Christian civilization.

— Jorge Rafael Videla[17]
 
Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla at a military parade in Buenos Aires, 1978.

The military junta is remembered for the forced disappearances of large numbers of students. The military junta took power during a period of terrorist attacks from the Marxist groups ERP, the Montoneros, FAL, FAR and FAP, who had gone underground after Juan Perón's death in July 1974, and violent right-wing kidnappings, tortures and assassinations from the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance, led by José López Rega, Perón's Minister of Social Welfare, and other death squads. The Baltimore Sun reported at the beginning of 1976 that,

In the jungle-covered mountains of Tucuman, long known as 'Argentina's garden', Argentines are fighting Argentines in a Vietnam-style civil war. So far, the outcome is in doubt. But there is no doubt about the seriousness of the combat, which involves 2,000 or so leftist guerrillas and perhaps as many as 10,000 soldiers.[18]

In late 1974 the ERP set up a rural front in Tucumán province and the Argentine Army deployed the 5th Mountain Brigade of the 2nd Army Division in counterinsurgency operations in the province. In early 1976 the mountain brigade was reinforced in the form of the 4th Airborne Brigade that had until then been withheld guarding strategic points in the city of Córdoba against ERP guerrillas and militants.[19]

The members of the junta took advantage of the guerrilla threat to authorize the coup and naming the period in government as the "National Reorganization Process". In all, 293 servicemen and policemen were killed in left-wing terrorist incidents in 1975 and 1976.[20] Videla narrowly escaped three assassination attempts by the Montoneros and ERP between February 1976 and April 1977.[21]

Justice Minister Ricardo Gil Lavedra, who formed part of the 1985 tribunal judging the military crimes committed during the Dirty War, later declared, "I sincerely believe that the majority of the victims of the illegal repression were guerrilla militants".[22] Some 10,000 of the disappeared were guerrillas of the Montoneros, and the People's Revolutionary Army.[23][24][25] However, the campaign of repression actually intensified after the guerrillas were defeated and it was during this time, when they targeted the church, labor unions, artists, intellectuals and university students and professors, that the junta accumulated the greatest number of victims.[26]

According to human right groups, an estimated 15,000 to 30,000[27] Argentines "disappeared" while in the custody of the police or the military.[27] Among the victims were two French nuns (Alice Domon and Léonie Duquet) who had taught and cared for Videla's disabled son, Alejandro.[28] Some 1,500 to 4,000 were drugged into a stupor, loaded into military aircraft, stripped naked and then thrown into the Rio de la Plata and Atlantic Ocean to drown in what became known as "death flights."[29][30][31][32] Between 10,000 and 12,000[33] of the "disappeared," PEN (Poder Ejecutivo Nacional) detainees held in clandestine detention camps throughout the dictatorship, were eventually released under diplomatic pressure.[34] Terence Roehrig estimates that of the disappeared "at least 10,000 were involved in various ways with the guerrillas".[35]

In the book Disposición Final by Argentine journalist Ceferino Reato, Videla confirms for the first time that between 1976 and 1983, 8.000 Argentines have been murdered by his regime. The bodies were hidden or destroyed to prevent protests at home and abroad.[36] Videla also maintained that female guerrilla detainees allowed themselves to become pregnant in the belief they would not be tortured or executed, but they were. The children whom they bore in prison were taken from them, illegally adopted by military families of the regime, and their identities were hidden for decades.[3]

According to Human rights organisations in Argentina, between 1,900 and 3,000 Jews were among the 30,000 who were targeted by the Argentine military junta.[37] It is a disproportionate number, as Jews comprised between 5–12% of those targeted but only 1% of the population. Historian Daniel Muchnik attributed this to many Jews gravitating to political activism and armed resistance groups such as the ERP and FAP during the period. However, testimonies from Jewish Argentines suggest that they were targeted for being Jewish. Many torture victims were said to have seen pictures of Adolf Hitler and swastikas on walls of torture chambers and interrogators uttering anti-Semitic epithets. Jews were also known to have suffered anti-Semitic harassment while in the Argentine military. Between 200 and 300 Jews were subject to attacks, often by their superiors.[38][39]

Some 11,000 Argentines have applied for and received up to US$200,000 as monetary compensation from the state for the loss of loved ones during the military dictatorship.[40] The Asamblea por los Derechos Humanos (APDH or Assembly for Human Rights) believes that 12,261 people were killed or disappeared during the "National Reorganization Process".[41] Politically, all legislative power was concentrated in the hands of Videla's nine-man junta, and every important position in the national government was filled with loyal military officers.

Economic policy

 
Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla at the opening of 1976's "Exposición Rural" in Palermo, Buenos Aires.

As Argentina’s new president, Videla faced a collapsing economy racked by soaring inflation. He largely left economic policies in the hands of Minister José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz, who adopted a free trade and deregulatory economic policy.[42]

Martínez de Hoz took measures to restore economic growth, reversing Peronism in favour of a free market economy. Inflation rate decreased somewhat, but remained still high.[43]

He enjoyed the personal friendship of David Rockefeller, who facilitated Chase Manhattan Bank and International Monetary Fund loans of nearly US$1 billion after his arrival.[44]

He eliminated all price controls and the exchange controls regime. The black market and shortages disappeared.[45]

He freed exports (removed existing prohibitions and quotas and export taxes were repealed) and imports (removed existing prohibitions, quotas, and licenses and gradually reduced import tariffs).[46]

During his tenure, the foreign debt increased fourfold, and disparities between the upper and lower classes became much more pronounced.[47] The period ended in a tenfold devaluation and one of the worst financial crises in Argentine history.[48]

Foreign relations

 
Videla met with US President Jimmy Carter at the White House in 9 September 1977.

