1. Children of the “Dirty
War"
By Jay W Roff-Garcia

2. Daughter of “Subversives”
Raised by Man Who Killed
Her Parents
 Victoria Montenegro was abducted as a newborn
by a military colonel known as Lt. Col. Hernán
Tetzlaff.
 It took a human rights group 10 years and multiple
DNA testing's to prove to Ms. Montenegro that what
they where saying was true.
 She testified against the man she had believed to
be her father, and the trial which is in the final
phase of hearing testimony could prove that during
the „Dirty War‟ the nations top military leaders
where involved in a systematic plan to steal babies
from supposed enemies of the government.
 She is one of many cases, and like others it has
taken time for her to assimilate this shocking
information into her life.

3.  “I grew up thinking that in Argentina there had
been a war, and that our soldiers had gone to war
to guarantee the democracy,” she said. “And that
there were no disappeared people, that it was all a
lie.”
 Above is an actual quote from Ms. Montenegro in
the NY Times article. We can see how deep her
families deceit really was.
 After Col. Tetzlaff was convicted in 2001 of illegally
appropriating Ms. Montenegro he went to prison.
Ms. Montenegro still believes his actions had been
justified and visited him weekly until his death in
2003.
 She still says she does not hate the Tetzlaffs, they
showed her love and gave her a family her whole
life. For that she cannot hate them.
 For over 20 years Ms. Montenegro had been living a
lie. She never knew that her real parents where
what the military junta in Argentina at the time
called “subversives” and they handled them like
most others, by killing them.

4. Summary of the „Dirty War‟
& Key Players
 A CIA analyisis of 1976 Argentina concludes that
the labor movement and Peronism were the
major targets for the start of the „Dirty War‟.
 After Peron dies in 1975 and his vice-
president/wife take charge things go south.
Inflation rises to more than 300%, terrorism from
right and left escalates, and increasing
strikes/demonstrations.
 This left an open window for the military to swoop
in and take over with a quickly executed coup.
The military junta under General Jorge Videla.
 All opponents to the regime (which could be
anybody even slightly leftist) were rounded
up, thousands were „disappeared.

5. Former Argentine officials
accused of involvement in
the “Dirty War”

6.  The “Dirty War” 1976-1983 was a 7-year
campaign by the Argentine government against
suspected enemies of the government.
 Many people, both enemies of the government
as well as innocents, were “disappeared” in the
middle of the night and never seen again.
 There were few survivors of all of these ordeals.
 They were taken to secret government detention
centers, once there they were tortured and
eventually killed.
 These estimated 10,000 to 30,000 people are
known as “los desaparecidos”
 The junta kept its power by getting rid of
anybody suspected of challenging their
authority.
 In 1981 General Leopoldo Galtieri heads the
regime

7. Top Military Leaders druing
the “Dirty War"

8.  Later Army General Roberto Viola takes power.
 The “Dirty War” and the rule of the military junta
ended when the junta faced increased opposition
on its human rights record and mounting allegations
of corruption.
 It decided to try to distract their people and the
international community by reclaiming the Falkland
islands from the UK.
 Since 1820 England has administered the islands
while Argentina has laid claim to them. The junta
thought they would regain their popularity by taking
the islands.
 They realized after 72 days that they were wrong
after 700 Argentinian casualties and 9,800 POWs
held by the British armed forces.
 In 1982 it restored civil liberties and retracted its ban
on political parties.
 The „War‟ ended when Raul Alfonsin‟s civilian
government took control of the country on
December 10, 1983.

9. Top Military Leaders
Marching

10. “Los Desaparecidos”& The
Grandmothers of the Plaza
de Mayo
 There were thousands of cases throughout the 7 years of
the “Dirty War” where people simply disappeared. In the
middle of the night people were taken away and never
seen again.
 Today people are finally gaining closure and seeing the
remains of their loved ones returned.
 Thanks to the Argentine government and the Argentine
Forensic Anthropology Team many bodies are being
uncovered and identified.
 A specific case is Laura Feldman who was kidnapped by
the Argentine military on February 18, 1978. She was a
politically active young women with ideals. Her remains
were found in a mass grave and after several genetic
tests she was identified. In April 2009 her remains were
given to her sister Ana, now 51 years old.

