The Awful Story of South America's Most Evil Dictator

This is the story of state terror in Argentina in the ‘70s and ‘80s: what is traditionally called the “Dirty War.” It’s the story of how a military regime, led mainly by a dictator named Jorge Videla, tortured and killed tens of thousands of people while implementing neoliberal economic “reforms.” But it’s also the story of how they were helped along in that process by people like Henry Kissinger and Elliot Abrams – and how those accomplices were never punished. Pablo Pryluka, PhD student in Latin American history at Princeton University, explains.

0:00 Argentina's coup
2:25 State terror
6:11 Economic "reform"
7:52 American support
10:52 The regime falls
13:15 Credits

[TheGravelInstitute]

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[jordanetherington]

My mother's family escaped this dictatorship. They weren't directly persecuted, but I feel that was more a matter of them getting lucky and reading the writing on the wall then anything else.

As a Chilean, this story is both familiar and horrifying in a different way.

In our case, extreme inequality and poverty lead to the election of President Salvador Allende, a socialist and the first Marxist to ever be democratically elected. Allende’s government immediately set out to redistribute wealth, reform healthcare (his reforms as both President and his prior reforms as health minister were so effective that despite all that happened after, his reforms are the reason 91% of Chileans are fully vaccinated against COVID), nationalize our main natural resource (copper), reform education, and tried to unify the communist activists and party with his party, the socialist party, and center-left parties like the Democracia Cristiana (DC)(Cristian Democracy).

In response, the US sent in the CIA to coordinate right-wing resistance and propaganda (including right-wing newspaper “El Mercurio”) and support the Chilean armed forces. They helped the nascent fascist activist group Patria y Libertad grow to prominence so that they could act as brown shirts, helped fund trucker strikes to internally sabotage the economy, externally blockaded the country financially, worked to make the DC hostile to Allende, helped get Allende’s loyalist head of the army assassinated, and caused a fake shortage of goods so that breadlines and inflation would happen, among other things. Eventually, Allende declared he’d do a public referendum to decide if he should stay or if new elections should happen. Initially, he wanted to do (or announce? Can't remember) this referendum on the 11th of September, 1973, however his new head of armed forces, General Augusto Pinochet, convinced Allende to move it forward a few days.

The reason became clear on the 11th of September, 1973: the Chilean navy blockaded and invaded our main port city of Valparaiso, and the Chilean army besieged the government building, La Moneda, while two Chilean airforce bombers bombarded La Moneda. Allende, refusing to surrender, committed suicide after one last public broadcast, and then it was revealed that Augusto Pinochet was a leading member of the cue, becoming Chile’s dictator.

This is where it becomes familiar to Argentina: people were kidnapped, tortured, raped, and killed in an attempt to “purge communism” while the dictatorship implemented neoliberal policies by force, and Pinochet personally enriched himself through shady means.

This came to an end with a referendum on 1988 and subsequent democratic elections in 1989. Pinochet and many others would not be prosecuted, and he would die in his home, surrounded by family, of old age in 2006. The Constitution written during the dictatorship is still ongoing today (although we recently elected to change it, and a new one is in process of being written). This Sunday, we will see if we can finally unshackle from the legacy of Pinochet and the CIA by either electing a social democrat Gabriel Boric, or a Pinochet supporter... Wish us luck...

Edit: El Mercurio and the DC are still around and very influential in Chile. As for the artificial shortages, they were relieved the day of the 9/11 cue because soldiers “found” lots of unsold produce tucked away in storage rooms.


Edit 3: Gabriel Boric has won a crushing victory against the Pinochet supporting candidate.

[bimmovieproductions]

USA be like: "A regime is a success if we say it's a success."

[knightlypoleaxe]

Henry Kissinger; a perfect example of how to live without a heart for decades!

