timeline

(página no disponible en castellano)

1975 – 1976 – 1977 – 1978 – 1979 – 1980 – 1981 – 1982 – 1983

events for 1982

Jan 6, 1982	Former Herald editor Robert Cox appointed assistant editor of the News and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina.
Feb 4, 1982	Pregnant woman Ana María Martínez “disappears” after abduction from her home in Villa de Mayo. She is found dead on February 17, but police refuse to allow her body to be seen.
Feb 5, 1982	National team coach Cesár Luís Menotti is quoted as saying that the government will have to answer for straying so far form the desires of the majority of the people.
Feb 7, 1982	Reagan administration announces the end of ther Carter foreign policy that criticized allies’ human rights abuses while purportedly ignoring those of the Soviet Union and other non-allies.
Feb 18, 1982	Folk singer Mercedes Sosa, having returned from exile in Paris, gives a concert at the Opera theatre. Her songs had been banned from the radio in 1978.
Feb 21, 1982	Discussing the murder of Ana María Martínez, mass-circulation newspapers speculate for the first time since the coup about the involvement of “paramilitary groups” in abductions and murder, and suggest these organizations might be acting “at the service of resentful military groups.”
Mar 15, 1982	Faustino Casco “disappears” after being arrested from a store in front of over 100 witnesses. Police only acknowledge arrest on March 22, then saying he had been arrested with a group of unidentified people.
Mar 18, 1982	Police break up Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo demonstration attended by over 1,000 denouncing the government’s failure to release information on the missing or on the murder of Ana María Martínez. Organizers call the demonstration the most successful since the coup.
Mar 21, 1982	A group of Argentine sailors dance and sing with the Argentine flag in the South Georgia islands, to the annoyance of the British Chancillery. Some inhabitants of Port Stanely in the Malvinas/Falkands attack the offices of the national airlines with stones.
Mar 30, 1982	Massive labor demonstration organized by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) protests economic policies, rising unemployment and the military government. The protest is violently suppressed by the police, and 1,500 are arrested.
Apr 2, 1982	Argentine forces land on Malvinas/Falkland Islands, declaring them Argentine and declaring lieutenant general Luciano Benjamín Menéndez governor.
Apr 5, 1982	British 40-ship task force sails for the Malvinas/Falkland islands.
Apr 6, 1982	Secretary General Adolfo Marion of the Argentina Newspaper and Magazine Distributors Union announces that the Herald won’t be distributed because of “defense of British interests in Argentina.”
Apr 9, 1982	US secretary of state Haig arrives in Argentina for a two-day visit in which he proposes that Argentina, Britain and the United States join in a tripartite adminstration of the Malvinas/Falkland islands. This attempt to avert war fails.
Apr 10, 1982	An estimated 200,000 people attend demonstration in the Plaza de Mayo to express support for the governments takeover of the Malvinas/Falkland islands, and to hear president Galtieri speak.
Apr 10, 1982	Montonero leader Mario Firmenich, speaking in Havana, Cuba, asks the Argentine government to allow the Montoneros to return to help fight the British.
Apr 15, 1982	The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo hold their weekly demonstration with about 350 in attendance. Signs read “The Malvinas are Argentina’s — and so are the disappeared.”
Apr 16, 1982	Argentine Newspaper and Magazine Distributors Union lifts ban on the Herald.
Apr 24, 1982	The Argentine defense ministry says that Britain has announced plans to attack any Argentine vessel near the British fleet. Argentine says they will attack the British in self-defense.
Apr 25, 1982	The British attack the South Georgia islands and the submarine Santa Fe while the sub is in port.
Apr 26, 1982	Around 10,000 gather in the Plaza de Mayo to support response to the British invasion.
Apr 29, 1982	The junta announces censorship procedures “for reasons of national security,” telling newspapers to practice “self-censorship so that press censorship and other restrictions aren’t necessary.”
May 1, 1982	Poll shows that 90% of Argentines believe that the Malvinas/Falkland islands should remain in Argentine hands even if force proves necessary.
May 2, 1982	British sink Argentine flagship General Belgrano with 1,042 on board while ship is outside the “exclusion zone” within which the British had said they would attack Argentine vessels. Final count of dead from this sinking is announced months later to be 296.
