[SANITIZED]WEEKLY SUMMARY MARCH 26, 1976 - 1976/03/26

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Argentina Declassification Project - The "Dirty War" (1976-83)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02987068
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 22
• Document Creation Date: April 3, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2019
• Publication Date: March 26, 1976

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N.0�04 3 5(c)
Surer
Weekly Summary
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S,Mit
CI WS 76-013
No. 0013/76
March 26, 1976
Copy N2 1409
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ank ANN
The WEEKLY SUM.MAR
Office of Current Into
cant developments of
frequently includes mnteri
by the Office of Economic
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Research, and the Direc
d every Friday morning by tile
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elligence Sources and Methods In ed
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NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION
Unauthorized Disclosure Subject to Cr 1c1! Sanch
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CONTENTS (March 26, 1976)
WESTERN
HEMISPHERE
16 Argentina: Junta Takes Over
3.5(c)
Comments and queries on the contents of this
publication are welcome. They may be
directed to the editor of the Weekly
Summary,
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SEC
ARGENTINA
ARGENTINA: JUNTA TAKES OVER
The new military junta is firmly in place and
giving the impression that it intends to retain
power for some time. Former President Peron,
her secretary and adviser Julio Gonzalez, and
several Peronist leaders remain in military
custody. There have been reports that she will be
tried on corruption charges, but more likely she
will be allowed to go into exile in Spain.
Even as Peron was being deposed, junta
President Jorge Videla was moving to set up the
new government. A steady stream of official
proclamations began flowing from military
headquarters, reflecting the military's continuing
preoccupation with terrorism. So far there has
been little violence, but stiff penalties have been
decreed for anyone who assists the terrorist cause
in any way, and security forces have been ordered
to shoot anyone found interfering with public
services.
Videla and the two other junta members, Ad-
miral Massera and General Agosti, were sworn in
Wednesday morning in a perfunctory ceremony.
The government has banned political and labor
union activity, closed congress, suspended the
supreme court, and begun to appoint military
governors for Argentina's 22 provinces. The in-
terim cabinet is composed of relatively young
field-grade officers from the three services. The
foreign affairs and economy portfolios will
probably eventually go to civilians, while retired
military officers will head the other six ministries.
The junta will have to turn to foreign
governments, commercial banks, and inter-
national financial institutions for help in dealing
with the severe economic problems it inherited. It
will bend every effort to avoid repressive
measures that might damage its international
reputation.
The top military leaders are friendly toward
the US and will strive to improve Argentina's ties
with it. They will be looking to the US as a source
of investment and new capital to cover Argen-
tina's huge debt payments and current account
deficit.
The next several months are likely to con-
tinue to be tough for US firms in Argentina. They
will suffer from labor agitation, sabotage, and
shortages of all kinds. The security risk for US per-
sonnel will remain high.
Like his recent predecessors, both civilian
and military, Videla has begun with the hope of
restoring a sense of well-being to the badly
fragmented nation. Among its stated objectives,
the junta vows "to restore morality and honesty,
to eradicate subversion, and to provide initiative
to foreign and national capital." Former
governments have failed to put muscle behind
similar rhetoric, and Videla's task may prove even
more difficult. The terrorists and Peronist labor
are still potent forces, and rampant inflation is for-
cing even apolitical workers to support radical
demands for ever higher wages.
The new leaders will need the support of the
foreign and domestic financial communities if
they are to succeed.
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