The Argentine Anticommunist Alliance ( es, Alianza Anticomunista Argentina, links=no, usually known as Triple A or AAA) was an Argentine

Peronist Peronism, also called justicialism,. The Justicialist Party is the main Peronist party in Argentina, it derives its name from the concept of social justice., name=, group= is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas and legacy of A ...

political action group operated by a sector of the Federal Police and the

Argentine Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, in es, Fuerzas Armadas de la República Argentina, are controlled by the Commander-in-Chief (the President) and a civilian Minister of Defense. In addition to the Army, Navy and Air Force, there are t ...

, linked with the anticommunist lodge

Propaganda Due Propaganda Due (; P2) was a Masonic lodge under the Grand Orient of Italy, founded in 1877. Its Masonic charter was withdrawn in 1976, and it transformed into a criminal, clandestine, anti-communist, anti-Soviet, anti-leftist, pseudo-Masonic, ...

, that killed artists, priests, intellectuals, leftist politicians, students, historians and union members, as well as issuing threats, carrying out extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances during the presidencies of

Juan Perón Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine Army general and politician. After serving in several government positions, including Minister of Labour and Vice President of a military dictatorship, he was elected ...

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 ...

between 1973 and 1976. The group was responsible for the disappearance and death of between 700 and 1100 people. The Triple A was secretly led by

José López Rega José López Rega (17 November 1916 – 9 June 1989) was an Argentine politician who served as Minister of Social Welfare from 1973 to 1975, first under Juan Perón and continuing under Isabel Perón, Juan Perón's third wife and presidential ...

, Minister of Social Welfare and personal secretary of

Rodolfo Almirón Rodolfo Eduardo Almirón Sena (17 February 1936 – 5 June 2009) was a former Argentine police officer and a leader of an extreme right-wing death squad known as the Triple A, operating in Argentina from 1973 to 1976 against the left-wing of ...

, arrested in Spain in 2006, was alleged to be his chief operating officer of the group, and was officially head of López Rega's and Isabel Perón's personal security. He was extradited from Spain in 2006 and prosecuted; he died in jail in June 2009.

SIDE Side or Sides may refer to: Geometry * Edge (geometry) of a polygon (two-dimensional shape) * Face (geometry) of a polyhedron (three-dimensional shape) Places * Side (Ainis), a town of Ainis, ancient Thessaly, Greece * Side (Caria), a town of a ...

agent Anibal Gordon was another important member of the Triple A, although he always denied it. He was tried in Argentina in 1985 after the restoration of democracy and convicted in October 1986. Gordon died in prison of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...

the next year. In 2006, Argentine Judge Norberto Oyarbide ruled the Triple A had committed "

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

," which meant their crimes were exempt from statutes of limitations. Suspects can be prosecuted for actions committed in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Creation

The ''Triple A'' was believed to have been organized in 1973 by José López Rega and Alberto Villar, deputy chief of the

Argentine federal police The Argentine Federal Police ( es, Policía Federal Argentina or PFA) is the national civil police force of the Argentine federal government. The PFA has detachments throughout the country. Until January 1, 2017, it also acted as the local la ...

, during the brief interim presidency of

Raúl Lastiri Raúl Alberto Lastiri (11 September 1915 – 11 December 1978) was an Argentine politician who was interim president of Argentina from July 13, 1973 until October 12, 1973. Lastiri, who presided over the Argentine Chamber of Deputies, was promot ...

in 1973. Reportedly, the movement was conceived at a high-level

meeting on October 1, 1973, attended by President

, Interior Minister

Benito Llambí Benito may refer to: Places * Benito, Kentucky, United States * Benito, Manitoba, Canada * Benito River, a river in Equatorial Guinea Other uses * Benito (name) * ''Benito'' (1993), an Italian film See also * ''Benito Cereno'', a novella by Herm ...

, Social Welfare Minister

, general secretary of the Presidency

José Humberto Martiarena José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

and various provincial governors. The group operated under the governments of Lastiri, Perón and Isabel Perón through López Rega resignation and exile in July 1975. Villar and his wife were murdered in 1974 with a bomb that was planted on his cabin cruiser in Tigre by members of the ''

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 Montone ...