11. Pictures of the
„Disappeared'

12. One of the Grandmothers of
the Plaza de Mayo

13.  A book titled “Nunca Mas” relates the findings of
a commission [CONADEP] designed to
investigate and submit reports to the president
on the different outcomes of the 'disappeared'.
 This commission found that a majority of the
known 8,960 victims were not only innocent of
acts of terrorism, but they didn‟t even belong to
any of the opposing political or guerrilla groups.
 A majority of the people murdered in the “Dirty
War” were union leaders struggling for higher
wages, youths who belonged to student
organizations, anti-junta journalists, along with
young pacifists, nuns, and priests.
 It continues to investigate and identify all the
various crimes and details of the military junta at
the time.
 The commission stated that the army practiced
state terrorism and with the impunity of the
military dictatorship was “misused to
abduct, torture, and kill thousands of human
beings”.

14. Graffiti Art against the
Military Dictators

15. The Abductions
 The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo was
formed in the time of the military junta. They
would receive anonymous tips about young
people believed to be the children of those who
disappeared while under military detention.
 In 1998 Argentine judges issue arrest warrants in
connection with the abduction of hundreds of
babies from women in captivity during the “Dirty
War”.
 The abductions seemed to follow a similar
pattern. Children born to “Subversives” in the
Argentinian military detention centers during
those turbulent 7 years were taken, birth records
falsified, and given to members and allies of the
armed forces of Argentina.

16.  In the first few slides we covered a news article
were one of these unknowing victims was stolen
from their family as an infant.
 There is another case in which a man named
Victor Rei, who had been a part of the military
dictatorship, had received a baby in a night-time
rendezvous in early 1978.
 The baby was named Alejandro and it was
thanks to the determined Grandmothers of the
Plaza de Mayo who sought him out and after
DNA testing proved that he was not the
biological son of Victor Rei.
 When Victor Rei had been charged with
kidnapping and falsifying documents in May of
2004 he was imprisoned.
 Alejandro still loves the Rei‟s for giving him a
family and is now beginning to assimilate himself
with his newfound relatives.

17.  Of the 500 or so abductions by the military junta
reported thus far, 400 still remain unaccounted
for.
 The search continues and with laws allowing
human rights group and the Argentine Forensic
Anthropological Team to legally request DNA
samples of suspected adults that could have
been one of those abducted babies.

18. Prosecution of Humans
Rights Violators
 Timeline:
 1997 A judge in Spains issues order for the arrest
[the first of many] of former Argentine military
officers on charges of kidnapping and killing
Spanish citizens during the "Dirty War”. Amnesty
laws protected the officers.
 2003 Congress, Senate vote to negate laws
protecting former military officers from
prosecution over humans rights abuses
 2005 Supreme Court negates an amnesty law
protecting former military officers suspected of
the human rights abuses committed during the
1976-1983 “Dirty War” period in Argentina
 2008 Two former generals are sentenced to life
imprisonment for their actions during the “Dirty
War”

19.  2011 Former naval officer Alfredo Astiz and 11
other former members of the security forces are
given life sentences for crimes against humanity
committed during the 1976-1983 period of
military rule.
 Alfredo Astiz known as “The Blonde Angel of
Death” served as a lieutenant at the Naval
Mechanics School, a torture center where
thousands of guerrillas and dissidents were
secretly imprisoned and killed.
 He was charged with various cases of
kidnapping, torture, and murder related to 86
victims.
 Once President Nestor Kirchner saw the repeal of
the amnesty laws protecting the former military
officers in 2003, Astiz became one among 259
people who have been convicted of human
rights abuses committed in that dark period of
Argentina's history.

20. This file photo shows
Argentinian soldiers frisking a
civilian at a checkpoint in
Buenos Aires in 1977.

21. Soldiers carrying a injured
civilian

22. The Effects of the „Dirty War‟
Today
 There was an estimated 30,000 people who
„disappeared‟ between 1976 and 1983.
 In those 7 years hundreds of families lost their
loved ones.
 People today still do not know what the fate of
their children, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, or
friends.
 The Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team is still
uncovering bodies and connecting them back
to their families.
 Those that were „disappeared‟ faced
questioning, torture, and most often death.
 38 years later Argentina is still trying to reconcile
itself and come to terms with its ugly past where
people lived in fear of expressing their opinions.