The coup d'état had been planned since October 1975, and the United States Department of State learned of the preparations two months before its execution. Henry Kissinger would meet several times with Argentine Armed Forces leaders after the coup, urging them to destroy their opponents quickly before outcry over human rights abuses grew in the United States.[49][50][51]

The US State Department saw Argentina as a bulwark of anti-communism in South America and in early April 1976, the US Congress approved a request by the Ford Administration, written by Henry Kissinger, to grant $50,000,000 in security assistance to the junta. In 1977, the US Department of Defense authorized $700,000 to train 217 argentine military officers and in 1977 and 1978 the United States sold more than $120,000,000 in spare military parts to Argentina.[52]

At the same time, though, the new US President Jimmy Carter highlighted issues of human rights and, in 1978, convinced Congress to cut off all US arms transfers to Argentina.[53]

During Videla's regime, Argentina rejected the binding Report and decision of the Court of Arbitration over the Beagle conflict (about possession of the Picton, Lennox and Nueva islands) at the southern tip of South America and started Operation Soberanía in order to invade the islands. In 1978, however, Pope John Paul II opened a mediation process. His representative, Antonio Samorè, successfully prevented full-scale war.

The conflict was not completely resolved until after Videla's time as president. Once the democratic rule was restored in 1983, the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina (Tratado de Paz y Amistad), which acknowledged Chilean sovereignty over the islands, was signed and ratified by popular referendum.

Although Videla was anti-Communist, his regime maintained good relations with the Soviet Union and China; trade ties with both were expanded under his rule.[54]

Public relations

One of Videla's greatest challenges was his image abroad. He attributed criticism over human rights to an anti-Argentine campaign. On 19 May 1976, he attended a luncheon with a group of Argentine intellectuals, including Ernesto Sábato, Jorge Luis Borges, Horacio Esteban Ratti (president of the Argentine Writers Society) and Father Leonardo Castellani. The latter expressed to Videla his concern regarding the disappearance of another writer, Haroldo Conti.[55]

On 30 April 1977, Azucena Villaflor, along with 13 other women, started demonstrations on the Plaza de Mayo, in front of the Casa Rosada presidential palace, demanding to be told the whereabouts of their disappeared children. They became known as the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Madres de Plaza de Mayo).

 
Bumper sticker commissioned by the junta in 1979. The text is a pun on derechos humanos, "human rights". "We Argentines are righteous and humans"

During a human rights investigation in September 1979, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights denounced Videla's government, citing many disappearances and instances of abuse. In response, the junta hired the Burson-Marsteller ad agency to formulate a pithy comeback: Los argentinos somos derechos y humanos (Literally, "We the Argentines are righteous and humane"). The slogan was printed on 250,000 bumper stickers and distributed to motorists throughout Buenos Aires to create the appearance of a spontaneous support of pro-junta sentiment, at a cost of approximately $16,117.[56]

Videla used the 1978 FIFA World Cup for political purposes. He cited the enthusiasm of the Argentine fans for their victorious football team as evidence of his personal and the junta's popularity.[57]

In 1980, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, leader of the Peace and Justice Service, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for reporting many of Argentina's human rights violations to the world at large.

Later life and death

Videla relinquished power to Roberto Viola on 29 March 1981. On April 7, 1982, Videla attended the swearing-in ceremony of general Mario Benjamín Menéndez as governor of the Malvinas Islands.[58] The military regime continued until it collapsed after losing the Falklands war in 1982. Democracy was restored in 1983.

The new government began prosecution of top-ranking officers for crimes committed during the dictatorship in what was called the Trial of the Juntas of 1985. Videla was convicted of numerous homicides, kidnapping, torture, and many other crimes. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and was discharged from the military in 1985.

Videla was imprisoned for five years. In 1990, President Carlos Menem pardoned Videla and many other imprisoned former members of the military regime. Menem also pardoned the leftist guerrilla commanders accused of terrorism. In a televised address to the nation, President Menem said, "I have signed the decrees so we may begin to rebuild the country in peace, in liberty and in justice ... We come from long and cruel confrontations. There was a wound to heal."[59]

Videla briefly returned to prison in 1998 when a judge found him guilty of the kidnapping of babies during the Dirty War, including the child of the desaparecida Silvia Quintela, and the disappearances of the commanders of the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP), Mario Roberto Santucho and Benito Urteaga.[60] Videla spent 38 days in the old part of the Caseros Prison. Due to health issues, he was later transferred to house arrest.[61][62]

Following the election of President Néstor Kirchner in 2003, there was a renewed widespread effort in Argentina to show the illegality of Videla's rule. The government no longer recognized Videla as having been a legal president of the country, and his portrait was removed from the military school. In 2003, Congress repealed the Ley de Punto Final, which had ended prosecutions for crimes under the dictatorship. In 2005, the Argentine Supreme Court ruled that the law had been unconstitutional. The government re-opened prosecution of crimes against humanity.

On 6 September 2006, Judge Norberto Oyarbide ruled that the pardons granted by President Menem were unconstitutional.[63] On 25 April 2007, a federal court struck down Videla's presidential pardon and restored his convictions for human rights abuses.[64]

He was put on trial on 2 July 2010 for new charges of human rights violations relating to the deaths of 31 prisoners who died under his rule.[7] Three days later, Videla took full responsibility for his army's actions during his rule, saying, "I accept the responsibility as the highest military authority during the internal war. My subordinates followed my orders."[4] On 22 December 2010, the trial ended, and Videla was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.[65] He was ordered to be transferred to a civilian prison immediately after the trial.[65] In handing down the sentence, judge María Elba Martínez said that Videla was "a manifestation of state terrorism."[66] During the trial, Videla had said that "yesterday's enemies are in power and from there, they are trying to establish a Marxist regime" in Argentina.[67]

On 5 July 2012, Videla was convicted and sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment for his participation in a scheme to steal babies from parents detained by the military regime. According to the court decision, Videla was an accomplice "in the crimes of theft, retention and hiding of minors, as well as replacing their identities."[68] The children were given to military families for illegal adoption, and their identities were hidden. An estimated 400 children were stolen during this period, often from mothers who gave birth in prison and who were later "disappeared." By June 2019, 130 of these adoptees had their identities restored.[69]

