The 1987 Carapintada mutiny took place in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, during the presidency of

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after more than ...

Context

The

Dirty War The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 a ...

took place in Argentina during the 1970s and the early 1980s. Left-wing guerrillas, such as

Montoneros Montoneros ( es, link=no, Movimiento Peronista Montonero-MPM) was an Argentine left-wing Peronist guerrilla organization, active throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. The name is an allusion to the 19th-century cavalry militias called Montoner ...

and ERP, sought to establish a socialist state, as in Cuba. The military, first during the civilian governments of

Juan ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

and

Isabel Perón Isabel Martínez de Perón (, born María Estela Martínez Cartas, 4 February 1931), also known as Isabelita, is an Argentine politician who served as President of Argentina from 1974 to 1976. She was one of the first female republican heads ...

, and then during the

National Reorganization Process The National Reorganization Process (Spanish: ''Proceso de Reorganización Nacional'', often simply ''el Proceso'', "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, in which it was supported by the United Sta ...

military dictatorship, sought to prevent that. The military defeated the guerrillas, but committed human rights violations during the conflict. New elections were held in 1983, and

became the new president. The

National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (Spanish: ', CONADEP) was an Argentine organization created by President Raúl Alfonsín on 15 December 1983, shortly after his inauguration, to investigate the fate of the ''desaparecidos'' (vi ...

prepared the "Nunca más" report ( es, Never again), detailing 8,961 cases of

forced disappearance An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...

s. The

Trial of the Juntas The Trial of the Juntas ( es, Juicio a las Juntas) was the judicial trial of the members of the ''de facto'' military government that ruled Argentina during the dictatorship of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (''el proceso''), which laste ...

sentenced the heads of the military dictatorship, and the

full stop law The Full stop law, ''Ley de Punto Final'', was passed by the National Congress of Argentina in 1986, three years after the end of the military dictatorship of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (1976 to 1983) and restoration of democracy. F ...

caused an increased number of charges against the military.

The mutiny

Major

Ernesto Barreiro Ernesto, form of the name Ernest in several Romance languages, may refer to: * ''Ernesto'' (novel) (1953), an unfinished autobiographical novel by Umberto Saba, published posthumously in 1975 ** ''Ernesto'' (film), a 1979 Italian drama loosely ba ...

was indicted, but refused to appear in the court. He started a mutiny in Córdoba on April 14, rallying troops to support him. Three days later, Lieutenant Colonel

Aldo Rico Aldo Rico (born 4 March 1943) is an Argentine retired Lieutenant Colonel and politician, famous for his role in the episodes of 1987 (usually referred to as "Semana Santa", or Easter week) and 1988 (the "Monte Caseros" mutiny) where sectors of the ...

started another mutiny in

Campo de Mayo Campo de Mayo is a military base located in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, northwest of Buenos Aires. Campo de Mayo covers an area of and is one of the most important military bases in Argentina, including Argentine Army's: * General Lemos Co ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, supporting Barreiro. They were called "

Carapintadas The ' ( en, Painted Faces) were a group of mutineers in the Argentine Army, who took part in various uprisings between 1987 and 1990 during the presidencies of Raúl Alfonsín and Carlos Menem in Argentina. The rebellions, while at first thought t ...

" ( es, Painted faces) because they practiced

military camouflage Military camouflage is the use of camouflage by an armed force to protect personnel and equipment from observation by enemy forces. In practice, this means applying colour and materials to military equipment of all kinds, including vehicles, ...

. They asked for new authorities in the armed forces, and an end to the dirty war related trials.Lewis, P. 154 Loyal military units surrounded the rebels, but refused to attack them. The population made demonstrations in support of Alfonsín, and the CGT union called on a general strike on his behalf until the crisis was resolved. Other unions, political parties, industrial sectors and the Church manifested their support for Alfonsín as well. Alfonsín personally led the negotiations with the rebels. The mutiny was stopped, and Alfonsín announced it in the balcony of the ''

Casa Rosada The ''Casa Rosada'' (, eng, Pink House) is the office of the president of Argentina. The palatial mansion is known officially as ''Casa de Gobierno'' ("House of Government" or "Government House"). Normally, the president lives at the Quinta de ...

'', to the people gathered there. In the following weeks he made changes to the command of the armed forces, and sent the

Law of Due Obedience The Law of Due Obedience ( es, Ley de obediencia debida) was a law passed by the National Congress of Argentina after the end of the military dictatorship of the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (which started with a coup d'état in 1976 and e ...

bill to the Congress. This law, complementing the full stop law, prevented hundreds of prosecutions. The minister

Horacio Jaunarena José Horacio Jaunarena (born 29 November 1942) is an Argentine politician who served as minister of defense of Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served ...

clarified that the law was a project previous to the mutiny, and that the new authorities in the armed forces were not the ones requested by Rico.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Raúl Alfonsín Attempted coups in Argentina 1980s coups d'état and coup attempts Mutinies Presidency of Raúl Alfonsín 1987 in Argentina 1987 crimes in Argentina Carapintadas April 1987 events in South America