Mohamed Alí Seineldín (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

:
محمد علي زين الدين
) (November 12, 1933 – September 2, 2009) was an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

army

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

who participated in two failed uprisings against the democratically elected governments of both

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

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 ...

and President

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...

in 1988 and 1990.

Early life

Seineldín was born in

Concepción del Uruguay Concepción del Uruguay is a city in Argentina. It is located in the Entre Ríos Province, Entre Ríos province, on the western shore of the Uruguay River, some 320 kilometers north from Buenos Aires. Its population is about 80,000 inhabitants ( ...

into a

Lebanese Argentine Lebanese Argentine refers to Argentine citizens of Lebanese descent or Lebanon-born people who reside in Argentina. Many of the Lebanese Argentines are descendants of immigrants cultural and linguistic heritage and/or identity, originating from ...

family. He converted from

Druzism The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of H ...

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

during his youth, and was consecrated to the

Virgin of the Rosary Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October in the General Roma ...

(''Virgen del Rosario''). He remained a devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

throughout his life, even devoting his men in the army to the Virgin of the Holy

Rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

as well. In an interview on his goals during his military career, Seineldín later explained, ''Luchamos por el mismo objetivo, que es la nacionalidad y la fe cristiana'', which translates as, "We fought for the same goal, which is nationality and the Christian faith."

Falkland War

Seineldín rose to prominence in Argentina during the 1982

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

against the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, where he was in command of the 25th Infantry Regiment, part of the garrison occupying

Port Stanley Stanley (; also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a populat ...

"Carapintada" activity

An ardent Christian Argentine nationalist, Seineldín became a member of the ''

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 ...

'', or "painted faces," group within the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army ( es, Ejército Argentino, EA) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the commander- ...

. The ''Carapintadas'' demanded that the Argentine government halt legal proceedings against

army officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contextu ...

s accused of

human rights abuses 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 ...

during 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 ...

, which occurred during Argentina's

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

from 1976 to 1983. The low-ranking officers were charged with a wide range of crimes, including the execution of guerrilla

dissidents A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

and

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

of guerrilla fighters and their supporters. In 1987 and 1988, the ''Carapintadas'' rebelled against the elected government of President

, but both uprisings were quickly put down. In December 1988, members of the

Grupo Albatros The Grupo Albatros (''Albatross Group'') is a special operations service of the Prefectura Naval Argentina. Located in the province of Buenos Aires, it conducts river and maritime operations in the lakes and rivers and anything close to the coa ...

, led by Colonel Mohamed Alí Seineldín rebelled once again against the Alfonsín government and seized the

military barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

Villa Martelli Villa Martelli town in the Partido of Vicente Lopez, in the Greater Buenos Aires metro area. History The first recorded settlement in the area occurred on May 6, 1910, and the town was officially recognized by the Provincial Legislature on July 2 ...

. The mutineers eventually surrendered and Seineldín was arrested. Seineldín led a second unsuccessful uprising against the government of President Carlos Menem beginning on December 3, 1990. The failed uprising resulted in 14 deaths, including five civilians. Seineldín was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1990 mutiny. However, he was pardoned by President

Eduardo Duhalde Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (; born 5 October 1941) is an Argentine Peronist politician who served as the interim President of Argentina from January 2002 to May 2003. He also served as Vice President and Governor of Buenos Aires in the 1990s. Bor ...

in 2003. During his trial, he assumed full guilt and denounced how Menem's government was servile to the United States' imperialism in Latin America through the privatizations of strategic services and the suspension of scientific and military projects.

Death

Mohamed Alí Seineldín suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

and died in a hospital in

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 ...

on September 2, 2009, at the age of 75.

References

External links

''Mohamed Alí Seineldín, ex militar golpista''

''Coronel Seineldín-La defensa nacional''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seineldin, Mohamed Ali 1933 births 2009 deaths Argentine Army officers Argentine military personnel of the Falklands War Argentine nationalists Argentine people of Lebanese descent Argentine Druze Argentine anti-communists Argentine Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Druzism People from Buenos Aires People from Uruguay Department Recipients of Argentine presidential pardons Carapintadas