On 17 May 2013, Videla was reported as having died of natural causes in his sleep while serving his sentence at a Marcos Paz prison.[70][71] An autopsy revealed he died from multiple fractures and internal hemorrhaging caused by having slipped in a prison shower on 12 May.[72] According to a 2009 ruling by the military, he (and others convicted of human rights violations) were not eligible for a military funeral. A private ceremony was held by his family.[73]

Human rights organizations throughout the political compass denounced Videla, saying that he died without admitting that he was aware of the disappeared persons and kidnapped children. None of the tried ex-officers has provided details about the fate of those missing. Videla appeared mostly unrepentant for the actions against those whom he deemed terrorist subversives.[74]

Several Argentine politicians commented on his death. Deputy Ricardo Gil Lavedra of the Radical Civic Union said that Videla will be remembered as a dictator, while Hermes Binner expressed condolences to the victims of his government.[75] Hernán Lombardi, Minister of Culture of Buenos Aires city, praised Argentine democracy for having tried and sentenced the dictator.[75] Ricardo Alfonsín said it was good that Videla had died in prison.[76] Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Argentine recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize, said, "The death of Videla should not delight anybody, we have to keep working for a better society, more just, more humane, so that all that horror never happens again".[77]

Cabinet Chief Juan Manuel Abal Medina said that he was glad that, "Videla died prosecuted, sentenced and imprisoned in a common cell, repudiated by the Argentine people".[78] At the time of Videla's death he was one of two surviving dictators of Argentina. The last surviving president from the dictatorship, Reynaldo Bignone, died on 7 March 2018.

Videla remained a Roman Catholic till the end of his life.[79][80][81][82][83]

See also

References

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  75. ^ "Ricardo Alfonsín sobre Jorge Rafael Videla: "En la Argentina hubo justicia"" [Ricardo Alfonsín about Jorge Rafael Videla: "In Argentina there was justice"]. La Nación (in Spanish). 17 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  76. ^ "Pérez Esquivel: "La muerte de Jorge Rafael Videla no debe alegrar a nadie"" [Pérez Esquivel: "The death of Jorge Rafael Videla should not delight anyone]. La Nación (in Spanish). 17 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  77. ^ "Videla murió juzgado, condenado y preso en una cárcel común" [Videla died prosecuted, sentenced and imprisoned in a common cell]. Télam (in Spanish). 17 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  78. ^ "General Jorge Rafael Videla: Dictator who brought terror to Argentina". Independent.co.uk. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022.
  79. ^ "DefesaNet - America Latina - VIDELA - Epitáfio de um general". DefesaNet.com.br. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  80. ^ "Jornalista revela como o Pe. Bergoglio conseguiu a libertação de sacerdotes sequestrados pelos militares argentinos na ditadura". Acidigital.com. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  81. ^ "8 coisas que talvez você não saiba sobre delírios místicos de líderes latino-americanos". Oglobo.globo.com. 20 January 2019.
  82. ^ "In pictures: Jorge Rafael Videla". BBC News. 17 May 2013.

External links

  • Jorge Rafaél Videla Biography: Dictator, Murderer, General (1925–2013) 24 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Biography.com
  • Ex-Argentine Dictator Sentenced to Life in Prison – video report by Democracy Now!
  • "Former Dictator of Argentina Found Guilty Of Crimes Against Humanity" 8 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Buenos Aires English, December 2010
Military offices
Preceded by
Ernesto Della Croce
Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Jul–Aug 1975
Succeeded by
Eduardo Betti
Preceded by
Arturo Numa Laplane
General Commander of the Army
1975–1978
Succeeded by
Roberto Eduardo Viola
as Commander-in-Chief of the Army
Political offices
Preceded by
Jorge Daniel Nanclares
Governor of Tucumán
Aug–Dec 1974
Succeeded by
Carlos Alfredo Imbaud
Preceded by President of Argentina
1976–1981
Succeeded by
Sporting positions
Preceded by The person who opened the FIFA World Cup
1978
Succeeded by

