The Dirty War: Timeline

 

June 8, 1970: Juan Carlos Ongania is forced to resign, paving the way for Juan Peron to return to office.

October 12, 1973: Juan Peron takes office again, signalling a return to a pre-military rule government.

June 1, 1974: Juan Peron dies, his wife, Isabel Peron, takes the office in his stead.

March 24, 1976: Isabel Peron is arrested and the military announces The Act of National Reorganization, with which they intended to restore “"proper moral values"' national security, economic efficiency and "authentic representative democracy”, with 

June, 1977: The banks in Argentina were deregulated, allowing lenders to charge borrowers and reward depositors with whatever rates they desired. This was an attempt to stimulate the economy, however the ultimate result was middling, devaluing the Argentine peso by encouragin more people to spend their money.

March 29, 1981: General Robierto Viola takes the presidency after Videla steps down.

December 11, 1981: An internal coup removes Viola, placing General Leopoldo Galtieri in the Casa Rosada. Announced over a number of speeches that he would reign in the military so that it could once again resemble a cohesive force of order.

April 2, 1982: Argentine forces make landfall on the contested Falklands Islands, which were caught between the claims of the Argentinean government and the British. The goal was to refocus the military which had been given a great deal of power during the junta, but nothing to do with it. However, none of the military leaders anticipated an actual war to break out. When it did, though, what followed was a mad dash by generals to attempt to form a cohesive defence of the islands. Something that had been made difficult by their decision to send new recruits to garrison it, with a commander that had never lead troops, into a terrain that none of them were familiar with. While it is believed that the Argentine defeat was not responsible for the ultimate fall of the Junta, it is widely accepted that it did accelerate it.

December, 1983: The transition from military rule to a civilian is enacted marking the end of the junta.

1985: Two years after the civilian government was restored, Videla, amongst numerous other military official, had human rights abuse charges leveled against him. These charges ended in him receiving a life sentence which was carried out partially in a military prison, and partially in a civilian one.

 

Associated Place(s)

Event date:

1970 to 1983