National Reorganization Process

Argentine Republic
*República Argentina*
Argentine Republic República Argentina
1976–1983
	Flag Coat of arms
	Anthem: Himno Nacional Argentino;
	Map of Argentina showing undisputed territory in dark green, and territorial claims in light green.
Capital	Buenos Aires
Common languages	Spanish
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Government	Federal presidential republic under a totalitarian military dictatorship
Head of state
• 1976	Military junta (Jorge Rafael Videla, Emilio Eduardo Massera and Orlando Ramón Agosti)
• 1976–1981	Jorge Rafael Videla
• 1981	Roberto Eduardo Viola
• 1981	Horacio Tomás Liendo (acting)
• 1981	Carlos Lacoste (acting)
• 1981–1982	Leopoldo Galtieri
• 1982	Alfredo Oscar Saint-Jean (acting)
• 1982–1983	Reynaldo Bignone
Historical era	Cold War
• 1976 coup d'état	24 March 1976
• Falklands War	2 April – 14 June 1982
• 1983 general election	30 October
• Junta disestablished	10 December 1983
Population
• 1975	25,865,776
• 1980	27,949,480
HDI (1980)	0.665; medium
Currency	Argentine peso (1975–90)
ISO 3166 code	AR
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Argentine Republic
Argentine Republic

The National Reorganization Process (Spanish: Proceso de Reorganización Nacional, PRN, often simply el Proceso, "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as the última junta militar ("last military junta"), última dictadura militar ("last military dictatorship") or última dictadura cívico-militar ("last civil–military dictatorship"), because there have been several in the country's history^[6] and no others since it ended.

The Argentine Armed Forces seized political power during the March 1976 coup against the presidency of Isabel Perón, the successor and widow of former President Juan Perón, at a time of growing economic and political instability. Congress was suspended, political parties were banned, civil rights were limited, and free market and deregulation policies were introduced. The President of Argentina and his ministers were appointed from military personnel while Peronists and leftists were persecuted. The junta launched the Dirty War, a campaign of state terrorism against opponents involving torture, extrajudicial murder and systematic forced disappearances. Public opposition due to civil rights abuses and inability to solve the worsening economic crisis in Argentina caused the junta to invade the Falkland Islands in April 1982. After starting and then losing the Falklands War against the United Kingdom in June, the junta began to collapse and finally relinquished power in 1983 with the election of President Raúl Alfonsín.

Members of the National Reorganization Process were prosecuted in the Trial of the Juntas in 1985, receiving sentences ranging from life imprisonment to courts-martial for mishandling the Falklands War. They were pardoned by President Carlos Menem in 1989 but were re-arrested on new charges in the early 2000s. Almost all of the surviving junta members are currently serving sentences for crimes against humanity and genocide. Some scholars describe the regime as being characteristic of neo-fascism.^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]