May 10, 1982	Government fails to meet its own deadline to give information on the missing on this day, and turns away 300 invited for a briefing on the subject.
May 27, 1982	Government announces that Argentine citizens have given over 300 billion pesos to the “war fund.”
Jun 4, 1982	Independent news agency Noticias Argentinas closed for 72 hours for “failing to comply with the guidelines for the diffusion of information.”
Jun 8, 1982	President Galtieri announces that Argentina “will fight for years” if necessary to control the Malvinas.
Jun 10, 1982	Annual “Malvinas Day” celebrations draw thousands to the Plaza de Mayo.
Jun 11, 1982	Pope John Paul II arrives in Argentina.
Jun 14, 1982	Argentine general Luciano Benjamín Menéndez signs ceasefire with British commander Jeremy Moore after a decisive British victory, ending the Malvinas/Falklands War. Official counts of dead are said to be 430 Argentine losses, and 230 British.
Jun 15, 1982	Angry crowd estimated at 7,000 gather in the Plaza de Mayo chanting “it’s over, it’s over, the military dictatorship is over.” Police clash with protesters, and the Herald calls the demonstration the most violent disturbance in more than 6 years. An estimated 200 arrested.
Jun 17, 1982	General Galtieri resigns the presidency.
Jun 18, 1982	The junta designates Interior Minister Saint Jean as interim president, and General Cristino Nicolaides joins the junta as the new Army commander.
Jun 22, 1982	Army General Bignone announced as the next president, to take office July 1. The Navy and Air Force disassociate themselves from the junta.
Jun 23, 1982	Former Herald reporter and current correspondent for the Guardian newspaper of London, Andrew Graham-Yooll, attacked by group of men who emerge from a Ford Falcon. Passersby intervene to help Graham-Yooll.
Jun 23, 1982	Troops of the 3rd Infantry Regiment return from the Malvinas, saying they had lacked food and munitions.
Jun 28, 1982	Government admits holding two “disappeared” demonstrators in custody after a crowd of 300 protest outside the Casa Rosada demanding information.
Jul 1, 1982	General Bignone sworn in as Argentina’s 43rd president and announces the lifting of the ban on political activities.
Jul 2, 1982	Domingo Felipe Cavallo, formerly technical sub-secretary of the interior ministry, is named Central Bank head.
Jul 8, 1982	New Economy Minister Dagnino Pastore imposes a 70% devaluation, with 1 dollar equal to 20,000 pesos. By the end of the day, 1 dollar is equal to 37,550 pesos.
Jul 10, 1982	Human rights activist José Westerkamp detained after criticizing the Chubut judiciary system.
Jul 19, 1982	“Graiver group” members cleared of all charges.
Jul 20, 1982	President Bignone meets with Herald editor James Neilson and Ron Hansen for nearly an hour and a half. Bignone tells them that it is impossible to publish lists of the missing because the government simply doesn’t know what happened to them.
Jul 21, 1982	Gente reporter Rudolfo Zibell, who had reported on the public sale of chocolate which had been donated for soldiers, is attacked in hotel lobby. First the hotel staff, then the Police responding to reports of violence, refuse to get involved.
Jul 22, 1982	El Nacional theatre, hosting “Sexitante” with Susana Gimenez and Carlos Calabró, is destroyed by fire. Previously unknown rightwing group Halcón claims responsibility.
Aug 24, 1982	Jorge Wehbe named economy minister after Dagnino Pastore and Central Bank President Cavallo quit.
Aug 24, 1982	In a pre-dawn raid, fifteen men claiming to be federal police officers break into the apartment of Maria Adela Gard de Antokoletz, vicepresident of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and put up posters insulting her.
Sep 6, 1982	Roberto Alemann calls for investigation of the Holmberg case.
Sep 11, 1982	Retired Admiral Massera, challenged by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo while making a speech in a hotel, says that he had “part of the responsibility” for “disappearances” which took place, and that he would not object to being investigated. After news is reported, Massera denies making the statements.
Sep 14, 1982	Murdered diplomat Elena Holmberg’s brother, in interview with the Herald, says that his sister “knew something.” He charges former president Videla with covering up information and says there was conflict between his sister and others at the naval intelligence center in Paris.
Sep 16, 1982	Former Argentine ambassador to France Tomás de Anchorena admits that friction with Navy men cost Holmberg her post in France, and says that retired admiral Massera had tried to remove him from his post as well.
Sep 16, 1982	Judge reopens Holmberg case. Videla refuses to comment on the issue.
Sep 17, 1982	La Voz reports that the judge in the Holmberg case has heard testimony implicating retired admiral Massera in the matter.
