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82-430: Caseros Prison was conceived by the military dictatorships of the 1960s, originally intended as a short term holding station for prisoners awaiting trial. It was built over the course of almost twenty years, from 1960 until 1979. Finished under the administration of the military junta presided over by dictator Jorge Rafael Videla , Caseros was opened in 1979 to house political prisoners. It was built next to an old prison of

164-595: A life sentence , and his ex-wife, Ana María Sívori, was sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment. During the oral and public trial, Gorriarán put into question the legitimacy of the process and objected to the circumstances of his capture in the suburbs of Mexico City in October 1995, which he called a " kidnapping ". He was charged with being co-author of qualified illicit association , rebellion , usurpation , homicide with aggravated circumstances, aggravated illegal privation of freedom and reiterated injuries. His ex-wife Sívori

246-488: A bed, a toilet, and a small table and chair, attached to the floor. The building was designed so that no direct sunlight could ever reach the prisoners. The design of the place was criticized by human rights groups before the prison was ever opened for not meeting basic standards of humane treatment. Approximately 1,500 political prisoners were held at some point in Caseros, most of them left-wing militants (from groups such as

328-474: A civilian prison immediately after the trial. In handing down the sentence, judge María Elba Martínez said that Videla was "a manifestation of state terrorism ." 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. On 5 July 2012, Videla was convicted and sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment for his participation in

410-500: A conscript serving in the 3rd Infantry Regiment, Eduardo Navascues was taken prisoner early in the assault and suffered shrapnel wounds in the fighting that followed. Despite having been shot several years later in an attempt to silence him, he has given testimony in a recent court case alleging human rights abuses including physical and mental torture at the hand of the guerrillas. Another conscript, Private Víctor Eduardo Scarafiocco claimed that he and others were used as human shields by

492-655: A group of approximatively 40 members of the Movimiento Todos por la Patria (" All for the Fatherland " Movement, "MTP", founded in 1986 by former ERP leader Enrique Gorriarán Merlo ) attacked the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Regiment barracks in La Tablada ( Regimiento de Infantería Mecanizada Nº 3 , RIM3). They broke into the barracks by ramming a stolen truck into the main gate, followed by several other vehicles. According to Clarín newspaper, three different versions about

574-428: A part of the investigation, and held in custody for nearly a year. One guard was tried and found guilty of murder, receiving a sentence of twenty years in prison. In 2001, Caseros Prison was officially shut down and slated for demolition. The 5-million peso no-bid contract was awarded to the military. The implosion of the building, originally planned for 2003, was delayed for years due to legal issues. The prison stood in

656-556: 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." 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. On 17 May 2013, Videla

738-443: A weapon, into the bundle, which the inmate could then hoist back up through the hole in the wall, before the guards came running to intercept the line. They called these rope and bundle setups palomas ("pigeons") and apparently, at any given time, seven or eight palomas could be flying down into the street, or back up to the prison, attached to their makeshift ropes. After the 1989 attack on La Tablada Regiment , sixteen members of

820-734: 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

902-565: Is today member of the court presiding over the 1994 AMIA bombing case. Retired sergeant José Almada, who had participated in the capture of the MTP members, declared in 2004 that Iván Ruiz and José Díaz had been tortured. According to sergeant Almada, they referred to two persons who were not members of their brigade, and most probably SIDE agents. He identified one of them as Jorge Varando, chief of security of HSBC corporation in Buenos Aires during

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984-533: 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. The members of the junta took advantage of the guerrilla threat to authorize

1066-609: The Argentine Army . 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

1148-543: The Army ; Admiral Emilio Massera representing the Navy ; and Brigadier General Orlando Ramón Agosti representing the Air Force . Two days after the coup , Videla formally assumed the post of President of Argentina . 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 . The military junta

1230-582: The December 2001 events . Furthermore, sergeant Almada declared that he had clearly heard a radio conversation ordering to kill two of the captured prisoners. He also said that adjutant sergeant Esquivel, killed during the attack, had been in fact shot by the Army itself, after trying to get to his brother who had been taken prisoner. Sergeant Almada explicitly denounced the OAS report written by Jorge Varando and General Arrillaga,

