Isaac Francisco Rojas Madariaga (December 3, 1906 – April 13, 1993) was an Argentine Admiral of the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

and de facto Vice President of Argentina. He joined the Argentine Navy and had an unremarkable career until the 1946 election of Juan Perón.

Under Perón

He was Naval attache in Brazil and Uruguay, and later he became close to the influential First Lady,

Eva Perón María Eva Duarte de Perón (; ; 7 May 1919 – 26 July 1952), better known as just Eva Perón or by the nickname Evita (), was an Argentine politician, activist, actress, and philanthropist who served as First Lady of Argentina from June 19 ...

, and served as her naval aide-de-camp until her death in 1952. He was then named head of the Río Santiago Naval Academy (close to the site of an important naval shipyard), though in August 1955, he was persuaded to take part in the coup d'état that toppled Perón on September 19. Credited with leading the Navy during the rebellion, Rojas obtained Perón's resignation and exile by commandeering the

ARA General Belgrano ARA ''General Belgrano'' (C-4) was an Argentine Navy light cruiser in service from 1951 until 1982. Originally commissioned by the U.S. as , she saw action in the Pacific theatre of World War II before being sold by the United States to Argent ...

- threatening to bombard the YPF refinery in Ensenada (then the nation's largest).

Vice president

On 23 September 1955 he was rewarded with the vice presidency at the Navy's insistence, and remained in the post until President Pedro Aramburu relinquished power to elected authorities in May 1958. Rojas imposed a staunch anti-Peronist and anti-Communist as vice president, though he supported Aramburu's call for Constitutional Assembly elections in 1957, overcoming objections from the largely conservative Navy. Peronism was banned, and remained so until 1972. In 1958 as commander of Naval Operations of the Argentine Navy he was involved in the

Snipe incident The Snipe incident was a military incident that took place between Chile and Argentina during 1958 as a result of a disputed border line in the Beagle Channel. The two countries disagreed about the sovereign rights over the zone and Snipe, an un ...

, when he ordered the destruction of the Chilean lighthouse and its replacement with an Argentine one.

Return to Democracy

Following the return to democracy with the election of 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 ...

, Rojas remained a vocal supporter of military action to prevent the return of Peronism, and participated in the failed April 1963 coup attempt against President

José María Guido José María Guido (29 August 1910 – 13 June 1975) was President of Argentina, from 30 March 1962 to 12 October 1963. Biography Early life José María Guido was born in Buenos Aires on August 29, 1910. He was one of two sons of J.M.E ...

(who was himself appointed in Frondizi's replacement for the sake of preventing a Peronist resurgence at the polls). Following Army Chief

Juan Carlos Onganía Juan Carlos Onganía Carballo (; 17 March 1914 – 8 June 1995) was President of Argentina from 29 June 1966 to 8 June 1970. He rose to power as dictator after toppling the president Arturo Illia in a coup d'état self-named ''Revolución Argen ...

's defeat of the coup attempt, Rojas was confined to his uptown Buenos Aires apartment, after which he largely limited his contact with the public to occasional columns in conservative newspapers such as ''

La Prensa ''La Prensa'' ("The Press") is a frequently used name for newspapers in the Spanish-speaking world. It may refer to: Argentina * ''La Prensa'' (Buenos Aires) * , a current publication of Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz Bolivia * ''La Prensa'' (La Paz ...

'' and ''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Na ...

''. He opposed the

Antarctic Treaty russian: link=no, Договор об Антарктике es, link=no, Tratado Antártico , name = Antarctic Treaty System , image = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty.svgborder , image_width = 180px , caption ...

of 1961 and later to the Beagle Channel Arbitration. He was founder of the “Movimiento Pro-impugnación del Laudo Arbitral del Beagle” and was a staunch supporter of the ill-fated Falklands War against Britain. He died 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 ...

, making it his dying wish that his ashes be scattered at the site of the sinking of the Belgrano during the 1982 conflict.''The Independent'': Obituary - Admiral Isaac Rojas
/ref>

List of books written by Isaac Rojas

* "La ofensiva geopolítica brasileña en la Cuenca del Plata", * "La Argentina en el Beagle y Atlántico Sur: Parte 1" * "Intereses argentinos en la Cuenca del Plata" * "Argentina en el Atlántico, Chile en el Pacífico" * "Una geopolítica nacional desintegrante" * "Memorias del almirante Isaac F. Rojas" * "La revolución libertadora" * "Memoria sobre la controversia argentino-chilena" * "Carlos Pellegrini: su espiritu militar y las fuerzas armadas" * "La cuestión del Beagle y de las islas argentinas de la zona austral usurpadas por Chile"

References

External links