Argentina

In 2005 Argentina repealed legislation that had granted a blanket amnesty to military and police personnel accused of human rights violations during the country’s “dirty war.” The military dictatorship that lasted from 1976 to 1983 resulted in the disappearances of about 30,000 people, mostly leftists, and the torture and imprisonment of thousands more. In 2006 the first trial for human rights abuses led to the conviction of a Buenos Aires provincial police officer. In 2007 a three-judge panel found a Catholic priest guilty of taking part in 7 murders and 42 kidnappings and assisting torture in 31 interrogation sessions. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Argentina’s first lady, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, won the presidential elections in first-round balloting in October 2007, handily defeating her nearest opponent by nearly 22 percentage points. In succeeding her husband, Kirchner became Argentina’s first elected female president. Nestor Kirchner declined to seek a second term, although polls had given him favorable ratings. His decision to promote his wife’s candidacy rather than his own was never explained. Cristina Kirchner was a senator from Buenos Aires province prior to the election. During the election campaign, she vowed to continue her husband’s center-left policies.

David Rock reviewed the History section of this article; the remainder was reviewed by David Keeling.