On this day, thirty-five years ago, a turning point occurred in our political life: the suppression of the last military uprising. Six military coups in the last century have been left behind us once and for all, and I personally know the last four (1955 – 62 – 66 and 76) and many dozens of Chirinadas; To which the political, commercial, trade union and religious sectors, among others, were no strangers.
In this regard, President Raúl Alfonsín said in 1985: “Coups have always been civil-military. The undoubtedly military responsibility for its operational aspect should not make us forget the heavy civilian responsibility for its programs and ideological nourishment. The coup has always reflected the loss of the legal sense of society and not only the loss of the legal sense of the army.”
On December 3, 1990, a mutiny called “Operation Virgen de Luján” materialized in seven centers: Tank Regiment 6 (Concordia – Entre Ríos), Tank Regiment 2 (Olavarria – Bs.As.), Tank Regiment 1 (Villaguay – Entre Ríos), Quartermaster Battalion 601 (El Palomar – Bs. As. 601), Tank Factory TAMSE (Bolón – Bs. As.), and Infantry Regiment. 1 “Patricius” and the headquarters of the General Staff of the Army (Libertador Building).
This means that together with the Army Commander, General Martin Bonnet, we have installed our command center at the Horse Grenadier Regiment in Palermo. At that time, I was deputy chief of the force. The mutiny began in the early hours of the morning with the killing of Lieutenant Colonel Hernán Carlos Pita of the Patricius Regiment – who received a coup de grace to the head with less than 30 cm – and Major Federico Pedernera.
We immediately realized that some politicians associated with the ruling party might seek to reach an agreement with the rebels, as happened in the First Sinden Uprising in Villa Martelli (Operation Virgen del Valle, 2/4 December 1988), in which the then army commander, General José D. Caridi, neutralizing any repression, told the generals, “Rivalries must be put aside and agreements must be fulfilled.” He did not specify what it was. This deteriorated President Alfonsin’s ability to act and opened the door to the next crisis.
What the revolutionaries did not know on December 3, 1990 was that in the morning we informed President Carlos Menem of the situation by telephone, who said: “I will not agree with anyone. Do what you have to. You have my full support.” Neither he nor Defense Minister Humberto Romero issued any official order.
At nightfall, they were informed of the unconditional surrender of the seven centers mentioned above and the arrest of thousands of seditionists. In operations, there was cooperation from the Air Force, which carried out some frightening low-altitude flights; The goal was to avoid casualties but show firmness. Fourteen people were killed and more than a hundred wounded, some of whom were mutilated. Two of the escapees fled to Croatia and joined that country’s army as mercenaries.
Over one hundred and fifty rebels were amnestied for previous rebellions in October 1989 (Pen Decree No. 1004/89). Then-Colonel Muhammad Ali Sinaldin did not participate in the operations because he remained in San Martín de los Andes serving a disciplinary sentence imposed by the army a week ago.
In my opinion, this was a rather improvised, leaderless and therefore more dangerous, bloody, ideologically skewed, chaotic event that never appreciated the reaction of a cohesive, disciplined, resolute and professional force at different levels and committed to the constitutional order.
The Argentine Episcopal Commission condemned the use of religious symbols and their “reckless invocations to protect unjustified actions.” “The uprising shows that when pardons are given, the image of impunity is reinforced,” said Rodolfo Terragno. President Menem stated at the time: “The ‘carapintadas’ are over (…) these antics are over (…) the sentences are over (…) this was an attempted coup. It is madness by a group of individuals who considered themselves more or less messianic.” It is always dangerous to confuse the political, the ideological, the partisan, and the religious.
It has been said on numerous occasions that Menem completed the final subordination of the armed forces to civilian authority. This could not have been done without the decisive work undertaken by the army within the framework of the other forces and all the hierarchies that demonstrated a commitment to the constitutional order that we had not seen until then, and which is still in effect. I always remember a phrase from President Juan D. Perron I read it in 1955, when I was a student at the military college: “The armed forces are the essence of the people. They do not belong to a specific party or sector, and they cannot be a tool for anyone’s ambition. They belong to the homeland, which is the common place, and they are entirely indebted to it.”“.