23. Popular protests against the
Military government for
those “disappeared”

24. Videos & Extra Sources
 http://www.yendor.com/vanished/
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObdjTsnLhGM
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFaeXKfH-
p4&feature=related
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o90wD7UuHVs&fe
ature=related

25. Bibliography
 [1] Unknown. "Argentina's Dirty War: Disappearing a Voice." Digital Union.
Digital Union. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.
<http://digitalunion.osu.edu/r2/summer06/herbert/dirty_war/index.html>.
 [2] Unknown. "BBC News - Timeline: Argentina." BBC - Homepage. BBC, 27 Oct.
2011. Web. 23 Nov. 2011. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1196005.stm>.
 [3] Byrnes, Brian. "Unearthing Mysteries of Argentina's 'Dirty War' - CNN.com."
CNN.com International - Breaking, World, Business, Sports, Entertainment and Video
News. CNN, 17 Nov. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.
<http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/11/17/argentina.dirty.war/inde
x.html>.
 [4] Goodman, Amy. ""Nieto Recuperado" - Born to Parents Disappeared by
Argentina's Dictatorship, Kidnapped and Raised by a Military Family, a "Recovered
Grandchild" Finds His Way Home." A Daily TV/radio News Program, Hosted by Amy
Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, Airing on over 900 Stations, Pioneering the Largest
Community Media Collaboration in the United States. Democracy Now!, 12 Nov.
2010. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.democracynow.org/2010/11/12/nieto_recuperado_born_to_parents
_disappeared>.
 [5] Barrionuevo, Alexei. "Daughter of ‘Dirty War,’ Raised by Man Who Killed Her
Parents." Www.nytimes.com. New York Times, 8 Oct. 2011. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/world/americas/argentinas-daughter-of-
dirty-war-raised-by-man-who-killed-her-
parents.html?pagewanted=1&%2334&_r=2&sq&st=cse&%2359;&scp=1&%2359;d
irty%20war>.
 [6] Unknown. "Argentina Dirty War 1976 - 1983." GlobalSecurity.org - Reliable
Security Information. Global Security. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/argentina.htm>.

26. Bibliography
 [7] Gareau, Frederick H. "Argentina's Dirty War Excerpted from the Book State
Terrorism and the United States From Counterinsurgency to the War on Terrorism
by Frederick H. Gareau." Third World Traveler, Third World, United States Foreign
Policy, Alternative Media, Travel. Third World Traveler, 2004. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Terrorism/Argentina_STATUS.html>.
 [8] Brown, Cathy. "Nunca Mas, Remembering Argentina´s Dirty War." Expat Daily
News Latin America. Expat Daily News, 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.
<http://www.expatdailynewslatinamerica.com/2010/03/nunca-mas-
remembering-argentinas-dirty.html>.
 [9] Ferguson, Sam. "Argentina's 'Blond Angel of Death' Convicted for Role in
Dirty War - CSMonitor.com." The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com. The
Christian Science Monitor, 27 Oct. 2011. Web. 07 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2011/1027/Argentina-s-Blond-
angel-of-death-convicted-for-role-in-dirty-war>.
 [10] Forero, Juan. "Argentina's Dirty War Still Haunts Youngest Victims : NPR."
NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR.
National Public Radio, 27 Feb. 2010. Web. 07 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124125440>.

27. Bibliography
 [11] Unknown. "The Vanished Gallery: The Desaparecidos of Argentina." The
Vanished Gallery. Yendor. Web. 07 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.yendor.com/vanished/>.
 [12] Argentina's Dirty War (1/). Dir. Unknown. Unknown, 2009. YouTube -
Broadcast Yourself. Falklands Portal, 24 Feb. 2009. Web. 07 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObdjTsnLhGM>.
 [13] Argentina's Dirty War (2/3). Dir. Unknown. Unknown, 2009. YouTube -
Broadcast Yourself. Falklands Portal, 24 Feb. 2009. Web. 07 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFaeXKfH-p4&feature=related.>
 [14] Argentina's Dirty War (3/3). Dir. Unknown. Unknown, 2009. YouTube -
Broadcast Yourself. Falklands Portal, 24 Feb. 2009. Web. 07 Dec. 2011.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o90wD7UuHVs&feature=related>.