Military Dictatorship in Argentina: 1976-1983

At the end of World War II, a multitude of peoples sought refuge from the Allied governments, especially former Nazis and communists. They found this refuge in the country of Argentina, where they mixed with other groups who followed communist or other left-wing doctrines and helped instill the Peronism movement. This movement, named after Juan Perón, was an influential impetus among the people to pursue a more populist form of government. Perón returned from 20 years exile in 1973 to spearhead this movement. His return marked a period of extreme civil unrest within the country, and his election was made by a very divided group of Peronists. Perón himself allied with the right-wing group after his election, which led the left-wing group to oppose his rule.
On July 1, 1974 Perón died and was succeeded by his wife, Isabel. Isabel's reign saw the signing of several decrees, known as annihilation decrees, which gave the military the power to eliminate and subdue any left-wing existence. In turn, this sparked more unrest with the left-wing polities who opposed Perón's rule over them. They were powerless against the military forces, however. These forces, led by Jorge Rafael Videla, conducted raids of suspected Communist peoples, often capturing and torturing their suspects as a means of exerting their influence over Argentina.
This influence was even more apparent when on March 24, 1976 Videla, Emilio Eduardo Massera, and Orlando Agosti overthrew Isabel Perón as president and began a miliatristic government regime. This regime, which lasted the period from 1976-1983, was responsible for organizing the illegal arrests, torture, killing, disappearance, and other such crimes of thousands of suspected left-wing people. Estimates have put numbers as high as 30,0000 for the number of people that disappeared during this time, which does not include known deaths or other crimes propagated against the Argentinian people. The regime finally came to an end in late 1983 when the military government attempted an invasion of the Falkland islands, which the British held a highly contested claim to. The British army decimated the Argentinian army in the Falklands, which led to the decline of the military power reign in Argentina. During its tenure, however, its vast genocidal effects were felt by tens of thousands of people.


Links for further reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_war
http://www.onwar.com/aced/nation/all/argentina/fargentina1976.htm
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=5&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2FWORLD%2F9803%2F02%2Fargentina.dirty.war%2F&ei=cyvISLyiMJy28ATur4GDDA&usg=AFQjCNEaCMVFZ8euLSxvIhDqrg6rNYN2lQ&sig2=-d0OA0CxtgbjbB1L2g9QOA