1312-562: 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. Videla spent 38 days in the old part of the Caseros Prison . Due to health issues, he was later transferred to house arrest . Following the election of President Néstor Kirchner in 2003, there

1394-670: 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. Some 11,000 Argentines have applied for and received up to US$ 200,000 as monetary compensation from

1476-617: 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

1558-742: The Marcos Paz civilian prison five days after suffering a fall in a shower. 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

1640-516: The Peronist Montoneros , or the Marxist PRT and ERP ), or student organization leaders, who were arrested by the governments of Juan Perón in 1974 and his wife Isabel Perón in 1975. Thus, they were already "on the books" when Jorge Rafael Videla came into power in 1976 (incidentally, Videla was held for 38 days in the old prison during one of his brief incarcerations after the fall of

1722-470: The Radical Civic Union said that Videla will be remembered as a dictator, while Hermes Binner expressed condolences to the victims of his government. Hernán Lombardi , Minister of Culture of Buenos Aires city, praised Argentine democracy for having tried and sentenced the dictator. Ricardo Alfonsín said it was good that Videla had died in prison. Adolfo Pérez Esquivel , Argentine recipient of

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1804-451: The Rio de la Plata and Atlantic Ocean to drown in what became known as " death flights ." Between 10,000 and 12,000 of the "disappeared," PEN (Poder Ejecutivo Nacional) detainees held in clandestine detention camps throughout the dictatorship, were eventually released under diplomatic pressure. Terence Roehrig estimates that of the disappeared "at least 10,000 were involved in various ways with

1886-812: The Spanish American wars of independence and had later been a leader of the Unitarian Party in San Luis. On 7 April 1948, Videla married Alicia Raquel Hartridge (28 September 1927 – 5 November 2021 ) 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). 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 sons (Rafael Patricio and Fernando Gabriel) joined

1968-546: The foreign debt increased fourfold, and disparities between the upper and lower classes became much more pronounced. The period ended in a tenfold devaluation and one of the worst financial crises in Argentine history. 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

2050-412: 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". 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". At the time of Videla's death he

2132-556: The Army Ricardo Brinzoni . After Cáceres's retirement in 1989, colonel Gasquet threatened José Almada of 40 days of arrest — he was finally given two days of arrest on charges of wearing a beard, and then sent him to Paraná, Entre Ríos . Later, he was again sentenced to 30 days of arrest, confined to Crespo near Paraná and finally forced to retire. He still claims to this day he is still being "persecuted." The MTP guerrillas were also accused of human rights violations. As

2214-534: The Dirty War, later declared, "I sincerely believe that the majority of the victims of the illegal repression were guerrilla militants". Some 10,000 of the disappeared were guerrillas of the Montoneros , and the People's Revolutionary Army . 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

2296-458: The MTP ( Movimiento Todos por la Patria ) were sentenced to life in prison, and a few others were given shorter sentences, ranging from ten to twenty years in 1989. Many of them, including Antonio Puigjané , a Franciscan friar wrongfully accused of participating in the attacks, were placed in maximum security cells on the 18th floor of Caseros. Despite six years of effort on the part of Amnesty International , and other human rights groups, Puigjané

2378-509: The MTP was victim of a manipulation by intelligence services . A sociologist and professor who published an investigation into the attack believes the MTP had wider aims: "They weren’t planning to put down a coup. They were creating the false image of a coup, to set the scene, but were planning to take the barracks and from there start a revolution." The Argentine Army , assisted by the Buenos Aires Police (a total of 3,600 personnel)

2460-487: The MTP's version, held in particular by the late Gorriarán Merlo who claimed that the MTP was fulfilling the constitutional obligation of " bear[ing] arms in defense of the fatherland and of [the] Constitution ". The official report on the attack by head of the Army Francisco Gassino claimed in contrary that it was the MTP, formed of several former ERP members, that had planned a coup. A last version claims that

2542-821: 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 . In August 1975 ,

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2624-519: The President, Isabel Perón , appointed Videla to the Army's senior position, the General Commander of the Army . 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