jorge, rafael, videla, spanish, ˈxoɾxe, rafaˈel, biˈðela, august, 1925, 2013, argentine, military, officer, dictator, commander, chief, army, member, military, junta, facto, president, argentina, from, march, 1976, march, 1981, reign, which, during, time, oper. Jorge Rafael Videla v ɪ ˈ d ɛ l e Spanish ˈxoɾxe rafaˈel biˈdela 2 August 1925 17 May 2013 was an Argentine military officer and dictator Commander in Chief of the Army member of the Military Junta and de facto President of Argentina from 29 March 1976 to 29 March 1981 His reign which was during the time of Operation Condor was among the most infamous in Latin America during the Cold War due to its high level of human rights abuses and severe economic mismanagement Jorge Rafael VidelaVidela in 1976President of ArgentinaDe factoIn office 29 March 1976 29 March 1981Appointed byMilitary juntaVice PresidentNonePreceded byIsabel Martinez de PeronSucceeded byRoberto Eduardo ViolaGovernor of TucumanDe factoIn office 4 August 1970 10 December 1970Preceded byJorge Daniel NanclaresSucceeded byCarlos Alfredo ImbaudPersonal detailsBorn 1925 08 02 2 August 1925Mercedes Buenos Aires ArgentinaDied17 May 2013 2013 05 17 aged 87 Marcos Paz Buenos Aires ArgentinaResting placeMemorial Cemetery Pilar Buenos AiresPolitical partyNoneSpouseAlicia Raquel Hartridge m 1948 wbr Children7EducationColegio Militar de la NacionProfessionMilitarySignatureMilitary serviceAllegianceArgentinaBranch serviceArgentine ArmyYears of service1944 1981Rank Pre 1991 epaulette Lieutenant GeneralCommandsArgentine ArmyBattles warsInternal War Operation CharlyBeagle conflict Operation SoberaniaCriminal detailsConviction s Crimes against humanity illegal repression during the last military dictatorshipPenaltyLife imprisonmentTrialTrial of the JuntasImprisoned atMarcos Paz PrisonHe came to power in a coup d etat that deposed Isabel Peron In 1985 two years after the return of a representative democratic government he was prosecuted in the Trial of the Juntas for large scale human rights abuses and crimes against humanity that took place under his rule including kidnappings or forced disappearance widespread torture and extrajudicial murder of activists and political opponents as well as their families at secret concentration camps An estimated 13 000 1 to 30 000 2 political dissidents vanished during this period Videla was also convicted of the theft of many babies born during the captivity of their mothers at the illegal detention centres and passing them on for illegal adoption by associates of the regime In his defence Videla maintained the female guerrilla detainees allowed themselves to become pregnant in the belief they would not be tortured or executed 3 On 5 July 2010 Videla took full responsibility for his army s actions during his rule I accept the responsibility as the highest military authority during the internal war My subordinates followed my orders he told an Argentine court 4 Videla also sheltered many Nazi fugitives as did Juan Peron before him as Alfredo Stroessner did in Paraguay and as Hugo Banzer did in Bolivia he was sometimes known as the Hitler of the Pampa 5 He was under house arrest until 10 October 2008 when he was sent to a military prison 6 Following a new trial on 22 December 2010 Videla was sentenced to life in a civilian prison for the deaths of 31 prisoners following his coup 7 8 On 5 July 2012 Videla was sentenced to 50 years in civilian prison for the systematic kidnapping of children during his tenure 9 The following year Videla died in the Marcos Paz civilian prison five days after suffering a fall in a shower 10 Contents 1 Early life and family 2 Army career 3 Coup d etat 4 Presidency 4 1 Human rights violations 4 2 Economic policy 4 3 Foreign relations 4 4 Public relations 5 Later life and death 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksEarly life and family EditJorge Rafael Videla was born on 2 August 1925 in the city of Mercedes He was the third of five sons born to Colonel Rafael Eugenio Videla Bengolea 1888 1951 and Maria Olga Redondo Ojea 1897 1987 and was christened in honor of his two older twin brothers who had died of measles in 1923 Videla s family was a prominent one in San Luis Province and many of his ancestors had held high public offices His grandfather Jacinto had been governor of San Luis between 1891 and 1893 and his great great grandfather Blas Videla had fought in the Spanish American wars of independence and had later been a leader of the Unitarian Party in San Luis 11 On 7 April 1948 Jorge Videla married Alicia Raquel Hartridge 28 September 1927 5 November 2021 12 daughter of Samuel Alejandro Hartridge Parkes 1891 1969 an English Argentine professor of physics and Argentine ambassador to Turkey and Maria Isabel Lacoste Alvarez 1893 1939 13 They had seven children Maria Cristina 1949 Jorge Horacio 1950 Alejandro Eugenio 1951 1971 Maria Isabel 1954 Pedro Ignacio 1956 Fernando Gabriel 1961 and Rafael Patricio 1963 Two of these Rafael Patricio and Fernando Gabriel joined the Argentine Army 11 Army career EditVidela joined the National Military College Colegio Militar de la Nacion on 3 March 1942 and graduated on 21 December 1944 with the rank of second lieutenant After steady promotion as a junior officer in the infantry he attended the War College between 1952 and 1954 and graduated as a qualified staff officer Videla served at the Ministry of Defence from 1958 to 1960 and thereafter he directed the Military Academy until 1962 In 1971 he was promoted to brigade general and appointed by Alejandro Agustin Lanusse as Director of the National Military College In late 1973 the head of the Army Leandro Anaya appointed Videla as the Chief of Staff of the Army During July and August 1975 Videla was the Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Estado Mayor Conjunto of the Argentine Armed Forces 14 In August 1975 the President Isabel Peron appointed Videla to the Army s senior position the General Commander of the Army Rank Date of promotionSecond Lieutenant 22 December 1944Lieutenant 15 June 1947First Lieutenant 3 November 1949Captain 1 March 1952Major 18 July 1958Lieutenant Colonel 28 December 1961Colonel 17 January 1966Brigade General 23 November 1971Lieutenant General 20 October 1975 15 Coup d etat EditMain article 1976 Argentine coup d etat Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla swearing the Oath as President of Argentina 29 March 1976 Upon the death of President Juan Peron his widow and Vice President Isabel became President Videla headed a military coup which deposed her on 24 March 1976 during increasing violence social unrest and economic problems A military junta was formed made up of him representing the Army Admiral Emilio Massera representing the Navy and Brigadier