[akken]

“Two centuries ago, a former European colony decided to catch up with Europe. It succeeded so well that the United States of America became a monster, in which the taints, the sickness and the inhumanity of Europe have grown to appalling dimensions”
― Frantz Fanon

[sebastianbardon]

I'm from Argentina and this is spot on. The military killed and exiled thousands while destroying the economy, the external debt skyrocketed. Operation Condor devastated the region and we haven't been able recover yet, we are still colonies. The soldiers are gone but we are subjugated via the market.

[juanpedrofrereaffanni]

I'm really glad to see an American channel (and even better, with an Argentinian presentator!) annalyse Argentina's dictatorship and the role played by the US. however, I think that something needs to be stressed more enfatically in your otherwise excellent video: this dictatorship, much like in the rest of the continent's case, was orchestrated purposefully to eliminate the very growing radical movement of workers and students (not necessarely guerrilla fighters, though many were involved with the armed organizations). It was no accident. It was a systematic, planned operation to recreate the class domination of the bourgeoisie, and impose neoliberal policies to a population that wouldn' have accepted them without repression. Thanks and congrats for the video, from Buenos Aires!

[jrg]

The next time someone tries to tell me America is a sort of "peacekeeper" on the world stage, I'm sending them this.

[pucciox]

The fact that The Norwegian Nobel Committee in 1973 gave the Nobel Price for Peace to Kissinger is paradoxical

[SuperBlahmaster]

The greatest argument against us living in a just universe is that Henry Kissinger is still alive.

[kailawkamo]

As a Filipino, this hits way too close to home. This was even relatively around the same time we were under our own dictatorial regime. This was an international coordinated effort by the US.

[Druzidel]

Whenever I hear actual history from perspectives outside the US, I realize just how close this country is to fascism. We have a veneer of "freedom" and "democracy" that's dictated by two conservative capitalist parties, which actually operate as one party when it comes to policies that matter, including foreign policy. It's horrible.

[alfreportosnopek]

I am Argentinean, and it's always heartbreaking this part of our story, and that till this day, there are a big size of the population is defending such heinous acts, calling for the comeback of the military or the comeback of the green falcons, the car that was used by the Argentine secret service to kidnap dissidents, it's really sad thinking that such crimes against humanity, now a days are just a campaign talking point.

[_cogojoe_]

The military junta is hands down the worst government in Argentine history. I mean they implemented devastating economic policies whilst literally exterminating a whole generation of not only activists and left-wing politicians, but also scientists, artists and intelectuals. Like the video says at the end, it is a wound that hurts to this day. Muy buen video y saludos desde Buenos Aires!

[beckypotato]

I found out about this whole thing because when I was in high school I was interested in studying forensic anthropology and my dad told me Argentina was one of the leading countries in that field, and when I asked why he just said "cause they have a ton of mass graves and they need scientists to identify the remains".

[rubym]

So when Mom's family immigrated from Italy after WW II, 2 relatives went to Argentina because they also have a huge Italian immigrant population. During the Dirty War they sent their kids here to the US. When my mother met her Argentinian cousins she described them having some kind of PTSD. I told her, welcome to American foreign policy Straight Outta Fort Benning.

[IsaFromUruguay]

My dad went through this in Argentina after fleeing Bordaberri's dictatorship in Uruguay. He lost so many friends to the 'death flights' and was in captivity for 2 years. I'm very grateful that he survived and never gave up. Thanks for making this video!

[xtati]

And I thought Pinochet was the worst dictator supported by the US in Latin America. Never knew about an Argentinian one. And one of the men that worked with Pinochet works now with Bolsonaro in Brazil . Some people think all the atrocities and injustice we learned in history are things of the past but it is still going on

[Chanderson]

I just finished a Latin American Politics class this semester. Thankfully, I’m a bit older and have done a lot of reading on my own, and would constantly challenge my professor (who was a liberal) for the bs he would say. This part in Argentinian history was completely glossed over in class. Mainly the US’s involvement. My professor was also sus about Lula (which should’ve been a red flag).

Thank you guys for your work. Keep it up! 🙏🙏🙏