The trial of the juntas of this This year marks the 40th anniversary It is undoubtedly one of the most important milestones in Argentina’s democratic history. The polls conducted by Gallup under my direction between 1983 and 1986 allow us to clearly reconstruct this public climate. From these materials we can observe a consistent pattern: Argentine society massively supported both the trial of the juntas and Alfonsín’s politics of truth and justice, even as tensions and ambivalences from the recent past coexisted.
Just a few months after Conadep was founded, in April 198454% of the population already rated the verdict of those responsible for the repression positively, while only 12% rated it negatively. These were times when fear had not yet completely disappeared and when every institutional advance brought with it internal and external tensions. But even there, in this uncertain area, the majority demanded the truth.
with the beginning After the trial of the juntas in April 1985, this support did not weaken but grew. In June of the same year, 76% of Argentines expressed a positive opinion about the trial policy, only 8% opposed it, while 15% rated it as fair. An extraordinary level of consensus in any democracy and even more so in a recently resurgent democracy like Argentina.
The The support did not occur in a vacuum. It was part of an intense debate about responsibility, about who should be held accountable. The majority – 52% – believed that both those who gave the orders and those who carried them out should be judged, while 29% believed that only superiors should be judged for their responsibilities. This moral and legal definition, previously expressed on the streets, anticipated discussions that would shape our history in the years that followed.
Also It is important to observe how society was positioned faced with the dilemma between remembering and forgetting. Since 1982, when the dictatorship was still alive, about half of Argentines were already inclined to clarify the facts in every detail, while 40% chose to forget the past and look forward. With the return of democracy and its practice over the years, this will became even stronger: in 1995, 50% demanded clarification and 31% chose to forget, and in 2003 the proportion increased to 62% who chose clarification and fell to 29% who preferred to forget and look forward.
Polls suggest broad support to contribute to the politics of truth and justice, even in the context of growing economic difficulties. Argentinians viewed the judicial process promoted by Alfonsín positively and considered it necessary to refine the role of the armed forces in political life. Citizens supported human rights policies, although there were ambivalences about the impact of previous political violence in the 1970s and about the role of the armed forces in restoring order.
Argentine society was mostly supported the trial of the juntas and Alfonsín’s human rights policies. This support not only gave legitimacy to the judicial process but also cemented an enduring democratic consensus. Forty years after the trial, this empirical evidence shows that the search for truth and justice was not an imposition from above, but a belief shared by the majority of Argentines: a moral and political foundation on which the restored democracy was built.
The court case and public debate of those years had also has a profound influence on society’s perception of the armed forces. For decades, military intervention in political life had damaged the country’s reputation among citizens, which was exacerbated as human rights violations committed during the authoritarian regime became visible. But over time, and in light of persistent evidence that military institutions have focused on their specific missions, subordinated themselves to the constitutional order, and made no claim to political power, this picture has changed. Today, a more relaxed and professional assessment of the armed forces prevails, linked to its institutional role rather than to the government’s ambitions that characterized the conflict phases of the past.
In 1985, 66% of Argentines said they didn’t trust them in them. Military discrediting was not a simple sociological fact: it was part of the political and cultural support that made it possible More. It was not just a bold gesture by a democratic government, nor an institutional experiment that the world watched in amazement. Above all, it was a clear expression of Argentine society, which has chosen a difficult path in the most fragile years of its transition. Looking at these numbers 40 years later does not turn the verdict into a statistic, but rather forces us to understand it as a collective act.
Based on current data from the Armed Forces Voices and World Values Survey With 53% trust, up from 19% in 1984, they are the most valued institution in 2024, while the institutions most connected to the political system have significantly lost credibility. Trust in Congress, which reached 73% in 1984, fell dramatically, as did credibility in the judiciary, which reached 59%. Currently, only about 2 in 10 Argentines trust both institutions and only 1 in 10 trust the political parties.
At 40 years old After the trial of the committees and in view of the current data, the question is not only what happened then, but also what we are prepared to defend today. Because this process was essentially a collective confirmation: democracy will not be negotiated and justice will not be postponed. And this statement, born on the streets, still poses challenges for us. We must strengthen our democracy and make it more efficient to respond to the needs of Argentines.
Sociologist, President of Voices Consultancy, Member of the National Academy of Moral and Political Sciences
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