General Orlando Ramon Agosti representing the Air Force 16 Presidency EditTwo days after the coup Videla formally assumed the post of President of Argentina Human rights violations Edit Main article Dirty War A terrorist is not just someone with a gun or a bomb but also someone who spreads ideas that are contrary to Western and Christian civilization Jorge Rafael Videla 17 Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla at a military parade in Buenos Aires 1978 The military junta is remembered for the forced disappearances of large numbers of students The military junta took power during a period of terrorist attacks from the Marxist groups ERP the Montoneros FAL FAR and FAP who had gone underground after Juan Peron s death in July 1974 and violent right wing kidnappings tortures and assassinations from the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance led by Jose Lopez Rega Peron s Minister of Social Welfare and other death squads The Baltimore Sun reported at the beginning of 1976 that In the jungle covered mountains of Tucuman long known as Argentina s garden Argentines are fighting Argentines in a Vietnam style civil war So far the outcome is in doubt But there is no doubt about the seriousness of the combat which involves 2 000 or so leftist guerrillas and perhaps as many as 10 000 soldiers 18 In late 1974 the ERP set up a rural front in Tucuman province and the Argentine Army deployed the 5th Mountain Brigade of the 2nd Army Division in counterinsurgency operations in the province In early 1976 the mountain brigade was reinforced in the form of the 4th Airborne Brigade that had until then been withheld guarding strategic points in the city of Cordoba against ERP guerrillas and militants 19 The members of the junta took advantage of the guerrilla threat to authorize the coup and naming the period in government as the National Reorganization Process In all 293 servicemen and policemen were killed in left wing terrorist incidents in 1975 and 1976 20 Videla narrowly escaped three assassination attempts by the Montoneros and ERP between February 1976 and April 1977 21 Justice Minister Ricardo Gil Lavedra who formed part of the 1985 tribunal judging the military crimes committed during the Dirty War later declared I sincerely believe that the majority of the victims of the illegal repression were guerrilla militants 22 Some 10 000 of the disappeared were guerrillas of the Montoneros and the People s Revolutionary Army 23 24 25 However the campaign of repression actually intensified after the guerrillas were defeated and it was during this time when they targeted the church labor unions artists intellectuals and university students and professors that the junta accumulated the greatest number of victims 26 According to human right groups an estimated 15 000 to 30 000 27 Argentines disappeared while in the custody of the police or the military 27 Among the victims were two French nuns Alice Domon and Leonie Duquet who had taught and cared for Videla s disabled son Alejandro 28 Some 1 500 to 4 000 were drugged into a stupor loaded into military aircraft stripped naked and then thrown into the Rio de la Plata and Atlantic Ocean to drown in what became known as death flights 29 30 31 32 Between 10 000 and 12 000 33 of the disappeared PEN Poder Ejecutivo Nacional detainees held in clandestine detention camps throughout the dictatorship were eventually released under diplomatic pressure 34 Terence Roehrig estimates that of the disappeared at least 10 000 were involved in various ways with the guerrillas 35 In the book Disposicion Final by Argentine journalist Ceferino Reato Videla confirms for the first time that between 1976 and 1983 8 000 Argentines have been murdered by his regime The bodies were hidden or destroyed to prevent protests at home and abroad 36 Videla also maintained that female guerrilla detainees allowed themselves to become pregnant in the belief they would not be tortured or executed but they were The children whom they bore in prison were taken from them illegally adopted by military families of the regime and their identities were hidden for decades 3 According to Human rights organisations in Argentina between 1 900 and 3 000 Jews were among the 30 000 who were targeted by the Argentine military junta 37 It is a disproportionate number as Jews comprised between 5 12 of those targeted but only 1 of the population Historian Daniel Muchnik attributed this to many Jews gravitating to political activism and armed resistance groups such as the ERP and FAP during the period However testimonies from Jewish Argentines suggest that they were targeted for being Jewish Many torture victims were said to have seen pictures of Adolf Hitler and swastikas on walls of torture chambers and interrogators uttering anti Semitic epithets Jews were also known to have suffered anti Semitic harassment while in the Argentine military Between 200 and 300 Jews were subject to attacks often by their superiors 38 39 Some 11 000 Argentines have applied for and received up to US 200 000 as monetary compensation from the state for the loss of loved ones during the military dictatorship 40 The Asamblea por los Derechos Humanos APDH or Assembly for Human Rights believes that 12 261 people were killed or disappeared during the National Reorganization Process 41 Politically all legislative power was concentrated in the hands of Videla s nine man junta and every important position in the national government was filled with loyal military officers Economic policy Edit Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla at the opening of 1976 s Exposicion Rural in Palermo Buenos Aires As Argentina s new president Videla faced a collapsing economy racked by soaring inflation He largely left economic policies in the hands of Minister Jose Alfredo Martinez de Hoz who adopted a free trade and deregulatory economic policy 42 Martinez de Hoz took measures to restore economic growth reversing Peronism in favour of a free market economy Inflation rate decreased somewhat but remained still high 43 He enjoyed the personal friendship of David Rockefeller who facilitated Chase Manhattan Bank and International Monetary Fund loans of nearly US 1 billion after his arrival 44 He eliminated all price controls and the exchange controls regime The black market and shortages disappeared 45 He freed exports removed existing prohibitions and quotas and export taxes were repealed and imports removed existing prohibitions quotas and licenses and gradually reduced import tariffs 46 During his tenure the foreign debt increased fourfold and disparities between the upper and lower classes became much more pronounced 47 The period ended in a tenfold devaluation and one of the worst financial crises in Argentine