Word: alfonsin
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...populist dictator's Peronist Party and its trade union ally, the General Confederation of Labor, attended a Mass of mourning last week. Distraught Peronistas cried in one another's arms. Some held up posters that read YOUR HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE. The government of President Raul Alfonsin, which only two months ago survived a military uprising, blamed "rightist" elements bent on destabilizing the country's young democracy for the theft...
...four Argentine cities one morning last week. No one was injured, and no one claimed responsibility, but Vice President Victor Martinez blasted both "the extreme left and the ultra-right." Both sides, he said, had trampled on the "state of rights" that Argentines have enjoyed since 1983, when Raul Alfonsin became the country's first elected President after almost eight years of military dictatorship...
...fairly certain. A day earlier, the five- member Supreme Court had upheld a law granting immunity to about 200 military officers accused of committing human rights abuses during the "dirty war" waged by the military against suspected leftists between 1976 and 1979. Under the law, which was signed by Alfonsin in early June, only about 50 Argentines, including former top government officials, military commanders and police chiefs, are subject to prosecution for crimes, such as murder, kidnaping and torture, that were carried out during the period. The law in effect grants amnesty to hundreds of lower-ranking officers...
When renegade officers rebelled last month and demanded amnesty for those charged with violating human rights under the military regime in the 1970s, Argentine President Raul Alfonsin defiantly put down the uprising. But while Alfonsin may have won that battle, he apparently lost the war. Last week the President proposed a law to end prosecution of lower-ranking officers, on the ground that they were only carrying out orders. If it passes, as expected, the majority of the 400 officers on trial would be exonerated...
...President claimed that amnesty is necessary to avert a civil war, but human rights groups were incensed. Bristled Lawyer Marcello Parrilli: "The bill guarantees the impunity of people who committed atrocious crimes." Alfonsin's action, though, recognizes the enduring power of the military and Argentina's tenuous grip on democracy...