Alejandro Agustín Lanusse Gelly (28 August 1918 – 26 August 1996) was the ''de facto'' president of the
Argentine Republic
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
between 26 March 1971 and 25 May 1973, during the military dictatorship of the country called the "
Argentine Revolution".
On 26 March 1971, Lanusse assumed the presidency in a totally unfavorable political climate. Guerrilla violence grew, popular discontent also, the continuity of the military government became difficult to sustain. Lanusse evaluated that the solution to the multiple conflicts was to end the proscription of
Peronism and to decree a political opening that allowed a transition towards democracy.
Early life
He was born as Alejandro Agustín Lanusse Gelly on 28 August 1918, in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
to Luis Gustavo Lanusse Justo and Albertina Gelly Cantilo.
Career
A graduate of the Army Academy (
Colegio Militar de la Nación, class of 1938), he served in different Cavalry units before becoming commander of the ''
Regimiento de Granaderos a Caballo'' (Regiment of Horse Grenadiers, presidential escort unit). In 1951, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in an attempted coup to overthrow
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón (, , ; 8 October 1895 – 1 July 1974) was an Argentine military officer and Statesman (politician), statesman who served as the History of Argentina (1946-1955), 29th president of Argentina from 1946 to Revolución Libertad ...
. He was released in 1955 with the
Revolución Libertadora
The ''Revolución Libertadora'' (; ''Liberating Revolution'') as it named itself, was the civic-military dictatorship that ruled the Argentine Republic after overthrowing President Juan Domingo Perón, shutting down the National Congress of Ar ...
, a military uprising which ousted General Perón and set up a military dictatorship which was in power from 1955 to 1958. In 1956, he was designated Ambassador to the
Holy See
The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...
.
In 1960, he became assistant director of the Superior Military School and later Commander of the First Armored Cavalry Division. In 1962, he took part in the overthrowing of president
Arturo Frondizi
Arturo Frondizi Ércoli (Paso de los Libres, October 28, 1908 – Buenos Aires, April 18, 1995) was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, teacher, statesman, and politician. He was elected president of Argentina and governed from May ...
, and, in 1966, supported General
Juan Carlos Onganía in the ousting of president
Arturo Illia. In 1968, he became
Commander-in-Chief of the Argentine Army.
Presidency
Lanusse became president of Argentina in 1971. During his administration he established diplomatic relations with
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and continuously faced political unrest, with an increase in
guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...
activity. Many political opponents were jailed, and Lanusse decided to negotiate with the
Montoneros (a
Peronist guerrilla movement) for the return of the corpse of Evita (
Eva Duarte de Perón),
Juan Domingo Perón's second wife whose body had been hidden by the "Revolución Libertadora". On 22 August 1971, several imprisoned guerrillas attempted to escape from the Naval Base of
Rawson in
Patagonia, and were executed without trial in the
Trelew massacre.
In March 1973,
presidential elections were held, and won by
Hector Cámpora.
Later years
In 1985, Lanusse published his autobiography and criticized the human rights violations that took place during the
Dirty War
The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...
, including the state murder of his cousin, diplomat
Elena Holmberg.
He was placed under
house arrest
House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...
in 1994 for criticizing president
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) served as the 50th president of Argentina for ten years, from 1989 to 1999. He identified as Peronism, Peronist, serving as President of the Justicialist Party for 13 years (from 1990 to 200 ...
in a magazine interview.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanusse, Alejandro Agustin
1918 births
1996 deaths
People from Buenos Aires
Argentine generals
20th-century presidents of Argentina
Presidents of Argentina
Argentine people of French descent
Ambassadors of Argentina to the Holy See