GENERAL IS CHOSEN TO RULE ARGENTINA[SANITIZED] - 1982/06/23

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Argentina Declassification Project - The "Dirty War" (1976-83)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03430015
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: April 3, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2019
• Publication Date: June 23, 1982

Approved for Release: 2018/09/17 C03430015
Approved for Release: 2018/09/17 C03430015
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Approved for Release: 2018/09/17 C03430015
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Approved for Release: 2018/09/17 C03430015
WEDNESDAY MORNING, 23 JUNE 1982
! NEW YORK TINES
i 23 June 1982 Pg.10
GENERAL IS CHOSEN
11 TO RULE ARGENTINA
Air ForCe and Navy Oppose the
Naming of an Army Officer
� 2 Senior Aides Quit
BUENOS AIRES, June 22 (AP) �
The Argentine Army announced today
that it would "assume the responsibil-
ity" for ruling the country and, despite
objections from its junta partners,
named a retired general as President.
The announcement came after a top
air force general and a navy admiral re-
signed from the Government to protest
the appointment of Maj. Gen. Reynaldo
Benito Antonio Bignone as President.
There were reports that the air force
and navy would pull altogether out of
the day-to-day running of Argentina be-
cause a civilian was not appointed. �
The two services were described as
adamantly opposed to the naming of an-
other army general after Lieut. Gen.
I .eopoldo Galtieri led Argentina to de-
feat in the war with Britain over the
Falkland Islands. .
A Reluctant Compromise
Sources close to the military said the
three service chiefs in the junta would
confer again only on purely military
matters.
It was understood that General Big-
none, a 54-year-old conservative admin-
istrator, was a reluctant compromise
chosen to avoid the collapse of the
6-year-old military regime.
In a communiqu�roadcast nation-
wide on radio and television, the army
pledged to lead a "short-term transition
Government" aimed at restoring civil-
idn political rule "by the early months
of 1984."
General Bignone, who served as sec-
retary general in the presidential pal-
ace after the 1976 coup that deposed
President Isabel Martinez de Peron,
will take office on July 1, according to
the communiqu�
The Interior Minister, Maj. Gen. Al-
fredo St. Jean of the army, was ex-
pected to continue until then as interim
President.
General St. Jean assumed the presi-
dency after the military ousted General
Galtieri on Friday in the wake of Falk-
land fighting.
'Facts That Are Publicly Known'
Argentina seized the islands on April
2. Britain recaptured them on June 14,
taking thousands of Argentine prison-
ers.
In resigning today as Planning Secre-
tary, Gen. Jos�iret of the air force
cited "the facts that are publicly
known." He apparently meant the ob-
jections of air force and navy officers to
the naming of an army man rather than
a civilian to succeed General Galtieri.
_The Social ,Ac_tion Minister, Vice
Adm. Carlos lacoste, also announced
his resignation today.
In what may have been their last uni-
fied act, the three service commanders
pledged earlier in the day to return Ar-
gentina to democratic rule by 1984.
They also agreed to meet with "repre-
sentative sectors" of the population to
plan political, economic and social
changes.
When the armed forces overthrew the
populist Peron Government, they did
not give any timetable for returning
power to civilit. politicials General
Galtieri, who was te have stay.,
fice until March 1984, once said, "The
ballot boxes are tightly locked up." ,
The Argentine people put aside politi-
cal differences to back General Galtieri
in the military campaign to recover the
Falklands from Britain. But after Ar-
gentines paid for the fight with lives,
money and national pride, sentiment
turned toward a return of democratic
government.
"The nation belongs to everyone,"
the Buenos Aires newspaper La Nacion
said in its lead editorial today. "The re-
turn of democratic institutions must be
in sight. The blood that was spilled ur-
gently demands it."
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Approved for Release: 2018/09/17 C03430015
Approved for Release: 2018/09/17 C03430015
Approved for Release: 2018/09/17 C03430015
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