Cracking Down on Videla
by Emily Dionissiou
“I knew my life had changed forever.”
– Patricia Isasa, a 16-year-old student activist, tortured in a detention centre for 17 months after being kidnapped in 1976.
Cracking Videla
During the ‘Dirty War’, an estimated 30,000 people were disappeared and the barbaric human rights abuses were astronomical. Los desaparecidos, as they became known, were kidnapped off the street in broad daylight, tortured, and killed. By 1980, Jorge Videla had been the military dictator of Argentina for four years; in the above poster, he can be seen cracking under a thumb, symbolising the pressure from internal and external forces. In 1981, he resigned, handing over power to Roberto Viola.
The Thumb – 1980
The thumb cracking down on Videla’s head in the above poster represents the numerous powers that were calling on Videla to improve the horrendous human rights violations that Argentina was facing.
Boletín de la Secretaría Internacional PRT-ERP (Argentina):
The Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores (PRT) was a Communist political party in Argentina, founded in 1965. Being a left-wing party, they became targets of Videla and, influenced by Che Guevara in Cuba, a military wing of the PRT was created, known as the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERT). However, by 1977, the PRT-ERP was no longer a threat to the government due to lack of numbers and, in 2008, they announced the disappearance of at least 5,000 members, with several hundreds of young guerrillas being killed after the 1978 World Cup. The Boletín de La Secretaría Internacional PRT-ERP was the reporting paper of the PRT-ERP. This poster features on the cover of the June 1980 No.1 edition; it details the situation for workers and left-wing supporters at the time, outlining the numbers that had been disappeared or murdered, along with proof of the deteriorating economic situation. The PRT-ERP Boletín can be said to be one of the pressures on Videla that is represented by the thumb; by reporting on the number of people persecuted for their political standings, the PRT-ERP was placing pressure on Videla.
Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo
Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo (1977-present) was the closest thing that the regime had to a domestic pressure group. Pregnant women who were kidnapped by the regime were generally allowed to carry to full term, but upon giving birth, their babies were often stripped from them and given to families that were deemed worthy of raising children by the regime. The mothers were then killed and over 400 children have since been reported missing. In April 1977, Azucena Villaflor and the Abuelas (grandmothers) marched in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, demanding their grandchildren be given back to them. To this day, this ritual takes place every Thursday at 3:30pm. Throughout the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, Las Madres took advantage of the extra coverage and the whole world saw them protesting for their children, highlighting the pressure on Videla to stop the illegal appropriation of children.
The World Cup
The next year saw the World Cup being hosted in Argentina, placing further pressure on Videla. The World Cup of 1978 has been said to have been ‘the dirtiest world cup of all time’; Videla announced to the audience that the tournament was to be played in peace, whilst a few streets away, the most notorious torture centre continued to operate in full swing. Several countries debated pulling out of the World Cup in protest of Videla’s human rights abuses, notably West Germany and the Netherlands, highlighting the international pressure on Videla.
Non-Governmental Organisations
The following year, Amnesty International conducted a report of 2,665 known desaparecidos, urging the Argentine government to account for these people. In April 1980, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also conducted a report on the deteriorating situation in Argentina, reporting that Argentina was seriously violating a number of basic human rights, including, inter alia, the right to personal integrity, the right to a fair trial, freedom of opinion, and labour rights. These reports by Amnesty International and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights shed light on the barbaric living conditions in Argentina and informed the rest of the world on the situation, thus pressurising Videla to improve the situation.
The United States
Videla entered government through Operation Condor, a US-backed organisation, and so to begin with, he had the support of the US. Upon Jimmy Carter’s inauguration, however, US Foreign Policy saw an increased emphasis on human rights and by 1978, Carter implemented the Kennedy-Humphrey Amendment, placing a halt on all US military aid, training, and arms sales to Argentina, and demanding that the Argentine government show a real improvement on human rights abuses; 1980 saw a decrease in disappearances. With the loss of US support, Videla faced more pressure to improve the barbaric situation.
Guerrilla Unity
The logo in the corner outlines a gun in front of Latin America, encapsulating the togetherness of the entire Latin American community, almost as a symbol of their strength and determination to put an end to the colossal human rights abuses throughout the region in the 20th century. It was iconic to Cuba’s Tricontinental, the official publication of the Organisation of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Guevara’s death led to an increased youth interest in left-wing political activism in Argentina and throughout Videla’s dictatorship, there were Cuban influences within left-wing guerrilla groups. This logo on the Boletín’s cover symbolises the inspiration for resistance from Cuba, and represents the overarching theme of guerrilla activism throughout Latin America.
Hope
In 1985, Videla became one of the first Latin American dictators to be convicted for crimes against humanity. Up to 11,000 Argentines have received compensation from the state for their loss of loved ones. In 1987, the National Bank of Genetic Data was created and, together with Las Madres, has led to 137 (as of 2018) lost children being found. With the idea that Videla was crumbling under pressure, this poster represents hope, and this hope was created by the internal and external forces who refused to submit to Videla’s illegal rule.
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