At times, Argentina’s political history can seem like one big soap opera.
I spent 8 months living and teaching English in Buenos Aires, and in the time I was there, I whispered about ongoing clashes between the famous journalist Jorge Lanata and current President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, gasped as my students regaled me with rumors about Cristina’s money laundering habits, listened to chilling stories about life during the Dirty War, and witnessed the local outrage following the death murder of prosecutor Alberto Nisman.
It comes as no surprise that many Argentines demonstrate a lack of trust in their government. In the face of ever-growing inflation, expensive consumer goods, and palpable poverty, it’s hard not to feel the ongoing consequences of current or past political decisions.
In the midst of an upcoming general election in Argentina on October 25th, there’s no better time to highlight a few of Argentina’s juiciest, and darkest, political scandals and clashes.
The Dirty War
The Dirty War, lasting from roughly 1974-1983, has had a resounding effect on the residents of Argentina. It was a time of incredible violence and has impacted the lives of many who still live in Buenos Aires.
The beginnings of the Dirty War can be traced to the overthrow of President Juan Peron (Evita’s husband) by the military. Following the coup, guerrilla groups began to materialize in an effort to oppose the military. In the early 1970s, they began resorting to violence, kidnapping and killing high-ranking military and police officers almost weekly. Sadly, a number of innocent civilians were targeted and killed as well.
In response to this opposition, the military arrested, tortured, killed, and “disappeared” an estimated 30,000 political dissidents (or perceived political dissidents). The victims included armed combatants of the guerrilla groups, but also trade-unionists, students and left-wing activists, journalists and other intellectuals, and their families. Many innocent individuals were detained and tortured in concentration camps throughout Argentina.
Hundreds of children who disappeared together with their parents or were born at the concentration camps were never returned to their families. Some are believed to have been illegally adopted. The grandmothers of these children formed a group called Asociación Civil Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo) and are still fighting to locate their missing grandchildren. In August of 2014, while I was living in Buenos Aires, news came that one of the founding grandmothers found her missing grandchild. He was the 114th grandchild to be found by the group.
Has Halloween got you in the mood for tales of tortured corpses? This period of time also marked the mysterious disappearance and reappearance of the beloved Evita’s embalmed body. Read more about the 20-year odyssey of Eva Peron’s body here.
The arms trafficking scandal
While President Carlos Menem was in power (1989-1999), he was no stranger to controversy. On what predecessor Raúl Alfonsín calls “the saddest day in Argentine history,” Menem infamously pardoned nearly 300 military officers convicted of committing crimes against humanity during the Dirty War.
And that’s not even the scandal I’m about to discuss. The real scandal is Menem’s involvement with a deliberate explosion that killed 7 innocent Argentines and injured over 300 more.
The explosion of the ammunitions factory, which occurred in 1995, intended to hide evidence of illegal weapon production and sales from Argentina to Ecuador and Croatia. The illegal weapon sales happened during a brief war between Peru and Ecuador, and Argentina (along with the US, Brazil, and Chile) was supposed to be acting as a guarantor of peace between the two countries.
After 18 years (!) of research, Menem was finally delivered a sentence of 7 years in prison. However, the future of this sentence remains unclear. Due to Menem’s age, 85, and wavering health, the sentence will probably be completed as house-arrest.
A presidential resignation by helicopter
From 1998-2002, Argentina experienced a major recession. The financial crisis was caused by a variety of factors, including large amounts of borrowing by Carlos Menem, and was further aggravated by rampant tax evasion and money laundering to offshore accounts.
In 1999, amid this crisis, President Fernando de la Rúa was elected on a reform platform. He was unable to turn things around, and in October 2001, the public expressed its discontent in the nationwide election. President Fernando de la Rúa's alliance lost seats in both chambers of the Argentine National Congress, leaving it in the minority.
By the end of November 2001, distrust in the government led individuals to withdraw large sums of money from their bank accounts. And in early December, the government responded by freezing all bank accounts for twelve months, allowing for only minor sums of cash to be withdrawn. The freeze understandably angered many Argentines, and confrontations between the police and citizens became common.
The protests came to a head in late December, when violent clashes between demonstrators and the police in Plaza de Mayo (the plaza near Casa Rosada, the Presidential Palace) ended up with several people dead. It is speculated that the police were ordered by Peronists (who won seats in the Argentine National Congress) to use violence in an effort to make President Fernando de la Rúa look bad.
On December 20th, while receiving no support from others in the government, De la Rúa felt forced to resign. Since the situation in Plaza de Mayo was too violent for him to leave by car, he was famously taken out of the Casa Rosada by helicopter.
The mysterious death of Alberto Nisman
In 1994, a huge bomb destroyed a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people as the building collapsed. It was a devastating event, and sadly, much of the evidence was subsequently lost or contaminated; no-one has ever been convicted in connection with the bombing.
This is where Alberto Nisman enters the story. Nisman was appointed Special Prosecutor in charge of the bombing investigation in 2004. He then spent years obsessing over case-related details in an attempt to get to the bottom of the bombing.
In January of 2014, Nisman claimed to have evidence that Cristina Kirchner had offered to cover up the suspected involvement of Iranian officials so Argentina could start swapping grain for much-needed oil. It was a dangerous claim and one that left him vulnerable to several death threats.
The night before Nisman was scheduled to testify in court, he was found dead in his luxury apartment, with a single gunshot wound to the head. Given that security was outside and there was no evidence of breaking and entering, the death was initially labeled as suicide. However, the majority of Argentines suspected foul play.
Groups of Argentines took to the streets in protest, demanding an answer regarding Nisman’s suspicious death.
A few days later, one of my students pointed out Nisman’s nearby apartment building through her window. I gazed at the building in disbelief. Almost immediately, I began to feel angry, hoping for some kind of justice to be served.
While these stories are definitely gasp-worthy, it should be noted that corruption and political scandals are certainly not relegated to Argentina, nor to any country or group of countries for that matter. Political scandals are common in even the most developed nations.
Argentina is a beautiful country with kind people and a lot of potential. Given their complex and tumultuous past, it’s understandable that some Argentines may, at times, seem emotionally defeated or eternally distrustful of others. But they are equally proud of their country and want it to thrive.
I want it to thrive. That’s why I hope this upcoming election brings something different. With villas (slums) lining the railroad tracks in Buenos Aires and poverty levels rising, it’s time for a change. It’s time for greater transparency within Argentina’s government, and it’s time for Argentine leaders to be held accountable for their indiscretions. I want the young children I saw on the streets in Buenos Aires to grow up in an environment where they can become healthy, successful adults.
Time will only tell if the next Argentine president will succeed in regaining the trust of the Argentine people. Until then, all I can say is what I heard from many as I said goodbye to South America: que tenga buena suerte. I will be rooting and rallying for you from afar, Argentina.