Dirty Wars

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Dirty Wars

• Dirty War Term used to describe the crackdown
  on leftists and other opposition to the military
  regimes in South America in the 1960s and 70s.
  Trained by U.S. personnel at the School of the
  Americas, Latin American military juntas ordered
  the arrest, torture, and general disappearance of
  tens of thousands of enemies of the regime in
  Argentina, Chile, and other southern cone
  countries. The Dirty Wars are generally seen as a
  reactionary response to the success of the Cuban
  Revolution and the fear that communism would
  spread to the rest of Latin America.
• General Jorge Rafael Videla Argentine general
  and head of a three-man military junta that led a
  coup in 1976. The military stepped in to remove
  Isabel Peron from power after she assumed the
  presidency upon Juan Perons death. Videlas
  regime continued what Isabel Peron had started in
  rooting out political opposition and leftist
  dissidents. Some legitimate political
  terrorists were targeted by the military
  government, but thousands of innocent Argentines
  also fell victim to the Videlas repression.
• Desaparecidos (Disappeared) A term developed to
  describe the fate of victims of military
  dictatorships in South America (particularly
  Argentina and Chile) during the Dirty Wars.
  Enemies of the regime frequently disappeared
  from their homes or the street in the middle of
  the night taken by men in unmarked sedans. The
  act of disappearing people became an act of
  terror as family and friends had no information
  as to their whereabouts. Tens of thousands of
  disappeareds from the 1970s in Latin America
  have never been recovered.
• Madres of the Plaza de Mayo A group of mothers
  who joined together to support each other after
  their sons and/or daughters had been detained and
  disappeared by the Argentine government. What
  initially started as a support group quickly
  turned into a group dedicated to carrying out
  public demonstrations and demanding. In 1977,
  the mothers began weekly public marches in the
  Plaza de Mayo across from the presidential plaza.
  They wore white kerchiefs on their heads and
  carried banners with pictures of their missing
  loved ones. Their marches were intended to bring
  attention to the injustices being carried out in
  Argentina. Several of the founding mothers were
  disappeared themselves, but participation in the
  movement grew and attracted worldwide attention.
  The group has been awarded several peace prizes
  and they have been honored by a U2 song, Mothers
  of the Disappeared.

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Battle of Chile and Chile Obstinate Memory

• Salvador Allende (1970-73) Socialist president
  of Chile democratically elected and
  killed/suicide? during a military coup (Sept. 11,
  1973), backed by the United States, organized to
  remove him from power. Allende was opposed by
  the U.S. and by the Chilean right for his social
  reform policies - Specifically the
  nationalization of the copper mining industry, an
  overhaul of the health care system, and a free
  milk program
• Unidad Popular Popular Unity coalition of
  parties that united to elect and support Salvador
  Allende. Comprised mostly of the various leftist
  parties (Communist, Socialist, Radical, etc.) but
  also of some discontented moderates.
• Christian Democratic Party Chilean moderate
  political party that controlled Congress.
  Initially supported Allende, but eventually
  opposed his reform agenda (and the economic
  fallout of U.S. sanctions). Formed an alliance
  with the far-right to oust Allende.
• Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) General and
  commander of the Chilean military and leader of
  the coup to remove Allende. Upon overthrowing
  Allende, Pinochet was selected to head the
  governing military junta. He suspended all
  political activity (constitution, elections,
  etc.) and aggressively suppressed may civil
  rights (freedom of press, expression, etc.)
  Pinochet pursued a retaliatory policy against the
  left that resulted in the arrest, torture,
  disappearance, and death of thousands of
  Chileans.
• DINA Secret police established by Pinochet to
  pursue suspected leftists. Members were trained
  at the School of the Americas and were
  responsible for the arrest, torture, death, and
  suppression of human rights of many Chileans.
  The DINA also pursued Chilean leftist and former
  members of Allendes administration abroad and
  carried out assassinations on foreign soil
  including the assassination of Orlando Letelier
  (Allendes ambassador to the United States) in
  Washington D.C. just a few miles from the
  nations capitol.
• Operation Condor Assassination and
  counter-terrorism campaign jointly pursued by
  military dictatorships of South America
  (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and
  Uruguay) in the 1970s. The campaign involved
  pursuing leftist enemies of the military regimes
  and sharing information as to their locations.
  This operation became part of a larger
  anti-leftist strategy that killed or disappeared
  tens of thousands of Latin Americans.

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