Roberto Eduardo Viola

Roberto Eduardo Viola (Buenos Aires, October 13, 1924-Buenos Aires, September 30, 1994) was an Argentine military member of the Army. He was a member of the Military Junta between July 1978 and December 1979; and President of the Nation, with the sum of the executive and legislative powers, between March and November 1981, during the last civil-military dictatorship.

In the 1985 Trial of the Juntas, he was sentenced to 17 years in prison, absolute disqualification and dismissal, as the author of 86 kidnappings, eleven acts of torture and three robberies. In 1990 he was pardoned by the constitutional president Carlos Menem. He died in 1994, before the Argentine courts declared the pardons null and void.

Biography

Roberto Eduardo was the son of Ángel Viola and María Prevedini. He had married Nélida Giorgio Valente from Entre Ríos in 1947, with whom he had two children: Silvia Nélida (b. 1949) and Roberto Eduardo (b. 1954).

Viola achieved important promotions starting in December 1973, when he was appointed by Lieutenant General Leandro Anaya as Secretary General of the Army, a position he held until May 1975.

From May 20 to August 29, 1975, Brigadier General Viola was commander of the II Army Corps.

In August of that year, Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla appointed him Chief of the General Staff of the Army, from where he participated in the coup d'état on March 24, 1976 that overthrew María Estela Martínez de Perón. Videla and Viola headed "the soft ones", supporters of the neoliberal economic policies of José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz and of a political opening.

On July 31, 1978, Jorge Rafael Videla, who went into retirement although ratified in the presidency, promoted him to lieutenant general and became commander-in-chief of the Army, becoming a member of the Government Military Junta that governed the country with the president.

On December 28, 1979, Viola retired and was replaced by Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri as Commander-in-Chief. On October 3, 1980, he was elected to replace Videla as President of the Nation and took office before the Junta on March 29, 1981.

Presidency

Viola replaced Videla due to tensions within the military leadership, dissatisfied with the latter's inability to stabilize the economic situation and civil unrest. Viola, a supporter of the "soft line", alienated Videla's immediate collaborators and began a partial opening to the reinstatement of career politicians and civilian technicians to public office with a view to establishing themselves in power until 1984. Circumstances allowed that the CGT reorganized and mobilized under the leadership of the trade unionist Saúl Ubaldini, even despite the legal prohibition.

The economic measures of the Viola government proved equally inefficient. In view of the repeated devaluations of the Peso Ley 18,188 against the dollar promoted by the Minister of Economy José Martínez de Hoz during the Videla government, the preference for the purchase of foreign currency was marked; even small savers opted for holding foreign currency and avoided investing in the country.

The Minister of Economy appointed by Viola, Lorenzo Sigaut, assured upon taking office that "those who bet on the dollar lose." Days later he would carry out a 30% devaluation of the peso against the dollar, in a desperate attempt to attract international investment. Inflation in 1981 would reach 131% year-on-year.

The failures in economic matters and the opening prospects of the Viola government would lead to the constitution of the National Multiparty by the main political parties, seeking to hold elections. The death of Ricardo Balbín, who for years had been president of the Radical Civic Union, constituted an occasion for a public demonstration in favor of democracy.

Removal process

On November 21, 1981, the Military Junta declared Roberto Eduardo Viola incapable of exercising his duties as President of the Argentine Nation due to "health problems." In his place, Interior Minister Horacio Tomás Liendo was appointed to the executive branch. Viola's intention was to resume on the 23rd.

Although Viola had not interrupted the repressive actions or the operations against subversion at any time, on Thursday, December 10, the Military Junta issued an ultimatum to Viola, urging him to resign, with the decision made to remove him from the Presidency. The next day the Junta met with the dictator. General Viola insisted on not resigning, so the Junta informed him of his removal for reasons of State —Viola did not resign. On the same day, the Junta announced the imminent assumption of the Presidency by General Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri. Vice Admiral Carlos Alberto Lacoste temporarily replaced General Viola, until December 22, 1981, when Galtieri took office as President of the Argentine Nation, becoming the new dictator of his country.

After Activity

During the Malvinas War, in May 1982, Roberto Viola exerted influence to lead a coup against Leopoldo Galtieri. The Argentine Navy detected politicians, businessmen and soldiers converging on the department of Viola.

Cabinet

Ministers of the Government of Roberto Eduardo Viola
Portfolio	Owner	Period
Ministry of the Interior	Horacio Liendo	29 March-12 December 1981
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship	Oscar Camilión	29 March-12 December 1981
Ministry of Economy, Finance and Finance	Lorenzo Sigaut	29 March-12 December 1981
Ministry of Culture and Education	Carlos Burundarena	29 March-12 December 1981
Ministry of Social Action	Carlos Alberto Lacoste	29 March-12 December 1981
Ministry of Public Health and Environment	Amílcar Argüelles	29 March-12 December 1981
Ministry of Defence	Norberto Couto	29 March-12 December 1981
Ministry of Justice	Amadeo Frúgoli	29 March-12 December 1981
Ministry of Labour	July Porcile	29 March-12 December 1981
Ministry of Public Works and Services	Diego Urricariet	29 March-12 December 1981
Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock	Jorge Aguado	29 March-12 December 1981
Ministry of Industry and Mining	Eduardo Oxenford Livio Kühl	29 March-21 August 1981 22 August-12 December 1981
Ministry of Trade and Maritime Interest	Carlos García Martínez	29 March-12 December 1981
Government Secretary of State by Roberto Eduardo Viola
General Secretariat	Luis Santiago Martella	March 29, 1981-?
Public Information Secretariat	Antonio Llamas	12 December 1978-1 April 1981
State Intelligence Secretariat	Carlos Alberto Martínez	26 January 1978-10 December 1983
Planning Secretariat	José Miret	15 December 1978-10 December 1983

Legal cases and death

In 1983, after the constitutional order had been restored and during the government of Raúl Alfonsín, Roberto Viola was arrested and was put on trial for crimes committed during his government. In the 1985 Trial of the Juntas, he received a sentence of 17 years in prison, perpetual disqualification from holding public office, legal accessories, accessory dismissal and payment of costs.

In 1990, President Carlos Menem, through Decree 2741, pardoned Viola, extinguishing his responsibility for his commission of crimes.

He died on September 30, 1994, before the reopening of the cases against him.