Junta takes over in Argentina - archive

Buenos Aires, March 24.
Argentina’s long-awaited coup materialised this morning when a three-man military junta, led by the Army Commander, General Jorge Videla, took the oath of office.

Shortly after midnight, President Isabel Peron was told by her helicopter crew that they did not intend to fly her home from her office in the Casa Rosada.

Instead, she was taken to the municipal airport under arrest and flown in a military plane to a military camp in the southern province of Neuquen.

Naval officers took control of the Casa Rosada and cut all telephone and telex communications, while the army occupied the headquarters of the CGT, the powerful trade union confederation, and the offices of Lorenzo Miguel, the head of the Metal Workers’ Union.

Miguel, Isabel Peron’s staunchest supporter, was arrested as was the Labour Minister, Miguel Unamuno. The CGT leader, Casildo Herreras, who flew to Montevideo last weekend, decided not to return. He said that he wanted “nothing more to do with the situation.”

Miguel warned before his arrest that the coup was “an irresponsible leap into a power vacuum.” He claimed that it would feed the guerrilla movements and might lead to a civil war.

The first act of the junta was to suspend the trade unions and the political parties and to close Congress. Apart from General Videla, the junta consists of the naval commander, Emilio Massera, and the head of the air force, Orlando Agosti.

As they announced their take-over, half-track army vehicles were roaring down the main avenues of Buenos Aires and troops moved into strategic positions in provincial cities.

Some shooting was reported in La Plata, and shooting and bombings took place in Cordoba until dawn. But in general the final step of the coup appears to have been smooth and non-violent. Roadchecks and house to house searches have provided sporadic arrests in Cordoba, the industrial city where resistance to the coup seemed the most likely.

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Except for the occasional soldier and army vehicle, and the fact that the streets are more empty than usual, there is little outward evidence of the coup. Factories in the industrial areas around Buenos Aires are working normally. A football game is being presented on television.

Eight Cabinet Ministers have been appointed - described as “administrators.” They are all military officers.

Arrest warrants have been issued for a number of former Ministers and high officials. Many of them, including the former Justice Minister, Antonio Benitez, have been accused of mishandling public funds. Airports and ports have been closed for 24 hours to prevent the escape of suspected criminals.

There is still little evidence of the ideological colouring of the new Government. An initial communiqué declared that the military had decided to take over the Government as a result of the “institutional, social, and administrative chaos.”