In this comprehensive, balanced examination of Argentina's Dirty
War, Lewis analyzes the causes, describes the ideologies that
motivated both sides, and explores the consequences of
all-or-nothing politics. The military and guerrillas may seem
marginal today, but Lewis questions whether the Dirty War is really
over.
Lewis traces the Dirty War's origins back to military
interventions in the 1930s and 1940s, and the rise of General Juan
Peron's populist regime, which resulted in the polarization of
Argentine society. Peron's overthrow by the military in 1955 only
heightened social conflict by producing a resistance movement out
of which several guerrilla organizations would soon emerge. The
ideologies, terrorist tactics, and internal dynamics of those
underground groups are examined in detail, as well as their links
to other movements in Argentina and abroad. The guerrillas reached
the height of their influence when the military withdrew from power
in 1973 and turned over the government to Peron's puppet president,
Hector Campora. They quickly found themselves in opposition again
after Peron returned from exile, and as Peronism dissolved into
factions after Peron's death, the military prepared to take power
again, inspired by a new National Security Doctrine. The origins of
this ideology in U.S. Cold War doctrine and in French revolutionary
war doctrine are fully explored because the Argentine military's
Dirty War strategy and tactics grew directly out of these ideas.
The arrests, the treatment of prisoners, and the mindset of the
interrogators are treated in detail. Special attention is given to
the anti-guerrilla war in Tucuman's jungles, the strange history of
David Graiver (the guerrillas' banker) and the Timerman case. In
the concluding section of the book, Lewis describes the intrigues
that undermined the military regime, its retreat from power, and
the human rights trials that were held under the new democratic
government. Those trials eventually were stopped by military
revolts. Presidential pardons followed and have left Argentina
divided once more. This is an important survey for scholars and
students of Latin American politics, contemporary history, and
civil-military relations.
General
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