ARGENTINA: FORMER PRESIDENT ISABEL PERON ARRESTED

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000058

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL AR PHUM
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: FORMER PRESIDENT ISABEL PERON ARRESTED

Classified By: Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne for Reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Ex-President Maria Estela Martinez de
Peron (known as Isabel Peron) reportedly has been arrested in
Madrid, Spain pursuant to a request from Mendoza judge Raul
Acosta for suspicion of involvement in forced disappearances
in 1976. The arrest warrant was sent to Interpol to request
Peron be detained in Madrid, where the 75 year old widow of
Argentine President Juan Peron now lives. The press and
local political analysts are postulating that neither this
judge, nor the one that recently ordered an investigation
into the human rights abuses of the 1970/80s right-wing death
squad Triple A, would have moved forward with these
high-profile decisions without the tacit knowledge and
support of the Kirchner administration. Although this is the
first arrest warrant for pre-military dictatorship human
rights abuses, the government's judicial investigations into
human rights abuses in the 1970s remain limited to former
government officials and neglect crimes committed by leftist
guerrilla groups. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Ex-President Maria Estela Martinez de Peron (known
as Isabel Peron) reportedly has been arrested in Madrid,
Spain pursuant to a request from Mendoza judge Raul Acosta
for suspicion of involvement in the forced disappearance of a
young man from Mendoza in February 1976, one month before the
military coup that deposed her. The arrest warrant was sent
to Interpol January 12 to request Peron be detained in
Madrid, where the 75 year old widow and third wife of
ex-President Juan Peron now lives. According to press
reports, Acosta considers Isabel responsible for signing
three decrees that authorized the arbitrary detention and
disappearance of various people. "She was the President of
the country when these crimes were committed. The detentions
in San Rafael (province of Mendoza) were authorized by these
decrees and carried out by the Army and the Mendoza police,"
Acosta is quoted as saying.


3. (U) The press and local political analysts are
postulating that neither this judge, nor the one that
recently ordered an investigation into the human rights
abuses of the right-wing death squad Triple A, would have
moved forward with these high-profile decisions without the
tacit knowledge and support of the Kirchner administration.
Federal judge Norberto Oyarbide announced earlier this week
that he is investigating human rights abuses committed by the
paramilitary group Triple A during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Triple A was allegedly created in 1973 by Juan Peron's
personal secretary and ex-Minister of Social Well-being Jose
Lopez Rega and former Police Commissioner Alberto Villar to
counter the threat of violence from leftist guerrilla groups,
and continued its operations under Isabel Peron's presidency
and throughout the military dictatorship. The only comment
from the administration on the investigations of Triple A and
the arrest warrant for Isabel Peron was a statement from
President Kirchner saying this is a matter of responsibility
of the Argentine judiciary.


4. (C) COMMENT: The indictment of Isabel Peron and the
Oyarbide investigation are the first judicial actions
addressing pre-1976 coup human rights violations. These come
on top of a growing number of judicial cases against military
officers suspected of involvement in such abuses in the
1976-83 Dirty War period. These latest actions are likely to
be followed by other such cases for pre-1976 abuses. Given
the presence of many "leftist" Peronists (Montoneros and
Montonero sympathizers) in the current government, no one
expects for now any cases to be brought against former
members of this guerrilla organization or any of the leftist
groups that violently opposed both the Isabel Peron
government and the military regime between 1976-83. In fact,
the Argentine Supreme Court decision in 2005 that denied the
extradition to Spain of accused ETA terrorist Lariz Iriondo
is widely considered to have judicially codified the notion
that crimes by non-state actors cannot be considered as human
rights abuses in Argentina and are therefore subject to
statute of limitations for their prosecution; this fact for
now puts Montonero violence in the 1970s beyond the reach of
the judiciary. That said, with the frequent change of
"political" winds in Argentina, these latest judicial actions
make it more likely that other past abuses, including
violence by the Montoneros, will eventually be the target of
judicial investigation. END COMMENT.


WAYNE