Jorge Rafael Videla
Jorge Rafael Videla was the commander of the Argentine army junta that seized power on 24 March 1976, launching the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (National Reorganization Process) — the most systematic state terrorism program in Latin American history. A devout Catholic who saw himself as fighting a 'Christian war' against Marxist subversion, Videla presided over the forced disappearance of an estimated 10,000-30,000 people between 1976 and 1983. The regime's methodology was systematic: victims were taken by plainclothes security forces, held in 340+ clandestine detention centers (the largest being the ESMA naval school in Buenos Aires), tortured, and killed — many thrown alive from aircraft into the Río de la Plata ('death flights'). Pregnant women were kept alive to give birth; their children were given to military families. Operation Condor coordinated with the Chilean, Uruguayan, Paraguayan, Bolivian, and Brazilian security services to murder exiles across borders, with CIA coordination. Videla handed power to Roberto Viola in 1981 and was ultimately tried in the democratic transition. Convicted in 1985 and pardoned by Menem in 1990, he was re-convicted in 2010 after the pardons were annulled and died in prison in 2013.
- Lived: 1925 CE – 2013 CE
- Nationality: argentinian
- Roles: general, dictator, head_of_state