2706-618: The Soviet Union and China; trade ties with both were expanded under his rule. 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

2788-534: 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. 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. During Videla's regime, Argentina rejected

2870-585: The appearance of a spontaneous support of pro-junta sentiment, at a cost of approximately $ 16,117. 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. 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

2952-446: The attack (the majority by conventional weapons). Nine were military personnel, two were police officers and the 28 remaining were members of the MTP. Lawyer Jorge Baños was among the dead. In addition, 53 soldiers and police were wounded in the fighting. The following day, President Raúl Alfonsín ( UCR , 1983–89) visited the site, protected by Argentine Army commandos, along with the federal judge of Morón , Gerardo Larrambebere, who

3034-568: The attack exist. Ten days before the assault, lawyer and MTP member Jorge Baños had declared in a conference that the Carapintadas were planning a coup for the end of January. The Carapintadas were members of the Armed Forces that had rebelled against the national government three times in 1987 and 1988, protesting the investigations on human rights abuses during the " National Reorganization Process " (1976–1983). This has remained to this day

3116-409: The base, and the older original Caseros prison next door. 34°38′00″S 58°23′42″W  /  34.6333°S 58.3949°W  / -34.6333; -58.3949 Jorge Rafael Videla Jorge Rafael Videla ( / v ɪ ˈ d ɛ l ə / vid- EL -ə ; Spanish: [ˈxoɾxe rafaˈel βiˈðela] ; 2 August 1925 – 17 May 2013) was an Argentine military officer and dictator who

3198-524: 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. In late 1974 the ERP set up a rural front in Tucumán province and

3280-555: 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

3362-470: The conditions of the prisoners, the Videla regime decided to move a group of high-profile prisoners to Caseros, inaugurating the new cárcel de Caseros with great pomp, as a way of showing the international community the respect and care they were giving to their political prisoners. On April 23, 1979, Alberto Rodríguez Varela, then Minister of Justice, gave a speech at the inauguration ceremony in which he compared

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3444-484: 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. Videla narrowly escaped three assassination attempts by the Montoneros and ERP between February 1976 and April 1977. Justice Minister Ricardo Gil Lavedra , who formed part of the 1985 tribunal judging the military crimes committed during

3526-578: The coup, urging them to destroy their opponents quickly before outcry over human rights abuses grew in the United States. 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,

3608-411: The deaths of 31 prisoners who died under his rule. 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." On 22 December 2010, the trial ended, and Videla was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. He was ordered to be transferred to

3690-521: 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

3772-428: The dictatorship). Because the political prisoners were registered with international human rights groups, it was more difficult to simply kill them or " disappear " them, as the military regime was doing with thousands of other people outside the prison (see Dirty War ). The political prisoners were kept in various jails around the country. When an international human rights commission came to Argentina in 1979 to assess

3854-680: The disappearance of another writer, Haroldo Conti . 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 ). During a human rights investigation in September 1979 ,

3936-410: The guards or other prisoners to hear. When a prisoner wanted to pass a note down to a girlfriend, he would attach a little bundle to the end of a long rope woven from mattress fibers and throw the bundle down into the street. The girlfriend down below would run to catch the bundle and take out the note. This would also give her an opportunity to stuff a note, cigarettes, drugs, a photograph of their child,

4018-499: The guerrillas and that Private Héctor Cardozo was killed as a result. Twenty surviving members of the MTP were later convicted and given sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment. They were judged under the Ley de Defensa de la Democracia (Argentina) (Defense of the Democracy Act) which deprive them of a right to appeal and to a new trial. Enrique Gorriarán Merlo was given

4100-548: The guerrillas". 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. 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

4182-732: The highest-ranking official in charge of the repression, which aimed at disguising adjutant sergeant Esquivel's suspicious death. José Almada said that he had tried to inform his hierarchy about these human rights violations , in accordance with article 194 of the Military Justice Code, but that they ignored him. He notably tried to inform General Martín Balza. He also informed head of Argentine Army, General Bonifacio Cáceres , also telling him about his concerns that his neighbours were insulting him, saying that they were responsible of new cases of desaparecidos . Moreover, in his complaint before justice, he also said he had informed former head of