history 48 Foreign relations Edit Main article Beagle conflict Videla met with US President Jimmy Carter at the White House in 9 September 1977 The coup d etat had been planned since October 1975 and the United States Department of State learned of the preparations two months before its execution Henry Kissinger would meet several times with Argentine Armed Forces leaders after the coup urging them to destroy their opponents quickly before outcry over human rights abuses grew in the United States 49 50 51 The US State Department saw Argentina as a bulwark of anti communism in South America and in early April 1976 the US Congress approved a request by the Ford Administration written by Henry Kissinger to grant 50 000 000 in security assistance to the junta In 1977 the US Department of Defense authorized 700 000 to train 217 argentine military officers and in 1977 and 1978 the United States sold more than 120 000 000 in spare military parts to Argentina 52 At the same time though the new US President Jimmy Carter highlighted issues of human rights and in 1978 convinced Congress to cut off all US arms transfers to Argentina 53 During Videla s regime Argentina rejected the binding Report and decision of the Court of Arbitration over the Beagle conflict about possession of the Picton Lennox and Nueva islands at the southern tip of South America and started Operation Soberania in order to invade the islands In 1978 however Pope John Paul II opened a mediation process His representative Antonio Samore successfully prevented full scale war The conflict was not completely resolved until after Videla s time as president Once the democratic rule was restored in 1983 the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1984 between Chile and Argentina Tratado de Paz y Amistad which acknowledged Chilean sovereignty over the islands was signed and ratified by popular referendum Although Videla was anti Communist his regime maintained good relations with the Soviet Union and China trade ties with both were expanded under his rule 54 Public relations Edit One of Videla s greatest challenges was his image abroad He attributed criticism over human rights to an anti Argentine campaign On 19 May 1976 he attended a luncheon with a group of Argentine intellectuals including Ernesto Sabato Jorge Luis Borges Horacio Esteban Ratti president of the Argentine Writers Society and Father Leonardo Castellani The latter expressed to Videla his concern regarding the disappearance of another writer Haroldo Conti 55 On 30 April 1977 Azucena Villaflor along with 13 other women started demonstrations on the Plaza de Mayo in front of the Casa Rosada presidential palace demanding to be told the whereabouts of their disappeared children They became known as the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo Madres de Plaza de Mayo Bumper sticker commissioned by the junta in 1979 The text is a pun on derechos humanos human rights We Argentines are righteous and humans During a human rights investigation in September 1979 the Inter American Commission on Human Rights denounced Videla s government citing many disappearances and instances of abuse In response the junta hired the Burson Marsteller ad agency to formulate a pithy comeback Los argentinos somos derechos y humanos Literally We the Argentines are righteous and humane The slogan was printed on 250 000 bumper stickers and distributed to motorists throughout Buenos Aires to create the appearance of a spontaneous support of pro junta sentiment at a cost of approximately 16 117 56 Videla used the 1978 FIFA World Cup for political purposes He cited the enthusiasm of the Argentine fans for their victorious football team as evidence of his personal and the junta s popularity 57 In 1980 Adolfo Perez Esquivel leader of the Peace and Justice Service was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for reporting many of Argentina s human rights violations to the world at large Later life and death EditVidela relinquished power to Roberto Viola on 29 March 1981 On April 7 1982 Videla attended the swearing in ceremony of general Mario Benjamin Menendez as governor of the Malvinas Islands 58 The military regime continued until it collapsed after losing the Falklands war in 1982 Democracy was restored in 1983 The new government began prosecution of top ranking officers for crimes committed during the dictatorship in what was called the Trial of the Juntas of 1985 Videla was convicted of numerous homicides kidnapping torture and many other crimes He was sentenced to life imprisonment and was discharged from the military in 1985 Videla was imprisoned for five years In 1990 President Carlos Menem pardoned Videla and many other imprisoned former members of the military regime Menem also pardoned the leftist guerrilla commanders accused of terrorism In a televised address to the nation President Menem said I have signed the decrees so we may begin to rebuild the country in peace in liberty and in justice We come from long and cruel confrontations There was a wound to heal 59 Videla briefly returned to prison in 1998 when a judge found him guilty of the kidnapping of babies during the Dirty War including the child of the desaparecida Silvia Quintela and the disappearances of the commanders of the People s Revolutionary Army ERP Mario Roberto Santucho and Benito Urteaga 60 Videla spent 38 days in the old part of the Caseros Prison Due to health issues he was later transferred to house arrest 61 62 Following the election of President Nestor Kirchner in 2003 there was a renewed widespread effort in Argentina to show the illegality of Videla s rule The government no longer recognized Videla as having been a legal president of the country and his portrait was removed from the military school In 2003 Congress repealed the Ley de Punto Final which had ended prosecutions for crimes under the dictatorship In 2005 the Argentine Supreme Court ruled that the law had been unconstitutional The government re opened prosecution of crimes against humanity On 6 September 2006 Judge Norberto Oyarbide ruled that the pardons granted by President Menem were unconstitutional 63 On 25 April 2007 a federal court struck down Videla s presidential pardon and restored his convictions for human rights abuses 64 He was put on trial on 2 July 2010 for new charges of human rights violations relating to the deaths of 31 prisoners who died under his rule 7 Three days later Videla took full responsibility for his army s actions during his rule saying I accept the responsibility as the highest military authority during the internal war My subordinates followed my orders 4 On 22 December 2010 the trial ended and Videla was convicted and sentenced to life in prison 65 He was ordered to be transferred