'', a militant, leftist group. López Rega, a devotee of

occultism The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

and self-styled divinator, became a powerful force in the Peronist movement. He exerted great influence over Perón, who was elected to the presidency and took office in 1973, and his wife Isabel Perón, elected as vice-president, who succeeded to the presidency upon Perón's sudden death on 1 July 1974. To support the paramilitary group, López Rega drew on funds from the Ministry of Social Welfare, which he controlled. Some of the members of the Triple A had earlier taken part in the Peronist 1973 Ezeiza massacre. On the day Perón returned from exile, snipers shot and killed numerous (13 at least killed) left-wing Peronists at the mass gathering to welcome his return, leading to the definitive separation between left and right-wing Peronists. The Spanish Judge

Baltazar Garzón Balthazar, or variant spellings, may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Balthazar'' (novel), by Lawrence Durrell, 1958 * ''Balthasar'', an 1889 book by Anatole France * '' Professor Balthazar'', a Croatian animated TV series, 1967-1978 ...

's investigations, directed at human rights abuses internationally, revealed that Italian

neofascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration ...

Stefano Delle Chiaie had also worked with the Triple A, and was present at Ezeiza. Delle Chiaie also worked with the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

DINA Dina ( ar, دينا, he, דִּינָה, also spelled Dinah, Dena, Deena) is a female given name. Women * Dina bint Abdul-Hamid (1929–2019), Queen consort of Jordan, first wife of King Hussein * Princess Dina Mired of Jordan (born 1965), Princ ...

in Chile, and for

Hugo Banzer Hugo Banzer Suárez (; 10 May 1926 – 5 May 2002) was a Bolivian politician and military officer who served as the 51st president of Bolivia. He held the Bolivian presidency twice: from 1971 to 1978 in a military dictatorship; and then a ...

, a

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in time ...

. According to a 1983 article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', the group was founded when there were an increasing number of guerrilla attacks by left-wing militant groups, which were met by harsh repression of political dissidents on the part of the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

and

police force The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

s. This environment of social unrest was the justification used by the subsequent military junta for its

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 ...

against political opponents. But testimony at the 1985 Juicio a las Juntas trial established that by 1976, both the ERP and the

had been dismantled, and the political dissidents had never posed a real threat to the government.

Victims

The group first came to national attention on 21 November 1973 in its attempt to murder Argentine

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Hipólito Solari Yrigoyen by a

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided ...

. The AAA went on to kill 1,122 people, according to an appendix to the 1983

CONADEP 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'' (v ...

report, including suspected Montoneros and ERP leftist terrorists and their sympathizers, but the group expanded its targets to other political opponents, including

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

s, police chiefs, and

social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range ...

s. In total, it is suspected of having killed more than 1500 people."Justicia argentina condenó delitos de la Triple A" (Argentine justice condemned crimes of Triple A)
, ''Agencia Pulsar'', 27 December 2006, URL accessed on January 4, 2007 The group is strongly suspected in the 1974 assassination of

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest

Carlos Mugica Carlos Mugica (October 7, 1930 – May 11, 1974) was an Argentine Roman Catholic priest and activist. Life and times Early life Carlos Francisco Sergio Mugica was born in Buenos Aires, in 1930, into a privileged background. His father, Adolfo Mug ...

, a friend of Mario Firmenich, the founder of Montoneros. Other people murdered by the organisation include Silvio Frondizi, brother of former president

Arturo Frondizi Arturo Frondizi Ércoli (October 28, 1908 – April 18, 1995) was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, teacher and politician, who was elected President of Argentina and ruled between May 1, 1958 and March 29, 1962, when he was overthrown by a ...

; Julio Troxler, former-vice director of the police; Alfredo Curutchet, a defense attorney for

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...

s; and Hipólito Atilio López, a key union leader of Córdoba. The CONADEP commission on

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

violations documented the Triple A's execution of 19 homicides in 1973, 50 in 1974 and 359 in 1975, while its involvement in several hundred others is also suspected. The 1986 study by Ignacio Jansen González is often cited; he estimates the group committed 220

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

attacks from July to September 1974, which killed 60 and severely wounded 44; as well as 20 kidnappings. Federal judge Norberto Oyarbide, who signed the

extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...

order against former leader of the AAA

, ruled in December 2006 that Triple A's crimes qualified as

human rights violations Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...

and the "beginning of the systematic process directed by the state apparatus" during the

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship a ...

