Carapintadas

   A group of Argentine junior army officers, who, from 1987 to 1990, staged a series of revolts against the democratic governments of Raúl Alfonsín and Carlos Saúl Menem. They were called carapintadas (literally the “painted faces”) in reference to their practice of wearing commando fatigues and smearing their faces with black camouflage. The carapintadas were angered by civilian attempts to persecute the military for waging what they saw as a justified war against subversion.

   In April 1987 and January 1988, Lieutenant Colonel Aldo Rico, a veteran of the “dirty war” and the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas conflict, led uprisings against Alfonsín. The first uprising, Operación Dignidad (Operation Dignity), began on 15 April 1987, the Thursday of Holy Week. (The uprising is also known as the revolt of Semana Santa, Easter Holy Week.) An army major accused of human-rights violations had fled prosecution and taken refuge in a military compound in Córdoba. The rebels took over the compound and demanded a general amnesty for all officers facing trial for participating in the “dirty war.” Alfonsín met with the rebels and announced, on Easter Sunday, that they had agreed to surrender. Although he claimed that the rebels had given in without conditions, two months later the government passed Obediencia Debida (Due Obedience law), which exempted all but the most senior officers from prosecution. Although the carapintadas escaped the possibility of standing trial for any involvement in the “dirty war,” they did not escape the army’s efforts to discipline them for their part in the rebellion. In January 1988, Rico, who had been imprisoned since the revolt, resisted the army’s call for his resignation, fled confinement, and led a second uprising, the Rebelión de Monte Caseros (Rebellion of Monte Caseros), which was put down by army loyalists. Rico and his followers were sentenced by a military court and imprisoned in Magdalena military prison. In December 1988 a third uprising against Alfonsín took place. This one, at the Villa Martelli military base, was led by Colonel Mohammed Alí Seineldín, a charismatic right-wing figure. Like Rico, Seineldín surrendered and received a prison term. Both were freed on 8 October 1989 in a blanket presidential pardon issued by Carlos Saúl Menem. They were still, however, subject to military discipline. Rico was discharged from the army later that month. Seineldín fought any attempt to remove him, and on 3 December 1990 launched another carapintada rebellion— the last and most violent. It was crushed by loyalist forces the same day. The rebels were sentenced in a military court to long prison terms, including life sentences for Seineldín and other leading officers.