Jorge Rafael Videla

General Jorge Rafael Videla (/vɪˈdɛlə/ vid-EL-ə; Spanish: [ˈxoɾxe rafaˈel βiˈðela]; 2 August 1925 – 17 May 2013) was an Argentine general, politician and dictator who served as the president of Argentina from 1976 to 1981 during the National Reorganization Process. His rule, which was during the time of Operation Condor, was among the most infamous in Latin America during the Cold War due to its high level of human rights abuses including abductions, torture, executions and systematic kidnapping of children from female prisoners, as well as severe economic mismanagement.

He came to power in a coup d'état that deposed Isabel Perón. In 1985, two years after the return of a representative democratic government, he was prosecuted in the Trial of the Juntas for large-scale human rights abuses and crimes against humanity under his rule including the widespread abduction, torture and murder of activists and political opponents along with their families at secret concentration camps. An estimated 13,000 to 30,000 political dissidents vanished during this period. Videla was also convicted of the theft of many babies born during the captivity of their mothers at the illegal detention centres and passing them on for illegal adoption by associates of the regime. Videla maintained the female guerrilla detainees allowed themselves to become pregnant in the belief they would not be tortured or executed. Videla remained under house arrest until 10 October 2008, when he was sent to a military prison.