Editing Roberto Eduardo Viola

{{short description|President of Argentina in 1981}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2009}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Roberto Eduardo Viola
| image               = Robertoviola (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Viola in 1981
| order               = 43rd
| office              = President of Argentina
| vicepresident       = ''Vacant''
| term_start          = 29 March 1981
| term_end            = 11 December 1981
| predecessor         = [[Jorge Rafael Videla]]
| successor           = [[Horacio Tomás Liendo]] (interim)
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|df=yes|1924|10|13}}
| birth_place         = [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|1994|9|30|1924|10|13}}
| death_place         = [[Buenos Aires]], Argentina
| party               = None
| profession          = [[Military]]
| spouse              = Nélida Giorgio Valente<ref name="NYTimes">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/02/obituaries/roberto-viola-69-who-headed-argentine-military-dictatorship.html|title=Roberto Viola, 69, Who Headed Argentine Military Dictatorship|date=1994-10-02|work=The New York Times}}</ref> <!-- Lucia Noei Gentile -->
| children            = 2<ref name="NYTimes" />
| allegiance          = {{flag|Argentina}}
| branch              = {{army|Argentina}}
| serviceyears        = 
| battles             = 
| rank                = [[File:GD-EA.png|35px]] (Pre-1991 epaulette) [[Lieutenant General]]
| signature           = Viola Firma.svg
}}
'''Roberto Eduardo Viola''' (13 October 1924 – 30 September 1994) was an [[Argentina|Argentine]] military officer who served as the 43rd [[President of Argentina]] and the 2nd [[National Reorganization Process|President of the National Reorganization Process]] from 29 March to 11 December 1981 as a [[military dictatorship|military dictator]].<ref name="NYTimes" />

==Early life==
He was born as '''Roberto Eduardo Viola''' on 13 October 1924. His parents were [[Italians|Italian]] immigrants Angelo Viola and Rosa Maria Prevedini, both from [[Casatisma]], a town in the [[Province of Pavia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cairomontenotte.com/cognome/viola.html|title=Viola}}</ref>

==Presidency (1981)==
After [[Jorge Rafael Videla]] left office, Viola formally assumed the post of [[President of Argentina]].

===Economic policy===
Viola appointed [[Lorenzo Sigaut]] as finance minister, and it became clear that Sigaut were looking for ways to reverse some of the economic policies of Videla's minister [[José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz]]. Notably, Sigaut abandoned the sliding [[exchange rate]] mechanism and devalued the [[Argentine Peso|peso]], after boasting that "they who gamble on the [[dollar]], will lose". Argentines braced for a recession after the excesses of the ''sweet money'' years, which destabilized Viola's position.<ref name="El País">[http://www.elpais.com/articulo/economia/ARGENTINA/BANCO_INTERAMERICANO_DE_DESARROLLO/DESAPARECIDOS_Y_DICTADURA_MILITAR_/1976-1982/nueva/politica/economica/argentina/basa/modificacion/esquema/cambios/moneda/elpepieco/19810408elpepieco_11/Tes/ ''La nueva política económica argentina se basa en la modificación del esquema de cambios de la moneda. Según Lorenzo Sigaut, el nuevo ministro de Economía ''], El País, reproducción del artículo publicado el 8 de abril de 1981. {{in lang|es}}</ref>

Viola priorities were economic recovery and greater political freedom for Argentina. He intends to combat the problems of inflation, an overvalued peso, and the balance of payments by continuing the previous administration's policy of encouraging a [[liberal economy]] dominated by [[private enterprises]].<ref>https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/ROBERTO%20EDUARDO%20VIOLA%20-%20A%5B15499882%5D.pdf</ref>

Viola was also the victim of infighting within the [[armed forces]]. After being replaced as Navy chief, [[Eduardo Massera]] started looking for a political space to call his own, even enlisting the enforced and unpaid services of political prisoners held in concentration camps by the regime. The mainstream of the Junta's support was strongly opposed to Massera's designs and to any attempt to bring about more "[[economic populism|populist]]" economic policies.

===Foreign policy===
[[File:Ronald Reagan, Roberto Viola and Jorge A Aja Espil.jpg|thumb | 220x124px | right | Viola met with [[Ronald Reagan]] and Argentine Ambassador [[:es:Jorge A. Aja Espil|Jorge A. Aja Espil]] at the [[White House]] on March 17, 1981.]]

[[Argentina-United States relations]] improved dramatically with the [[Ronald Reagan]] administration, which asserted that the previous [[Carter Administration]] had weakened US diplomatic relationships with [[Cold War]] allies in Argentina and reversed the previous administration's official condemnation of the junta's [[human rights]] practices.<ref>Rossinow, pp. 73, 77–79</ref>

The re-establishment of diplomatic ties allowed for [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] collaboration with the Argentine intelligence service in arming and training the Nicaraguan [[Contras]] against the [[Sandinista National Liberation Front|Sandinista]] government. The [[Batallón de Inteligencia 601|601 Intelligence Battalion]], for example, trained Contras at [[Lepaterique]] base, in Honduras. Argentina also provided security advisors, intelligence training and some material support to forces in [[Guatemala]], [[El Salvador]] and [[Honduras]] to suppress local rebel groups as part of a U.S.-sponsored program called [[Operation Charly]].<ref>[http://www.clarin.com/suplementos/especiales/2006/03/24/l-01164353.htm "Los secretos de la guerra sucia continental de la dictadura"], [[Clarín (Argentine newspaper)|Clarín]], March 24, 2006 {{in lang|es}}</ref>

===Ousted in a coup===

Viola found his maneuvering space greatly reduced, and was ousted by a military coup in December 1981, led by the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General [[Leopoldo Galtieri]], who soon became president. The official explanation given for the ousting was Viola's alleged health problems. Galtieri swiftly appointed [[Roberto Alemann]] as finance minister and presided over the [[Events leading to the Falklands War|build-up]] and pursuit of the [[Falklands War]].

==Later years==

After the collapse of the military regime and the election of [[Raúl Alfonsín]] in 1983, Viola was arrested, judged for [[human rights]] violations committed by the military junta during the [[Dirty War]], and sentenced to 17 years in prison. His health deteriorated in prison; Viola was pardoned by [[Carlos Menem]] in 1990 together with all junta members. He died on 30 September 1994, at age 69.

==See also==
* [[National Reorganization Process]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

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{{s-mil}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Jorge Rafael Videla|Jorge Videla]]<br>{{small|As General Commander of the Army}}}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of senior officers of the Argentine Army|Commander-in-Chief of the Army]]|years=1978-1981}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Leopoldo Galtieri]]}}
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{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title= [[President of Argentina]] | years= 1981 | before=[[Jorge Rafael Videla|Jorge Videla]] | after=[[Carlos Lacoste]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Presidents of Argentina}}

{{Authority control}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Viola, Roberto Eduardo}}
[[Category:Acting presidents of Argentina]]
[[Category:20th-century presidents of Argentina]]
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Politicians from Buenos Aires]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Buenos Aires]]
[[Category:Recipients of Argentine presidential pardons]]
[[Category:Argentine people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:Argentine generals]]
[[Category:Colegio Militar de la Nación alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery]]
[[Category:20th-century Argentine politicians]]
[[Category:Heads of government who were later imprisoned]]
[[Category:Argentine politicians convicted of crimes]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Sun of Peru]]
[[Category:Leaders ousted by a coup]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of Argentina]]