MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

New Argentine law curbs military

Over 18 years after being passed by Congress, the law regulating military activity was enforced yesterday via a presidential decree.

During an army day speech on May 29, President Kirchner had announced that his government would introduce a reform in the armed forces that would "establish civilian authority in the command of the defence policy."

That day, Kirchner had also nagged at the army ranks following the participation of five officers in a demonstration to remember military and civilian victims of guerrilla subversion in the 1970s. The President said that the rally in Plaza San Martín on May 24 had "vindicated the state terrorism" of the 1976-83 dictatorship.

"As the President of Argentina I have no fear, I don't fear you," he said in the army day ceremony at the Military School in the Greater Buenos Aires town of El Palomar.

The move, which trims the powers of the heads of the armed forces, caps two weeks of tension between the government and the forces after the administration viewed a rally attended by some serving and retired officers as defiance of its pro-active human rights policy.

The National Defence Act centralizes control over the armed forces in the joint chiefs-of-staff, gives more power to civilians and bars the military from having a part in internal security affairs and in the fight against drugs, organized crime and terrorism.

The government said yesterday the law will contribute to modernizing the armed forces and making them more efficient. The law trims the power of the three heads of the armed forces, as most of their attributions are transferred to a centralized body led by the head of the joint chiefs-of-staff, which was until now a largely bureaucratic position. Defence Minister Nilda Garré said that a decentralized command led the forces to make "many mistakes," citing the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas war against Britain as an example.

Originally passed in April 1988 under the government of Radical president Raúl Alfonsín, neither Alfonsín nor subsequent presidents signed the decree with the small print of regulations which is necessary for the law to be enforced.

Gov't writes new military rules

Minister of Defence Nilda Garré said the passage of the law had been "a landmark in the re-storation of democracy" after the 1976-83 military dictatorship and blamed the delay of its enforcement on "the lack of interest of the political leadership in accepting its responsibility for the cause (of democracy)."

"The political and democratic control of the armed forces is fundamental for peace and integration in our countries according to strong and long-lasting institutional bases," said Garré in a press conference in Government House after the decree-signing ceremony headed by Kirchner.

Argentina's first-ever female defence minister was joined by General Jorge Chevallier, head of the joint chiefs-of-staff with General Roberto Bendini, Admiral Jorge Godoy and Lieutenant-General Eduardo Schiaffini (chiefs-of staff of the army, navy and air force respectively).

The four were all named by Kirchner shortly after he became President in May, 2003, in a purge of the forces including the removal of over 20 top officers.

Army sources claim a number of high-ranking officers are not happy with Bendini's performance. Bendini is close to Kirchner from the time when the President governed the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz (1991-2003) and Bendini commanded the local garrison.

As part of his pro-active human rights campaign Kirchner has repeatedly made it clear that the armed forces must seek forgiveness for their past crimes.

Only months after taking office, Kirchner became the driving-force behind the congressional decision to scrap two laws passed under Alfonsín to shield junior officers from standing trial for human rights abuses committed under the dictatorship. The quashing of the 1986 Full Stop and 1987 Due Obedience laws has opened the doors for the trial of hundreds of retired military officers accused of atrocities.

The government felt defied last month, when a group of serving and retired officers held a tribute in a downtown park to the memory" of the victims of pre-coup 1970s subversion. Up to 30,000 people were killed or disappeared under the dictatorship.

Critics claim the Kirchner administration is loaded with members of the Montonero Peronist guerrilla group, the main armed activist group in the 70s.

Since the military are legally banned from any political activities, several officers attending the gathering were arrested for up to 40 days.

The military gathering in Plaza San Martín was staged on May 24, only a day before a rally in Plaza de Mayo staged as part of May Revolution day celebrations but widely regarded as the kickoff of Kirchner's campaign ahead of the 2007 presidential elections.

A few days later, a group of officers reportedly turned their backs on the President as he gave an army day speech at the Campo de Mayo army base. Rafael Videla, the son of ex-dictator Jorge Videla, is said to have walked out during the presidential address. The official story was that he went out to smoke. Buenos Aires Herald