ARGENTINA: CURRENT CONCERNS - 1982/11/22

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Argentina Declassification Project - The "Dirty War" (1976-83)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03430160
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: April 3, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2019
• Publication Date: November 22, 1982

Approved ro? Release: 2018/09/20 C03430160 3.5(c)
Central Intelligence Agency
WWMgcomDC209:15
22 November 1982
Argentina: Current Concerns
President Bignone's ability to govern effectively will diminish as
various military and civilian sectors seek to achieve their often
conflicting objectives. Since assuming office in July, Bignone has been
increasingly buffeted by pressures from leaders of both sectors over the
terms of a planned 1984 return to civilian rule. Early efforts to
reconcile antagonistic elements are being undermined by human rights
activists who are building broad support for an accounting of those who
disappeared in the government's mid-1970s war against subversives. Press
reports of widespread corruption among many military leaders also are
exacerbating tensions. Regime leaders have responded by closing three
periodicals critical of the government. They are also pressing civilians
for an agreement on a wide range of contentious issues before the dates for
elections, tentatively set for late 1983, are firmly set.
Economic pressures will continue to complicate Bignone's efforts to
manage the growing political crisis. Austerity. measures--imposed in the
recent agreement in principle with the IMF and made necessary by
Argentina's critical need for foreign funds--will force some retrenchment
from the initial populist, growth-oriented economic policies, which have
prompted a temporary upturn in the domestic economy. Such a change in
policy is likely to generate resistance from political and labor leaders.
3.5(c)
For domestic political reasons Bignone will maintain a tough--but not
hostile--posture on key foreign policy issues.
3.5(c)
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