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4264-430: The inmates and the guards. Caseros was used as a place to dismantle stolen cars during the 1990s. At the time there was also a mysterious episode in which two inmates were allowed out into the street for a night to go on a robbing spree. They shot and killed someone in the course of the night, and their faces were caught on camera. The next morning they were safely back in their cells, but the police identified them through

4346-529: The investigations and trials concerning Argentina's last civil-military dictatorship (1976-1983). The Argentine president of the time, Raúl Alfonsín declared that the attack, which carried the ultimate goal of sparking a massive popular uprising, could have led to a civil war. Given a life sentence and imprisoned, as his comrades, in high security quarters , Gorriarán Merlo was eventually freed in 2003. He died on 22 September 2006 while awaiting surgery for an abdominal aortic aneurysm . On 23 January 1989,

4428-452: The junta accumulated the greatest number of victims. According to human right groups, an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 Argentines "disappeared" while in the custody of the police or the military. Among the victims were two French nuns ( Alice Domon and Léonie Duquet ) who had taught and cared for Videla's disabled son, Alejandro. Some 1,500 to 4,000 were drugged into a stupor, loaded into military aircraft, stripped naked and then thrown into

4510-446: 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. On 25 April 2007, a federal court struck down Videla's presidential pardon and restored his convictions for human rights abuses. He was put on trial on 2 July 2010 for new charges of human rights violations relating to

4592-403: 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." Videla briefly returned to prison in 1998 when a judge found him guilty of the kidnapping of babies during

4674-419: The middle of a residential neighborhood, within blocks of two separate hospitals. The neighbors worried about the impact an implosion of such a building would have on the air. After a drawn out court battle, and environmental impact studies, it was agreed to demolish the prison by hand, floor by floor from the top down. As of 2008, the center buildings have been demolished. All that remains is the perimeter wall of

4756-554: The military barracks in La Tablada , in Buenos Aires Province , Argentina . 39 people were killed and 60 injured by the time the Argentine army retook the barracks. The MTP was commanded by former ERP leader Enrique Gorriarán Merlo . It carried out the assault under the alleged pretense of preventing a military coup supposedly planned for the end of January 1989 by the Carapintadas , a group of military officers who opposed

4838-478: The outer walls to communicate between floors and gain access to sunlight. This also gave them a direct way of communicating with the outside world. According to neighbors who lived in apartments across the street from the prison during the 1980s and 1990s, girlfriends, mothers, brothers, friends, would fill the streets below the prison every day to chat with their loved ones living inside its walls. Prisoners developed hand signals to communicate things they did not want

4920-519: The personal friendship of David Rockefeller , who facilitated Chase Manhattan Bank and International Monetary Fund loans of nearly US$ 1 billion after his arrival. He eliminated all price controls and the exchange controls regime. The black market and shortages disappeared. 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). During his tenure,

5002-597: The prison sentences. And two days before Néstor Kirchner 's access to his functions, Interim President Eduardo Duhalde (member of the Justicialist Party ) freed Gorriarán Merlo, on 23 May 2003, after 14 years of prison in high security quarters, who declared that it was "an act of justice". Gorriarán Merlo died of a cardiac arrest at the Hospital Argerich in Buenos Aires, while he was about to be operated of an abdominal aortic aneurysm , on 22 September 2006, at

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5084-406: The prison to a five-star hotel, and lauded the features of its design as embodying the latest scientific evidence for how to best provide a context for the rehabilitation of delinquents and subversives, with the greatest respect for human dignity given to each individual who passed through the prison's doors. After the political prisoners were released, following the fall of the dictatorship in 1983,

5166-414: The prison was used to house common criminals. Its population commonly exceeded its intended capacity, sometimes with as many as five inmates living in one cell. Again a human rights commission condemned the cramped conditions, so the government had the bars taken off the individual cells, and let the inmates move freely within each cell block. A prison riot in 1984 largely refigured the internal structure of

