Carlos Alberto Lacoste

Carlos Alberto Lacoste Guillot (b. Buenos Aires, February 2, 1929-d. Ib., June 25, 2004) was an Argentine military man who served temporarily and factothe presidency of the Nation during a period of eleven days that took place in the National Reorganization Process, being one of the shortest mandates that existed in the country. He was criticized for being part of a dictatorship, branded as a repressor and accused of participating in crimes against humanity.

Early years

Coming from a family of French origin, Carlos Alberto Lacoste Guillot studied at the National College of Buenos Aires, which he completed in 1944. The following year he enlisted in the Naval Military School.

Military career

He entered the Naval Military School in 1945, after completing his secondary studies. A member of Class 77 of the Argentine Navy, he graduated as a midshipman in 1948, specializing in the naval fleet. In 1955 he joined the Liberating Revolution that overthrew Juan Domingo Perón from his position as president. Beginning in 1961, he settled in the United States for six years to take courses in administration and armaments. In 1974 he was promoted to Captain and on December 31, 1977 he was promoted to Rear Admiral.

Organization of the 1978 World Cup

In October 1974 and as Captain of the Ship, Lacoste joined the commission formed in the Ministry of Social Welfare to organize the 1978 Soccer World Cup in Argentina.

In 1976, the president (de facto) Jorge Rafael Videla appointed captain Lacoste vice president of the World Self-Employed Entity 1978 (Decree No. 1210, sanctioned on July 6, 1976 and published on the 14th of the same month and year), Brigadier General Omar Carlos Actis occupying the position of president.

Actis was murdered in August 1976; and he was replaced by Brigadier General Antonio Luis Merlo. In the book "Almirante Lacoste, who killed General Actis?", the journalist Eugenio Méndez points him out as the intellectual author of Actis' murder.

He was criticized by the then Minister of Finance, Juan Alemann, because he never presented a balance sheet justifying the 517 million dollars invested in this event. On April 6, 1979, he appointed Julio Humberto Grondona as president of the Football Association Argentine, a position that the latter held until July 30, 2014, the date of his death.

On August 23, 1979, Videla ordered the end of the activities of the World Self-Employed Entity 1978 and the cessation of Merlo and Lacoste in their functions for August 29, 1979 (Decree No. 2055, published on August 5, 1979). September 1979).

Participation in FIFA

Subsequently, his friend João Havelange, then President of FIFA, appointed him vice president of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) to replace Santiago Leyden, which opened the doors of FIFA to him. On July 7, 1980, he was appointed vice president of the entity, where he held six positions.

Interim presidency and appointment as head of the Ministry of Social Action

After the palace coup that occurred on December 11, 1981, which deposed the de facto government of Lieutenant General Roberto Eduardo Viola, Vice Admiral Carlos Alberto Lacoste was appointed interim president. He held this position for eleven days, then he was chosen to take charge of the Ministry of Social Action on December 22, 1981, thus becoming a member of the cabinet of Lieutenant General Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, who had assumed the de facto presidency of Argentina. that same day.

Mexico World Cup 1986

During the 1986 Soccer World Cup in Mexico, Lacoste was a "special guest" of the Organizing Committee. When the news broke, the national and foreign press expressed their indignation at the press conference, "there were whistles and shouts in different languages ("Lacoste was a torturer" You don't need murderers here!", etc.)&#3. 4;. The newspaper La Jornada headlined "Argentine torturer in the press center" and the magazine el Proceso, "A genocidaire in the court of Cañedo and Havelange".

Investigation into possible illicit enrichment

The businessman and former Secretary of the Treasury, Juan Alemann, denounced in 1982 that Vice Admiral Lacoste had "squandered money" and that he had not presented the final liquidation of the World Self-Employed Entity' 78. Although these disputes between the military man (it is believed that Lacoste had been the mastermind behind an attack with an explosive device at the home of Juan Ernesto Alemann while the 1978 World Cup was being played) and the businessman were frequent due to the alleged lack of transparency. in fund management.

The Federal Chamber of Buenos Aires considered that Lacoste never provided sufficient and satisfactory explanations as to how its economic assets could have increased by a total of 443% between the years 1977 and 1979, as reported by the national prosecutor's office previously in 1984. It was also prosecuted for fraudulent administration as a public official.

ESMA

Lacoste was involved in the investigation of Adolfo Scilingo for crimes against humanity committed during State Terrorism in Argentina, carried out in Spain. In 1997, Scilingo had published the book Forever Never Again! in reference to the Conadep Report titled Never Again, where he acknowledged his participation in death flights. He would later acknowledge the same in front of the Spanish judge. Baltasar Garzón and would give a detailed list of the people who were part of the Task Group that operated at the Navy Mechanics School. Among the people named was Carlos Alberto Lacoste.

Death

Lacoste died on June 25, 2004. Lacoste's remains were buried in the Parque Memorial private cemetery, in the northern area of Greater Buenos Aires. He was the father of three children and was the grandfather of four grandchildren.

In popular culture

In 2011, the artist Graciela Alfano was criticized when a photograph of her with the "repressor" was discovered.