[SANITIZED]NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DAILY CABLE THURSDAY 4 MAY 1978 - 1978/05/04

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Argentina Declassification Project - The "Dirty War" (1976-83)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02994196
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: April 3, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2019
• Publication Date: May 4, 1978

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NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DAILY CABLE
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Thursday 4 May 1978 CG NIDC 78/104C
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The National Intelligence Daily Cable is prepared in the
Central Intelligence Agency in cooperation with the other US
foreign intelligence organizations.
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National Intelligence Daily Cable for Thursday, 4 May 1978.
//Slants indicate Noforn// Classification abbreviations precede
each paragraph. The NID Cable is for the purpose of informing
senior US officials.
CONTENTS
ARGENTINA: Videla's Term Extended
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ARGENTINA: Videla's Term Extended
//The decision by Argentina's ruling junta to ex-
tend President Videla's term and remove the office of the presi-
dency from the junta has temporarily papered over a longstand-
ing dispute over the organization of the government. The move
leaves unexplained the role of the president and probably pres-
ages a period of intense maneuvering within the military.//
//The governing junta announced late Tuesday that
Videla, Commander in Chief of the Army, will retire from active
duty by 1 August but remain as chief executive until March 1981.
Technically, Videla will thus serve as a civilian president,
although his constituency will clearly be the military.//
//The announcement left unclear, however, the
crucial question of whether the office of the presidency will
be subordinate to or independent of the junta. Videla wants to
strengthen the office but has been consistently opposed by
junta member Admiral Massera, Commander of the Navy. Massera's
intransigence is perhaps the main reason the decision was so
long in coming; the issue had been hotly debated for well over
a year.//
//The politically ambitious Massera has been
strongly critical of the tone and style of Videla's leadership.
Massera has consistently used his junta position and popularity
within the Navy to block Videla's initiatives and generate
opposition to him, in and out of the Navy.//
//Since the action required a unanimous junta vote,
it may have involved some conciliatory gesture toward Massera.
He may have been promised some change in the government's
economic policy, of which he has been a vocal critic. The Ad-
miral may simply have recognized, however, that he faced over-
whelming odds.//
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//The issue probably is not dead. Massera and
other dissidents probably do not have the power to undo the
changes, but they could hamper the effectiveness of the re-
vamped presidency.
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