^
Attributed to multiple sources:
- - "The Disappeared Detainees from the National Reorganizational Process". Revista Level. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2025. Peronism already had a large number of allegations of crimes against humanity and political persecution before the coup; the violence did not start with this, but it became more acute and transformed the country into a totalitarian regime.
  - Spalink, Jonathan (27 November 2007). "Spilling the Wrong Beans". rlo.acton.org. Action Institute. Retrieved 31 March 2025. Rev. Robert Sirico, president of the Acton Institute, has an article in today's Detroit News on the recent conviction of Rev. Christian von Wernich, a Catholic priest sentenced to life in prison for his role in supporting the totalitarian regime during Argentina's National Reorganization Process.
  - Delgado, Andres (February 2013). Memory and Truth in Human Rights: The Argentina Case. The Issue of Truth and Memory in the Aftermath of Gross Human Rights Violations in Argentina (M.A. thesis). Tampa, Florida, US: University of South Florida. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  - Cañedo, Oscar R. (16 May 2023). Disrupting the Junta in Argentina: A Longer History of Jimmy Carter, Human Rights, and La Patria (Master of Arts In History thesis). San Marcos, California, US: California State University San Marcos. Retrieved 31 March 2025. A few days later, on May 20, The New York Times Editorial Board published an op-ed, excoriating the junta, asserting that "the Argentine tragedy exposes again the totalitarian delusion that a society can be made better by reshaping from above."
  - POLITICO-MILITARY RELATIONS, A BASIS FOR MILITARY INTERACTION BETWEEN ARGENTINA AND THE UNITED STATES. STRATEGY AND CAMPAIGN DEPARTMENT REPORT 5-90 (PDF) (Report). Center For Naval Warfare Studies. 15 June 1990. Retrieved 31 March 2025. Motivation had a variety of ideological origins: corporateness, totalitarianism, mixed liberal' and nationalistic ideas, anti-communism, anti-democracy, and again anti-communisn were the ideological grounds of the six analyzed coups, respectively. All had a common factor of non-democratic values.
^ Longley, Robert (29 January 2021). "What Is a Military Dictatorship? Definition and Examples". Thoughco.com. Thought Co. Retrieved 31 March 2025. After overthrowing President Isabel Perón in a coup d'etat on March 24, 1976, a junta of right-wing military officers ruled Argentina until democracy was restored in December 1983. Operating under the official name of the National Reorganization Process, the junta persecuted social minorities, imposed censorship, and placed all levels of government under military control. During Argentina's so-called "Dirty War" period of military dictatorship, as many as 30,000 citizens were killed or "disappeared." In 1985, five leaders of the former ruling military junta were convicted of crimes against humanity.
^ Cañedo, Oscar R. (16 May 2023). Disrupting the Junta in Argentina: A Longer History of Jimmy Carter, Human Rights, and La Patria (Master of Arts In History thesis). San Marcos, California, US: California State University San Marcos. Retrieved 31 March 2025. A few days later, on May 20, The New York Times Editorial Board published an op-ed, excoriating the junta, asserting that "the Argentine tragedy exposes again the totalitarian delusion that a society can be made better by reshaping from above."
^ REPORT N˚73/00* CASE 11.784 MARCELINO HANRÍQUEZ ET AL. ARGENTINA (Report). Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. 3 October 2000. Nor did it cover persons tried by federal courts, by judges appointed by the dictatorship, who were required to take an oath of allegiance to the so-called "National Reorganization Process." […] under the de facto government, the natural judges had been removed from the bench and the new judges that the military government appointed to replace them had taken oaths of allegiance to the Charter of the National Reorganization Process rather than the Constitution.
^ "Human Development Report 2014" (PDF). hdr.undp.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
^ "Violence de masse et Résistance – Réseau de recherche". Sciences Po. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
^ Rizki, Cole (1 October 2020). "No State Apparatus Goes to Bed Genocidal Then Wakes Up Democratic". Radical History Review. 2020 (138): 82–107. doi:10.1215/01636545-8359271. ISSN 0163-6545. S2CID 224990803. Archived from the original on 29 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022. On March 24, 1976, the Argentine military staged a coup d'état and established a fascist dictatorship that perpetrated genocide for seven years.
^ "The use of the Nazi-Fascist Discourse by Argentinean Governments". Report on Anti-semitism in Argentina. Social Research Center of DAIA. 2006. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
^ Gutmann, Matthew C.; Lesser, Jeff (2016). Global Latin America: into the twenty-first century. Oakland, California. ISBN 978-0-520-96594-2. OCLC 943710572. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2022. It was a sacrifice of some questionable lives to preserve the Proceso, the National Process of Reorganization to make Argentina conform to a right-wing fascist version of Catholicism.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Finchelstein, Federico (2014). The ideological origins of the dirty war: fascism, populism, and dictatorship in twentieth century Argentina. Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-993024-1. OCLC 863194632. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2022. The Last Military dictatorship in Argentina (1976–1983) was many things. Outside its concentration camps it presented the facade of a typical authoritarian state. Within them, however, it was fascist.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[1] Attributed to multiple sources:

"The Disappeared Detainees from the National Reorganizational Process". Revista Level. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2025. Peronism already had a large number of allegations of crimes against humanity and political persecution before the coup; the violence did not start with this, but it became more acute and transformed the country into a totalitarian regime.

Spalink, Jonathan (27 November 2007). "Spilling the Wrong Beans". rlo.acton.org. Action Institute. Retrieved 31 March 2025. Rev. Robert Sirico, president of the Acton Institute, has an article in today's Detroit News on the recent conviction of Rev. Christian von Wernich, a Catholic priest sentenced to life in prison for his role in supporting the totalitarian regime during Argentina's National Reorganization Process.

