Dirty War

Dirty War
Part of Cold War and Operation Condor.
An image of Jorge Rafael Videla inside a dossier by the U.S. Government
Date 1974–1983 Location Argentina Result Operativo Independencia 1976 Argentine coup d'état National Reorganization Process Operation was concluded after the Falklands War
Belligerents
Argentina Argentine Army Argentine Navy Argentine Air Force Argentine Federal Police Argentine National Gendarmerie Argentine Anticommunist Alliance Justicialist Party (Right-wing faction) Supported by: Bolivia Brazil Chile Paraguay  Peru Uruguay  United States[1][2][3]  France  Israel  United Kingdom (until 1982)	ERP (1973–1979) Montoneros (1974–1980) Fuerzas Armadas Peronistas Resistencia Libertaria Supported by:  Cuba
Commanders and leaders
3rd Peronist Government Juan Perón José López Rega Isabel Perón National Reorganization Process Jorge Rafael Videla Emilio Eduardo Massera Orlando Ramón Agosti Roberto Eduardo Viola Carlos Lacoste Leopoldo Galtieri	Various guerrilla leaders and civil society leaders
Casualties and losses
539 military and police forces killed[4] 1,355 civilians killed by Guerillas[5]	5,000 members killed[6] ERP 5,000 members killed and captured.[7] RL 8 killed[8]
22,000–30,000 killed or disappeared[9][10][11]

The Dirty War (Spanish: Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina (Spanish: dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina) for the period of state terrorism^[12][10][13] in Argentina^[14][15] from 1974 to 1983 as a part of Operation Condor, during which military and security forces and death squads in the form of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance (AAA, or Triple A)^[16] hunted down any political dissidents and anyone believed to be associated with socialism, left-wing Peronism, or the Montoneros movement.^{[17][18][19][20]}

It is estimated that between 22,000 and 30,000 people were killed or disappeared, many of whom were impossible to formally document due to the nature of state terrorism;^[21][12][10] however, Argentine military intelligence at the time estimated that 22,000 people had been murdered or disappeared by 1978.^[22] The primary target, like in many other South American countries participating in Operation Condor, were communist guerrillas and sympathisers, but the target of Operation Condor also included students, militants, trade unionists, writers, journalists, artists and any citizens suspected of being left-wing activists.^[23] The disappeared included those thought to be a political or ideological threat to the junta, even vaguely, or those seen as antithetical to the neoliberal economic policies dictated by Operation Condor.^[17][18][19] 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.^[24] All were killed in an attempt by the junta to silence social and political opposition.^[25]

By the 1980s, economic collapse, public discontent, and the disastrous handling of the Falklands War resulted in the end of the junta and the restoration of democracy in Argentina, effectively ending the Dirty War. Many members of the junta are currently in prison for crimes against humanity and genocide.^[26][27] The Dirty War left a profound impact on Argentine culture, which is still felt to this day.