LATIN AMERICAN TRENDS: STAFF NOTES JUNE 28, 1976[SANITIZED] - 1976/06/28

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Argentina Declassification Project - The "Dirty War" (1976-83)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06628542
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: April 3, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2019
• Publication Date: June 28, 1976

Approved for Release: 2018/10/02 C06628542
jserti
151
CI ,SNLA 76-027
No. 0707-76
June 28, 1976
3.5(c)
Approved for Release: 2018/10/02 C06628542
Approved for Release: 2018/10/02 C06628542
LATIN,AMERICAN'TRIEND4
'this publication is preparedfor regional speciiirtts in the Washington corn-
!muhity by the Western- Hemisphere Disioi1OffiCe cif Current Intelligence,
with occasional contributions from other offices within the Directorate of
'Intlligence. Comments and queries are welcome. They should be directed to
!thel authors of the individual articles.
,coNTE
June 28, 1976
ktgehtiha,;,New Po1iica1
Approved for Release: 2018/10/02 C06628542
Approved for Release: 2018/10/02 C06628542
3.5(c)
Argentina: New Political Curbs
Last week's decision by the junta to strip a
'number of former Peronist officials of all their
!political rights for alleged "immoral conduct" is
!being widely, though privately, criticized.
ff
Ex-president Mafia .tttelaPeroh headed -a list
of 36 former government officials of Feronist sup-
porters deprived of the right to Vote, 'run for union
or public offide..-OrhOld any public Position. Former
economic minister Jose Oelbard, a naturalized
Argentine, was stripped of his citizenship.
, The US embassy in Buenos Aires reports that
many politicians see the junta's move as a tactical
and unnecessary mistake, particularly since the
tgovernment already had available any number of laws
with which to punish transgressors. The embassy
believes, moreover, that the junta weakens, rather
than strengthens, its case by referring vaguely to
"immorality" rather than specific violations of law.
Political figures have also, criticized a junta
decree issued earlier this month, which they inter-
pret as a total ban on any and all political activity,
even group discussions of current events,. The law
I
was handed down along With tmo, ,others that banned a
number of extreme leftist splinter groups not 1ial-
ready specifically 'coY,Pred,in early junta decrees-
Death by firing Squad :has been reinstated as a
punishment for attacks on police or other officials.
, 4
Taken together, the new measures constitute an
advance, but not a major victory, for military ad-
VoCates of a sterner approach to government. The
list of persons deprived of political rights, for
example, was relatively small� much more so than
might have been expected. Moreover, virtually all
the leftist groups now formally banned had already
gone underground and were of little consequence. None-
theless, hardliners will be encouraged to press for
more vindictive measures and fewer constraints on
their countersubversive efforts. (CONFIDENTIAL)
i June 28, 1976
)!
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