Sep 18, 1982	Massera denies the slightest involvement in the Holmberg case.
Sep 21, 1982	In cover story, Herald reveals that Gregory Dupont told the paper in an interview that Massera gave money to the Montoneros.
Sep 22, 1982	Over 20,000 demonstrate in the Plaza de Mayo, calling for bread, peace, and jobs.
Sep 24, 1982	Humor, citing information from the Swedish foreign ministry, links Navy Captain Astíz to the abduction of Dagmar Hagelin.
Sep 24, 1982	Executive branch issues communiqué banning news reports dealing with the Holmberg case, the Solá case, the P-2 Masonic Lodge, “subversive activity, human rights, and government corruption,” and “the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and all actions connected with subversion.” Despite threat that violation of this policy would result in immediate termination of directors, the ban is largely ignored.
Sep 30, 1982	Marcelo Dupont, brother of Gregory Dupont, the surprise witness in the Holmberg case, “disappears.”
Oct 1, 1982	Retired admiral Massera announce that he will sue Gregory Dupont for slander. Dupont had linked Massera to the murder of diplomat Elena Holmberg.
Oct 5, 1982	Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo hold “March for Life” peacefully, defying government ban on the march which had referred to the group as the “Mothers of Terrorist Criminals.”
Oct 7, 1982	Massera states his opinion that the “black hand” operating in Argentina got Marcelo Dupont.
Oct 7, 1982	Marcelo Dupont found dead in Palermo Chico. The government initially suggested that his death might have been a suicide. He was later found to have been pushed from a building under construction. His body showed signs of torture with electric shock.
Oct 18, 1982	Peronist rally draws about 30,000 to the Atlanta soccer club stadium and ends in chaos as factions clash.
Oct 21, 1982	Gregory Dupont’s phone found to be bugged.
Oct 21, 1982	The case of the disappearance of labor official Oscar Smith, who “disappeared” on February 11, 1977, reopened.
Oct 24, 1982	Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo seek information on unexplained burials in Grand Bourg cemetary. The cemetary, which opened in 1976, has 88 common graves containing 400 unidentified cadavers.
Oct 28, 1982	Judge Gándara, citing cemetary records, says that 31 unidentified bodies lying in Grand Bourg cemetary were of people who died in clashes with the Army.
Oct 29, 1982	Government closes La Semana for “degrading actions against essential institutions of the country.”
Oct 29, 1982	Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo lodge a protest after the discovery of more unmarked graves.
Oct 31, 1982	Several hundred more bodies found buried in unmarked graves at various cemetaries.
Nov 9, 1982	Police chief suggests that Marcelo Dupont had been tortured during a supposed trip to Brazil, rather than in Argentina. The trip to Brazil later turns out to have been faked.
Nov 10, 1982	The Catholic church calls for “forgiveness” for “disappearances.”
Nov 10, 1982	Judge Obarrio rules closure of La Semana illegal.
Nov 18, 1982	Tiempo Argentina appears for the first time, apparently using the old printing presses of La Opinión, in government custody since 1979.
Nov 19, 1982	Argentina ranked as the world’s worst investment risk.
Nov 19, 1982	Former president Frondizi says that thousands were massacred during the “anti-subversive war,” and cites the several bodies blown up near Pilar in August 1976. Police chief Camps demands an apology from Frondizi, but the former president refuses to back down, citing an August 21, 1976 Clarín article that mentioned the bodies.
Nov 25, 1982	More than 4,000 participate in “March for Life” in Plaza Alsina in Avellaneda.
Dec 6, 1982	General strike cripples country. The largest labor protest since the coup, it is declared 90% effective by labor leaders.
Dec 10, 1982	Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo conclude a 24-hour vigil marking International Human Rights Day, and a reported 8,000 march for the “missing.”
Dec 16, 1982	“March for Democracy,” organized by the “Multiparty” coalition of political parties, draws an estimated over 100,000 demonstrators to the Obelisk in central Buenos Aires. The march remains largely peaceful until 8 pm when security forces step out of a Ford Falcon and shoot protester Dalmiro Flores in the back, killing him. The shooting is initially blamed on the Montoneros, but the Falcon is later shown to have been a police vehicle.
Dec 21, 1982	Judge Narvaiz resigns after Army chief Nicolaides refuses to provide him with a list of personnel who served at the Comodoro Rivadavia Ninth Army Corps in 1978. He flees the country after Army legal advisor Héctor Lopez Domínguez tells him that he is not safe.

timeline home