5248-459: The prison, and left the inmates with a greater measure of freedom to move around within the confines of the jail. The riot took place on the lower security lower floors; the maximum security cell blocks remained intact. The inmates ripped out the toilets in their cells to assure they would not be limited to individual cells again; they ripped out the glass in the visitors booths to assure direct contact with visitors. And they began knocking holes out of

5330-457: The regime, and their identities were hidden for decades. 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. 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

5412-427: 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 under his rule including the widespread abduction , torture and murder of activists and political opponents along with their families at secret concentration camps. An estimated 13,000 to 30,000 political dissidents vanished during this period. Videla

5494-428: The same name, which was originally constructed as an orphanage in the 1880s. In the early 1950s, Juan Perón , cracking down on communists, used the old part to house political prisoners. The prison was closed down in 2001. Standing 22 stories high, with a footprint shaped like the letter H, new Caseros had over 1,500 cells, and was designed to hold approximately 2,000 prisoners. Cells measured 1.2m × 2.3 m, and each had

5576-400: The state for the loss of loved ones during the military dictatorship. 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 ". Politically, all legislative power was concentrated in the hands of Videla's nine-man junta, and every important position in the national government

5658-406: The videotapes and began to investigate. Within the next three weeks, one of the inmates was found dead in his cell, apparently as a result of suicide. But his fellow inmates doubted the possibility of suicide, since he hadn't shown any signs of being suicidal. The guards who had let them out for a night in exchange for a cut of the booty were obvious suspects. Eventually all the guards were arrested as

5740-542: The world at large. 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. 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

5822-561: 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

5904-405: 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. Videla maintained the female guerrilla detainees allowed themselves to become pregnant in the belief they would not be tortured or executed. Videla remained under house arrest until 10 October 2008, when he

5986-504: Was called on to counterattack, and indiscriminately used white phosphorus (WP) in the zone, in violation of the Geneva Conventions , which in civil wars are only binding with the consent of both parties, and not at all in police actions. The use of WP in combat is forbidden by international law . In this case, it had the effect of completely burning the barracks and of carbonizing corpses. 39 people were killed and 60 injured during

6068-630: Was charged with being co-author of qualified illicit association, and secondary participant to offenses of rebellion, doubly aggravated homicide, tentative of homicide, aggravated theft, reiterated injuries and co-author of the use of false identity documents . Most of those convicted in the attacks were placed in a maximum security cell block on the eighteenth floor of the Caseros prison in Buenos Aires . Finally, President Fernando de la Rúa ( Alliance for Work, Justice and Education , 1999–2001) commuted

6150-489: Was filled with loyal military officers. 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. 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. He enjoyed

6232-487: Was held by his family. 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. Several Argentine politicians commented on his death. Deputy Ricardo Gil Lavedra of

6314-399: Was held for ten years in Caseros, before being put under house arrest when he turned seventy (an Argentine law allows for prisoners over the age of 70 to carry out the rest of their sentences under house arrest). In 2003, his sentence was finally commuted, after having served 14 years. A complex social and political structure developed in the prison, amongst the inmates themselves, and between

6396-447: Was not completely resolved until after Videla's time as president. Once 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

6478-455: 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 until the end of his life. 1989 attack on La Tablada Regiment The Battle of La Tablada or the Attack on La Tablada barracks occurred In 1989 when 40 members of Movimiento Todos por la Patria (MTP) attacked

6560-407: Was reported as having died of natural causes in his sleep while serving his sentence at a Marcos Paz prison. An autopsy revealed he died from multiple fractures and internal hemorrhaging caused by having slipped in a prison shower on 12 May. 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

6642-440: Was sent to a military prison. On 5 July 2010, Videla took full responsibility for his army's actions during his rule. 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 . On 5 July 2012, Videla was sentenced to 50 years in civilian prison for the systematic kidnapping of children during his tenure. The following year, Videla died in

6724-609: Was the 42nd President of Argentina and as well as the 1st President of the National Reorganisation Process from 1976 to 1981. His rule, 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. He came to power in a coup d'état that deposed Isabel Perón . In 1985, two years after

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