Delgado, Andres (February 2013). Memory and Truth in Human Rights: The Argentina Case. The Issue of Truth and Memory in the Aftermath of Gross Human Rights Violations in Argentina (M.A. thesis). Tampa, Florida, US: University of South Florida. Retrieved 31 March 2025.

Cañedo, Oscar R. (16 May 2023). Disrupting the Junta in Argentina: A Longer History of Jimmy Carter, Human Rights, and La Patria (Master of Arts In History thesis). San Marcos, California, US: California State University San Marcos. Retrieved 31 March 2025. A few days later, on May 20, The New York Times Editorial Board published an op-ed, excoriating the junta, asserting that "the Argentine tragedy exposes again the totalitarian delusion that a society can be made better by reshaping from above."

POLITICO-MILITARY RELATIONS, A BASIS FOR MILITARY INTERACTION BETWEEN ARGENTINA AND THE UNITED STATES. STRATEGY AND CAMPAIGN DEPARTMENT REPORT 5-90 (PDF) (Report). Center For Naval Warfare Studies. 15 June 1990. Retrieved 31 March 2025. Motivation had a variety of ideological origins: corporateness, totalitarianism, mixed liberal' and nationalistic ideas, anti-communism, anti-democracy, and again anti-communisn were the ideological grounds of the six analyzed coups, respectively. All had a common factor of non-democratic values.

[2] "The Disappeared Detainees from the National Reorganizational Process". Revista Level. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2025. Peronism already had a large number of allegations of crimes against humanity and political persecution before the coup; the violence did not start with this, but it became more acute and transformed the country into a totalitarian regime.

Spalink, Jonathan (27 November 2007). "Spilling the Wrong Beans". rlo.acton.org. Action Institute. Retrieved 31 March 2025. Rev. Robert Sirico, president of the Acton Institute, has an article in today's Detroit News on the recent conviction of Rev. Christian von Wernich, a Catholic priest sentenced to life in prison for his role in supporting the totalitarian regime during Argentina's National Reorganization Process.

Delgado, Andres (February 2013). Memory and Truth in Human Rights: The Argentina Case. The Issue of Truth and Memory in the Aftermath of Gross Human Rights Violations in Argentina (M.A. thesis). Tampa, Florida, US: University of South Florida. Retrieved 31 March 2025.

Cañedo, Oscar R. (16 May 2023). Disrupting the Junta in Argentina: A Longer History of Jimmy Carter, Human Rights, and La Patria (Master of Arts In History thesis). San Marcos, California, US: California State University San Marcos. Retrieved 31 March 2025. A few days later, on May 20, The New York Times Editorial Board published an op-ed, excoriating the junta, asserting that "the Argentine tragedy exposes again the totalitarian delusion that a society can be made better by reshaping from above."

POLITICO-MILITARY RELATIONS, A BASIS FOR MILITARY INTERACTION BETWEEN ARGENTINA AND THE UNITED STATES. STRATEGY AND CAMPAIGN DEPARTMENT REPORT 5-90 (PDF) (Report). Center For Naval Warfare Studies. 15 June 1990. Retrieved 31 March 2025. Motivation had a variety of ideological origins: corporateness, totalitarianism, mixed liberal' and nationalistic ideas, anti-communism, anti-democracy, and again anti-communisn were the ideological grounds of the six analyzed coups, respectively. All had a common factor of non-democratic values.

[3] "The Disappeared Detainees from the National Reorganizational Process". Revista Level. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2025. Peronism already had a large number of allegations of crimes against humanity and political persecution before the coup; the violence did not start with this, but it became more acute and transformed the country into a totalitarian regime.

[4] Spalink, Jonathan (27 November 2007). "Spilling the Wrong Beans". rlo.acton.org. Action Institute. Retrieved 31 March 2025. Rev. Robert Sirico, president of the Acton Institute, has an article in today's Detroit News on the recent conviction of Rev. Christian von Wernich, a Catholic priest sentenced to life in prison for his role in supporting the totalitarian regime during Argentina's National Reorganization Process.

[5] Delgado, Andres (February 2013). Memory and Truth in Human Rights: The Argentina Case. The Issue of Truth and Memory in the Aftermath of Gross Human Rights Violations in Argentina (M.A. thesis). Tampa, Florida, US: University of South Florida. Retrieved 31 March 2025.

