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Former Argentina dictator Videla dies in prison

30,000 people disappeared and thousands of others were tortured by Junta

Argentine Army General Jorge Videla (left), leader of the 1976 military coup that began the seven-year “Dirty War,” and former General Reynaldo Bignone, who ruled Argentina from 1982-1983, listen to the verdict during their trial in a courthouse in Buenos Aires, in July 2012. Photograph: Enrique Marcarian/Reuters
Argentine Army General Jorge Videla (left), leader of the 1976 military coup that began the seven-year “Dirty War,” and former General Reynaldo Bignone, who ruled Argentina from 1982-1983, listen to the verdict during their trial in a courthouse in Buenos Aires, in July 2012. Photograph: Enrique Marcarian/Reuters
Fri May 17 2013 - 16:15

Former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla has died of natural causes while serving life sentences in prison for crimes against humanity.

Videla took power in a 1976 coup and led a military junta that killed thousands of his fellow citizens in a “dirty war” to eliminate “subversives.”

Federal Prison service director Victor Hortel said he died today in the Marcos Paz prison. He was 87.

General Jorge Videla (right), leader of the 1976 military coup that began the seven-year “Dirty War,” stands next to junta member Admiral Emilio Massera during a ceremony in Buenos Aires, in this 1979 file photo. Jorge Rafael Videla, an austere former army commander who led Argentina during the bloodiest days of its Dirty War dictatorship and was unrepentant about kidnappings and murders ordered by the state, died in prison today, at age 87. Photograph: Reuters
General Jorge Videla (right), leader of the 1976 military coup that began the seven-year “Dirty War,” stands next to junta member Admiral Emilio Massera during a ceremony in Buenos Aires, in this 1979 file photo. Jorge Rafael Videla, an austere former army commander who led Argentina during the bloodiest days of its Dirty War dictatorship and was unrepentant about kidnappings and murders ordered by the state, died in prison today, at age 87. Photograph: Reuters

Videla was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2010 for human rights violations. His death was reported by local television channel C5N.

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As an army general, Videla led a March 1976 coup that toppled the government of Maria Estela Martinez de Peron. Under the dictatorship, an estimated 30,000 people disappeared, presumed dead, and thousands of others tortured, according to human rights groups. "Unfortunately he died without confessing," Estela Carlotto, president of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo human rights group, told CN23 television channel today.

"He never allowed us to recover the corpses of our sons that they killed, nor our grandsons that are alive." Argentina returned to democracy in 1983 with the government of Raul Alfonsin. During his trial, Videla said he was unrepentant for his actions.

“I haven’t come to defend myself or argue in my defense,” Videla told the court. “I’ll accept under protest the unfair sentence that I may be given.”

In 1985, Videla and fellow junta members Emilio Massera and Orlando Agosti, were sentenced to life in prison. They were later pardoned by former President Carlos Menem in 1989. In 2007, under the government of then President Nestor Kirchner, an Argentine federal court annulled the pardons.

Agencies