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Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentinian 'dirty war' president, dies | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Jorge Rafael Videla, a 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, has died. He was 87. | Jorge Rafael Videla, a 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, has died. He was 87. |
The first president to head the military junta that "disappeared" thousands of leftists from 1976 to 1983, Videla spent his final years behind bars for human rights crimes, including the systematic theft of babies born to political prisoners in secret torture centres. | The first president to head the military junta that "disappeared" thousands of leftists from 1976 to 1983, Videla spent his final years behind bars for human rights crimes, including the systematic theft of babies born to political prisoners in secret torture centres. |
He died of natural causes in his cell in a prison outside the capital, Buenos Aires, where he was serving a life sentence, a government spokesman said on Friday. | |
"He spent his life doing great damage, which left a mark on the life of the country," Argentinian human rights activist and Nobel prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel said. "His death ended his physical presence but not what he did to the country." | |
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