[6] Cañedo, Oscar R. (16 May 2023). Disrupting the Junta in Argentina: A Longer History of Jimmy Carter, Human Rights, and La Patria (Master of Arts In History thesis). San Marcos, California, US: California State University San Marcos. Retrieved 31 March 2025. A few days later, on May 20, The New York Times Editorial Board published an op-ed, excoriating the junta, asserting that "the Argentine tragedy exposes again the totalitarian delusion that a society can be made better by reshaping from above."

[7] POLITICO-MILITARY RELATIONS, A BASIS FOR MILITARY INTERACTION BETWEEN ARGENTINA AND THE UNITED STATES. STRATEGY AND CAMPAIGN DEPARTMENT REPORT 5-90 (PDF) (Report). Center For Naval Warfare Studies. 15 June 1990. Retrieved 31 March 2025. Motivation had a variety of ideological origins: corporateness, totalitarianism, mixed liberal' and nationalistic ideas, anti-communism, anti-democracy, and again anti-communisn were the ideological grounds of the six analyzed coups, respectively. All had a common factor of non-democratic values.

[2] Longley, Robert (29 January 2021). "What Is a Military Dictatorship? Definition and Examples". Thoughco.com. Thought Co. Retrieved 31 March 2025. After overthrowing President Isabel Perón in a coup d'etat on March 24, 1976, a junta of right-wing military officers ruled Argentina until democracy was restored in December 1983. Operating under the official name of the National Reorganization Process, the junta persecuted social minorities, imposed censorship, and placed all levels of government under military control. During Argentina's so-called "Dirty War" period of military dictatorship, as many as 30,000 citizens were killed or "disappeared." In 1985, five leaders of the former ruling military junta were convicted of crimes against humanity.

[3] Cañedo, Oscar R. (16 May 2023). Disrupting the Junta in Argentina: A Longer History of Jimmy Carter, Human Rights, and La Patria (Master of Arts In History thesis). San Marcos, California, US: California State University San Marcos. Retrieved 31 March 2025. A few days later, on May 20, The New York Times Editorial Board published an op-ed, excoriating the junta, asserting that "the Argentine tragedy exposes again the totalitarian delusion that a society can be made better by reshaping from above."

[4] REPORT N˚73/00* CASE 11.784 MARCELINO HANRÍQUEZ ET AL. ARGENTINA (Report). Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. 3 October 2000. Nor did it cover persons tried by federal courts, by judges appointed by the dictatorship, who were required to take an oath of allegiance to the so-called "National Reorganization Process." […] under the de facto government, the natural judges had been removed from the bench and the new judges that the military government appointed to replace them had taken oaths of allegiance to the Charter of the National Reorganization Process rather than the Constitution.

[5] "Human Development Report 2014" (PDF). hdr.undp.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2021.

[6] "Violence de masse et Résistance – Réseau de recherche". Sciences Po. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2020.

[7] Rizki, Cole (1 October 2020). "No State Apparatus Goes to Bed Genocidal Then Wakes Up Democratic". Radical History Review. 2020 (138): 82–107. doi:10.1215/01636545-8359271. ISSN 0163-6545. S2CID 224990803. Archived from the original on 29 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022. On March 24, 1976, the Argentine military staged a coup d'état and established a fascist dictatorship that perpetrated genocide for seven years.

[8] "The use of the Nazi-Fascist Discourse by Argentinean Governments". Report on Anti-semitism in Argentina. Social Research Center of DAIA. 2006. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2022.

[9] Gutmann, Matthew C.; Lesser, Jeff (2016). Global Latin America: into the twenty-first century. Oakland, California. ISBN 978-0-520-96594-2. OCLC 943710572. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2022. It was a sacrifice of some questionable lives to preserve the Proceso, the National Process of Reorganization to make Argentina conform to a right-wing fascist version of Catholicism.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[10] Finchelstein, Federico (2014). The ideological origins of the dirty war: fascism, populism, and dictatorship in twentieth century Argentina. Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-993024-1. OCLC 863194632. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2022. The Last Military dictatorship in Argentina (1976–1983) was many things. Outside its concentration camps it presented the facade of a typical authoritarian state. Within them, however, it was fascist.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]