to a civilian prison immediately after the trial 65 In handing down the sentence judge Maria Elba Martinez said that Videla was a manifestation of state terrorism 66 During the trial Videla had said that yesterday s enemies are in power and from there they are trying to establish a Marxist regime in Argentina 67 On 5 July 2012 Videla was convicted and sentenced to 50 years imprisonment for his participation in a scheme to steal babies from parents detained by the military regime According to the court decision Videla was an accomplice in the crimes of theft retention and hiding of minors as well as replacing their identities 68 The children were given to military families for illegal adoption and their identities were hidden An estimated 400 children were stolen during this period often from mothers who gave birth in prison and who were later disappeared By June 2019 130 of these adoptees had their identities restored 69 On 17 May 2013 Videla was reported as having died of natural causes in his sleep while serving his sentence at a Marcos Paz prison 70 71 An autopsy revealed he died from multiple fractures and internal hemorrhaging caused by having slipped in a prison shower on 12 May 72 According to a 2009 ruling by the military he and others convicted of human rights violations were not eligible for a military funeral A private ceremony was held by his family 73 Human rights organizations throughout the political compass denounced Videla saying that he died without admitting that he was aware of the disappeared persons and kidnapped children None of the tried ex officers has provided details about the fate of those missing Videla appeared mostly unrepentant for the actions against those whom he deemed terrorist subversives 74 Several Argentine politicians commented on his death Deputy Ricardo Gil Lavedra of the Radical Civic Union said that Videla will be remembered as a dictator while Hermes Binner expressed condolences to the victims of his government 75 Hernan Lombardi Minister of Culture of Buenos Aires city praised Argentine democracy for having tried and sentenced the dictator 75 Ricardo Alfonsin said it was good that Videla had died in prison 76 Adolfo Perez Esquivel Argentine recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize said The death of Videla should not delight anybody we have to keep working for a better society more just more humane so that all that horror never happens again 77 Cabinet Chief Juan Manuel Abal Medina said that he was glad that Videla died prosecuted sentenced and imprisoned in a common cell repudiated by the Argentine people 78 At the time of Videla s death he was one of two surviving dictators of Argentina The last surviving president from the dictatorship Reynaldo Bignone died on 7 March 2018 Videla remained a Roman Catholic till the end of his life 79 80 81 82 83 See also Edit Argentina portalAlbano HarguindeguyReferences Edit Una duda historica no se sabe cuantos son los desaparecidos 6 October 2003 40 years later the mothers of Argentina s disappeared refuse to be silent TheGuardian com 28 April 2017 Retrieved 23 March 2018 a b El exdictador Videla llama terroristas a las madres de los bebes robados en Argentina Abc es 27 June 2012 a b Argentina s Videla Troops followed my orders BBC news Bbc co uk 6 July 2010 Retrieved 27 December 2010 Jorge Videla el Hitler de la Pampa elmundo es Elmundo es Retrieved 25 July 2021 Rosario Gabino 10 October 2008 Argentina Videla a la carcel BBC News Retrieved 27 December 2010 a b Life sentence for ex Argentina leader on Al Jazeera English 23 December 2010 video Popper Helen 22 December 2010 Former Argentine dictator Videla jailed for life Reuters Retrieved 23 December 2010 El dictador Videla condenado a 50 anos de carcel por el robo de ninos Retrieved 5 July 2012 Videla murio golpe cabeza cuando resbalo ducha El Comericio a b Seoane Muleiro El Dictador Ed Sudamericana 2001 Alicia Hartridge Jorge Rafael Videla s wife died Zyri 5 November 2021 Archived from the original on 1 March 2022 Retrieved 1 March 2022 Who s Who in Latin America Part V Argentina Paraguay and Uruguay in Spanish Stanford University Press ISBN 978 0 8047 0741 1 Estado Mayor Conjunto Archived from the original on 15 December 2007 Ascenso a Teniente General en 1975 Diarioperfil com ar Archived from the original on 2 October 2011 Retrieved 27 December 2010 Unlike most other countries in the Armed Forces of Argentina the Army rank of Lieutenant General Teniente General the Navy rank of Admiral Almirante and the Air Force rank of Brigadier General are equal and approximate to three star or four star ranks See Military ranks of Argentina J Patrice McSherry Predatory States Operation Condor and Covert War in Latin America Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers 2005 p 1 ISBN 0742536874 Viet war growing in Argentina James Nelson Goodsell The Baltimore Sun 18 January 1976 5 Policemen Dead In Argentina Violence Times Union 21 August 1975 Wright Thomas C 2007 State Terrorism in Latin America Chile Argentina and International Human Rights Rowman and Littlefield p 102 ISBN 978 0 7425 3721 7 Argentine president escapes third assassination attempt The Montreal Gazette 19 February 1977 Retrieved 27 December 2010 Amar al enemigo Javier Vigo Leguizamon p 68 Ediciones Pasco 2001 Paso 1 SELECCIONAR PRODUCTO seguro orbyt es Retrieved 20 August 2019 A 32 anos de la caida en combate de Mario Roberto Santucho y la Direccion Historica del PRT ERP Cedema org Archived from the original on 25 July 2011 Retrieved 12 July 2012 Heinz Wolfgang S Fruhling Hugo 27 July 1999 Determinants of Gross Human Rights Violations by State and State Sponsored Actors in Brazil Uruguay Chile and Argentina 1960 1990 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers ISBN 9041112022 via Google Books Alexander Mikaberidze 2013 Atrocities Massacres and War Crimes An Encyclopedia ABC CLIO p 28 ISBN 1598849255 a b The Victims Abducted Tortured Vanished The Vanished Gallery Alice Domon en gariwo net Thomas C Wright 2006 State Terrorism in Latin America Chile Argentina and International Human Rights Latin American Silhouettes Rowman amp Littlefield p 160 ISBN 0742537218 Calvin Sims 13 March 1995 Argentine Tells of Dumping Dirty War Captives Into Sea The New York Times Retrieved 23 September 2015 Ed Stocker 27 November 2012 Victims of death flights Drugged dumped by aircraft but not forgotten The Independent Retrieved 23 September 2015 Teresa Bo 29 November 2012 Argentina holds death flights trial Archived 25 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Al Jazeera America Retrieved 23 September 2015 Detenidos Aparecidos Presas y Presos Politicos Desde Trelew a la Dictadura Santiago Garano Werner Pertot p 26 Editorial Biblos 2007 Political Injustice