[SANITIZED]NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DAILY CABLE MONDAY 3 OCTOBER 1977 - 1977/10/03

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Argentina Declassification Project - The "Dirty War" (1976-83)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02991038
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 21
• Document Creation Date: April 3, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2019
• Publication Date: October 3, 1977

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NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DAILY CABLE
Monday 3 October 1977 CG NIDC 17/230C 0
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Warning Notice
Sensitive Intelligence Sources and Methods Involved
NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION
Unauthorized Disclosure Subject to Criminal Sanctions
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CONTENTS
ARGENTINA: Tension in Government
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ARGENTINA: Tension in Government
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The shooting incident involving Argentine war-
ships and Soviet and Bulgarian trawlers over the weekend may
have resulted from the increasing pressure on President Videla
by his junta partner, naval chief Admiral Massera. Videla has
maneuvered cautiously for more than a year to consolidate his
political position and enjoys substantial support within and
outside the military, but greater friction among the junta mem-
bers will make it more difficult to agree on and implement na-
tional policy.//
Massera, probably to enhance his political prestige,
ordered Argentine warships to fire on the fishing trawlers when
they were encroaching on the country's 200-mile territorial
limit. Whether by coincidence or design, the Navy has lately
made a show of appearing to be the leading defender of national
sovereignty.
According to unconfirmed press reports, two of the
four fishing vessels were badly damaged, and at least one fisher-
man was wounded. Argentine destroyers had recently seized five
Soviet trawlers, an exploit that was highly publicized by the
Argentine media. In addition, the Foreign Ministry--controlled
by the Navy--delivered a stiff protest to Chile over alleged
violations of territorial waters and unauthorized flights over
southern Argentina, an area of national sensitivity because of
the continuing boundary quarrel with Chile.
Massera will no doubt seek to exploit these incidents.
He has already made the pointed declaration that the Navy is
prepared to preserve the geographic integrity of Argentina, a
self-serving statement clearly designed for domestic political
purposes.
Massera has previously tried to unsettle Videla, whom
he considers indecisive, ineffective, and too willing to com-
promise. In recent months, Massera has become openly critical
of the administration's economic policies and of statements by
Videla alluding to the pre-eminence of the Army.
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Interservice rivaly, particularly between the Army and
Navy, is characteristic of the Argentine armed forces, where
personal ambitions sometimes aggravate ideological or policy dif-
ferences. Massera has long disapproved of what he views as the
Army's predominance, both in the junta and throughout the govern-
ment.
In addition to its image-building exercises, the
Navy is rumored to have engineered a number of recent incidents
intended to discredit Videla. The small magazine Conviccion--
which is believed linked to the Navy--published an attack on
Videla's trip to Washington, likening the signers of the declara-
tion of support for the Panama Canal treaty to "lacke s" heedin
a call from the "boss.'
//
Regardless of whether Videla blames the Navy for these
inci en s he recognizes them as attempts to discredit his regime
and is apparently determined to put an end to such activity. An
executive order banned Conviccion from publishing for three
months.
In two heretofore rare instances of "going public" on
matters related to the internal security situation, the govern-
ment recently acknowledged that it was detaining a prominent
union leader and human rights advocate and also a Jewish family
suspected of subversive connections. Such official admissions
were seldom made when the government was less attentive to human
rights; in the context of Argentine politics the public statements
represent a victory for the moderate point of view that Videla
espouses.
The consensus within the military for Videla's rule
as a ways been fragile, and with Massera increasingly open in
his criticism, the President must move with caution on all
fronts to maintain surmort hnfh for himself and for the Army.
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