In April 1987, members of the "

Carapintada The ' () were a group of mutineers in the Argentine Army, who took part in various uprisings between 1987 and 1990 during the presidencies of Raúl Alfonsín and Carlos Menem in Argentina. The rebellions, while at first thought to be an attempt at ...

s", a faction within the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army () is the Army, land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander-in-chief of the Armed For ...

, launched a mutiny against the civilian government of Raúl Alfonsín in response to trials of military officials for crimes committed during the period of military rule.

Context

The

Dirty War The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...

took place in Argentina during the 1970s and the early 1980s. Left-wing guerrillas, such as

Montoneros Montoneros (, MPM) was an Argentine far-left politics, far-left Peronism, Peronist, Camilism, Camilist and Catholic Church, Roman Catholic revolutionary Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla organization, which emerged in the 1970s during the "Argentine ...

and ERP, sought to establish a socialist state, as in Cuba. The military, first during the civilian governments of

Juan ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philip ...

and

Isabel Perón Isabel Martínez de Perón (, born María Estela Martínez Cartas; 4 February 1931) is an Argentine politician who served as the 41st president of Argentina from 1974 to 1976. She was one of the List of elected and appointed female heads of s ...

, and then during the

National Reorganization Process The National Reorganization Process ( PRN; often simply , "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as the ("last military junta"), ("last military dictatorship") ...

military dictatorship, sought to prevent that. The military defeated the guerrillas, but committed human rights violations during the conflict. New elections were held in 1983, and

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (; 12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after the 7-yea ...

became the new president. The

National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (Spanish: ', CONADEP) was an Argentine organization created by President Raúl Alfonsín on 15 December 1983, shortly after his inauguration, to investigate the fate of the (victims of force ...

prepared the "Nunca más" report (), detailing 8,961 cases of

forced disappearance An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a State (polity), state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the i ...

s. The

Trial of the Juntas The Trial of the Juntas () was the judicial trial of the members of the ''de facto'' military government that ruled Argentina during the dictatorship of the '' Proceso de Reorganización Nacional'' (''el Proceso''), which lasted from 1976 to 1 ...

sentenced the heads of the military dictatorship, and the full stop law caused an increased number of charges against the military.

The mutiny

Major

Ernesto Barreiro Ernesto, form of the name Ernest in several Romance languages, may refer to: * ''Ernesto'' (novel) (1953), an unfinished autobiographical novel by Umberto Saba, published posthumously in 1975 ** ''Ernesto'' (film), a 1979 Italian drama loosely ba ...

was indicted, but refused to appear in the court. He started a mutiny in Córdoba on April 14, rallying troops to support him. Three days later, Lieutenant Colonel

Aldo Rico Aldo Rico (born 4 March 1943) is an Argentine retired Lieutenant Colonel and politician, famous for his role in the episodes of 1987 (usually referred to as "Semana Santa", or Easter week) and 1988 (the "Monte Caseros" mutiny) where sectors of th ...

started another mutiny in

Campo de Mayo Campo de Mayo is a military base located in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, northwest of Buenos Aires. Campo de Mayo covers an area of and is one of the most important military bases in Argentina, including Argentine Army's: * Army NCO Schoo ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, supporting Barreiro. They were called "

Carapintadas The ' () were a group of mutineers in the Argentine Army, who took part in various uprisings between 1987 and 1990 during the presidencies of Raúl Alfonsín and Carlos Menem in Argentina. The rebellions, while at first thought to be an attempt at ...

" () because they practiced

military camouflage Military camouflage is the use of camouflage by an Military, armed force to protect personnel and equipment from observation by enemy forces. In practice, this means applying colour and materials to military equipment of all kinds, including ...

. They asked for new authorities in the armed forces, and an end to the dirty war related trials.Lewis, P. 154 Loyal military units surrounded the rebels, but refused to attack them. The population made demonstrations in support of Alfonsín, and the CGT union called on a general strike on his behalf until the crisis was resolved. Other unions, political parties, industrial sectors and the Church manifested their support for Alfonsín as well. Alfonsín personally led the negotiations with the rebels. The mutiny was stopped, and Alfonsín announced it in the balcony of the ''

Casa Rosada The ''Casa Rosada'' (), , is the president of the Argentine Republic's official workplace, located in Buenos Aires. The palatial mansion is known officially as ''Casa de Gobierno'' ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the pre ...

'', to the people gathered there. In the following weeks he made changes to the command of the armed forces, and sent the Law of Due Obedience bill to the Congress. This law, complementing the full stop law, prevented hundreds of prosecutions. The minister Horacio Jaunarena clarified that the law was a project previous to the mutiny, and that the new authorities in the armed forces were not the ones requested by Rico.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Raúl Alfonsín Attempted coups in Argentina 1980s coups d'état and coup attempts Mutinies Presidency of Raúl Alfonsín 1987 in Argentina 1987 crimes in Argentina Carapintadas April 1987 in South America