Authoritarianism and the Rule of Law in Brazil Chile and Argentina Anthony W Pereira p 134 University of Pittsburgh Press 2005 Roehrig Terence 2001 Prosecution of Former Military Leaders in Newly Democratic Nations The Cases of Argentina Greece and South Korea McFarland Publishing ISBN 9780786410910 in Dutch Oud dictator Videla onder mijn bewind duizenden mensen vermoord Volkskrant 14 April 2012 Jorge Rafael Videla Argentinian dictator who killed Jews dies Jewish Telegraphic Agency 19 May 2013 Retrieved 4 January 2016 Videla and the Jews of Argentina The Closing of a Painful Circle Haaretz 22 May 2013 Retrieved 4 January 2016 Jews targeted in Argentina s dirty war The Guardian 24 March 1999 Retrieved 4 January 2016 State terrorism in Latin America Chile Argentina and international human Thomas C Wright p 158 Rowman amp Littlefield 2007 Las cifras de la guerra sucia investigacion a cargo de Graciela Fernandez Meijide Ricardo Snitcofsky Elisa Somoilovich y Jorge Pusajo p 32 Asamblea Permanente por los Derechos Humanos 1988 Jorge Rafael Videla president of Argentina Britannica com Argentina Military government 1966 73 Encyclopedia Britannica Lo que pienso de Martinez de Hoz Elhistoriador com ar 6 November 2017 Por Juan Alemann PDF Martinezdehoz com Retrieved 8 July 2022 Jose Alfredo Martinez de Hoz Biografia Martinezdehoz com Lewis Paul The Crisis of Argentine Capitalism University of North Carolina Press 1990 Argentina From Insolvency to Growth World Bank Press 1993 Military Take Cognizance of Human Rights Issue PDF National Security Archive 16 February 1976 Kissinger approved Argentinian dirty war The Guardian 6 December 2003 Retrieved 19 March 2015 Blakeley Ruth 2009 State Terrorism and Neoliberalism The North in the South Routledge pp 96 97 ISBN 978 0415686174 On 30th Anniversary of Argentine Coup New Declassified Details on Repression and U S Support for Military Dictatorship Gwu edu Retrieved August 6 2010 William Michael Schmidli Human rights and the Cold War the campaign to halt the Argentine dirty war Cold war history 2012 12 2 pp 345 365 online La alianza entre la Junta argentina y la URSS Libertad Digital 24 March 2019 Una sesion de homenaje in Spanish Pagina 12 7 September 2009 Retrieved 27 December 2010 Somos derechos y humanos como se armo la campana Clarin com 23 March 2006 Retrieved 8 July 2022 The Story Of The 1978 World cup BBC Article Author Jonathan Stevenson BBC Sports Presenter Published 18 May 2010 Retrieved 19 May 2013 Malvinas 40 anos La ceremonia de asuncion de Menendez el general que penso que no iba a una guerra Pardon of Argentine Officers Angers Critics of the Military The New York Times 9 October 1989 Videla durmio en su domicilio luego de 38 dias de detencion La Nacion Lanacion com ar 17 July 1998 Retrieved 27 December 2010 Dirty War arrest BBC News 10 June 1998 Argentine junta head has stroke BBC News 17 December 2004 Argentine junta pardons revoked BBC News 6 September 2006 Argentine court overturns Dirty War pardon Reuters 25 April 2007 Retrieved 26 April 2007 a b Argentina former leader Jorge Videla jailed for life BBC News Online 22 December 2010 Retrieved 23 December 2010 Yapp Robin 22 December 2010 Former Argentine dictator Jorge Videla sentenced to life in prison The Telegraph London Retrieved 23 December 2010 Barrionuevo Alexei 23 December 2010 Argentina Ex Dictator Sentenced in Murders The New York Times Retrieved 23 December 2010 Former dictators found guilty in Argentine baby stealing trial CNN 5 July 2012 Retrieved 5 July 2012 Abuelas presento al nieto 130 El video completo de la conferencia de prensa PAGINA12 13 June 2019 Argentina ex military leader Jorge Rafael Videla dies BBC News 17 May 2013 Retrieved 17 May 2013 Murio el ex dictador Jorge Rafael Videla Spanish 17 May 2013 Archived from the original on 3 July 2013 Retrieved 17 May 2013 Videla murio golpe cabeza cuando resbalo en la ducha Videla died of a head injury when he slipped in the shower El Comericio Jorge Rafael Videla no recibira honores militares en su funeral Jorge Rafael Videla will not receive military honors at his funeral La Nacion in Spanish 17 May 2013 Retrieved 17 May 2013 1 dead link a b Los politicos hablan de la muerte de Jorge Rafael Videla Politicians talk about the death of Jorge Rafael Videla La Nacion in Spanish 17 May 2013 Retrieved 17 May 2013 Ricardo Alfonsin sobre Jorge Rafael Videla En la Argentina hubo justicia Ricardo Alfonsin about Jorge Rafael Videla In Argentina there was justice La Nacion in Spanish 17 May 2013 Retrieved 17 May 2013 Perez Esquivel La muerte de Jorge Rafael Videla no debe alegrar a nadie Perez Esquivel The death of Jorge Rafael Videla should not delight anyone La Nacion in Spanish 17 May 2013 Retrieved 17 May 2013 Videla murio juzgado condenado y preso en una carcel comun Videla died prosecuted sentenced and imprisoned in a common cell Telam in Spanish 17 May 2013 Retrieved 17 May 2013 General Jorge Rafael Videla Dictator who brought terror to Argentina Independent co uk 17 May 2013 Archived from the original on 14 June 2022 DefesaNet America Latina VIDELA Epitafio de um general DefesaNet com br Retrieved 8 July 2022 Jornalista revela como o Pe Bergoglio conseguiu a libertacao de sacerdotes sequestrados pelos militares argentinos na ditadura Acidigital com Retrieved 8 July 2022 8 coisas que talvez voce nao saiba sobre delirios misticos de lideres latino americanos Oglobo globo com 20 January 2019 In pictures Jorge Rafael Videla BBC News 17 May 2013 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jorge Rafael Videla Wikiquote has quotations related to Jorge Rafael Videla Jorge Rafael Videla Biography Dictator Murderer General 1925 2013 Archived 24 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine Biography com Ex Argentine Dictator Sentenced to Life in Prison video report by Democracy Now Former Dictator of Argentina Found Guilty Of Crimes Against Humanity Archived 8 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine Buenos Aires English December 2010Military officesPreceded byErnesto Della Croce Head of the Joint Chiefs of StaffJul Aug 1975 Succeeded byEduardo BettiPreceded byArturo Numa Laplane General Commander of the Army1975 1978 Succeeded byRoberto Eduardo Violaas Commander in Chief of the ArmyPolitical officesPreceded byJorge Daniel Nanclares Governor of TucumanAug Dec 1974 Succeeded byCarlos Alfredo ImbaudPreceded byIsabel Peron President of Argentina1976 1981 Succeeded byRoberto Eduardo ViolaSporting positionsPreceded byGustav Heinemann The person who opened the FIFA World Cup1978 Succeeded byJuan Carlos I Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jorge Rafael Videla amp oldid 1148815025, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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