.Prisión para el ex policía argentino Rodolfo Almirón por su pertenencia a la Triple A
'' EFE'' — '' El Mundo'', December 29, 2006 — URL accessed on January 4, 2007

Death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a d ...

s caused many of the opposition to leave Argentina. Amongst many well-known and respected people who left are mathematician

Manuel Sadosky Manuel Sadosky (April 13, 1914 – June 18, 2005) was an Argentine mathematician, civil servant and author who was born in Buenos Aires to Jewish Russian immigrants who had fled the pogroms in Europe.Jacovkis, Pablo (2015). "MANUEL SADOSKY Y SU IM ...

, artists Héctor Alterio, Luis Brandoni and Nacha Guevara, politician and entrepreneur

José Ber Gelbard José Ber Gelbard (14 April 1917 4 October 1977), was a Polish-born Argentine activist and politician, and a member of the Argentine Communist Party. He also helped organize the ''Confederación General Económica'' (CGE), made up of small and ...

, lawyer and politician Héctor Sandler, and actor

Norman Briski Norman Briski (born January 2, 1938) is an Argentine theatre actor, director and playwright, as well as a cinema and television actor. Life and work Naum Normando Briski was born in Santa Fe, Argentina, in 1938. His Jewish Argentine family reloca ...

."Rodolfo Almirón, de la Triple A al Montejurra"
, PDF Main assassinations claimed by the AAA: * Murder of Rodolfo David Ortega Peña on July 31, 1974 * Murder of Raúl Laguzzidel on September 5, 1974 * Murder of Alfredo Alberto Pérez Curutchet on September 10, 1974 * Kidnapping of Daniel Banfi, Luis Latrónica and Guillermo Jabif on September 12, 1974 * Murder of Julio Tomás Troxler on September 20, 1974 * Murder of Domingo Devincenti on November 6, 1974 * Murders of Silvio Frondizi and his son-in-law Luis Ángel Mendiburu on September 27, 1974 * Murder of Carlos Ernensto Laham and Pedro Leopoldo Barraza on October 13, 1974. * Murder of Ramon Samaniego on April 12, 1974

Others

After the fall of López Rega in 1975 and

Jorge Rafael Videla Jorge Rafael Videla (; ; 2 August 1925 – 17 May 2013) was an Argentine military officer and dictator, Commander in Chief of the Army, member of the Military Junta, and ''de facto'' President of Argentina from 29 March 1976 to 29 March 1981. H ...

's coup in March 1976, many Triple A members fled to Spain, where they became involved in assassinations of Spanish leftists. Fifteen former AAA members (including

) were involved in the 1976 shooting of two left-wing

Carlist Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – o ...

members at a large annual gathering in

Montejurra Montejurra in Spanish and Jurramendi in Basque are the names of a mountain in Navarre region (Spain). Each year, it hosts a Carlist celebration in remembrance of the 1873 Battle of Montejurra during the Third Carlist War. In 2004, approximately 1 ...

, Spain. Others implicated in the event were Italian neofascist Stefano Delle Chiaie and Jean-Pierre Cherid, former member of the French OAS and at the time part of the GAL death squad in Spain. "MONTEJURRA: LA OPERACIÓN RECONQUISTA Y EL ACTA FUNDACIONAL DE LAS TRAMAS ANTITERRORISTAS. Fuente "INTERIOR" Por Santiago Belloch"
Former Triple A member José María Boccardo took part with Cherid and others in the 1978 assassination of Argala, an

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

member involved in the 1973 assassination of Franco's prime minister Luis Carrero Blanco.«Yo maté al asesino de Carrero Blanco»
'' El Mundo'', 21 December 2003
English account of ''El Mundo'' article

References

External links

"El 'jefe' de la Triple A vive en un arrabal de Valencia"
El Mundo, Félix Martínez y Nando García
"El Debut del Terror: La Triple A"
Pablo Mendelevich
"Triple A; Toda la verdad, caiga quien caiga"
{{Authority control Anti-communist organizations Dirty War Far-right politics in Argentina History of Argentina (1973–1976) Paramilitary organisations based in Argentina Counterterrorism in Argentina Far-right terrorism in Spain Anti-communist terrorism Anti-communism in Argentina Terrorism in Argentina Peronism Criminal organizations