Anaya, Jorge I.

(1926–2008)

   Admiral during the “dirty war” in Argentina. He was nicknamed “El Negro” because of his dark skin. In 1977 he was named director of naval personnel and had an office at the Escuela Mecánica de la Armada (ESMA, Navy Mechanics School), Argentina’s most notorious torture center. He was appointed commander of the navy in September 1981 and served in the third junta (December 1981 to June 1982). He was the principal planner of the ill-fated Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas invasion. In the 1985 trial of the nine former junta commanders, Anaya was acquitted of humanrights crimes—the third junta had taken office after the worst of the repression was over. In May 1986, however, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the nation’s highest military tribunal, convicted him of negligence for his role in the Falklands War. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison and stripped of his rank, though a civilian court reduced the sentence to 12 years. He was released from prison in October 1989 following a blanket pardon decreed by President Carlos Saúl Menem. In November 2006 he faced 266 charges of kidnapping and torture relating to his two years at ESMA and was summoned to testify before a federal judge. But he suffered a heart attack before he could testify, and remained in poor health. He died under house arrest.