NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN MAY 23, 1975[SANITIZED] - 1975/05/23

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Argentina Declassification Project - The "Dirty War" (1976-83)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 02986366
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 24
• Document Creation Date: April 3, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2019
• Publication Date: May 23, 1975

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USIB
UNITED STATES
INTELLIGENCE
BOARD
National Intelligence
Bulletin
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May 23, 1975
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National Intelligence Bulletin
ARGENTINA: Lopez Raga set back in
confrontation with military
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National Intelligence Bulletin May 23,1975
ARGENTINA
Social Welfare Minister Jose Lopez Rega appears to have suffered a setback in
his confrontation with the army.
The confrontation occurred when the newly appointed army commander, Maj.
Gen. Alberto Numa Laplane, a supposed protege of Lopez Rega, refused an order
from the minister of defense earlier this week to retire two highly respected
brigadier generals who are anathema to the social welfare minister. Laplane
threatened to submit his resignation to the President over the issue. The crisis was
averted by a compromise allowing the two generals to remain on active duty, but
not in the position Laplane originally desired.
Laplane has clearly demonstrated that his basic loyalties rest with the military
and not with the Peronist political movement�a position which has increased his
standing with the officer corps, which feared he would be a tool of Lopez Rega.
Recent power plays by Lopez Rega have substantially altered the political
outlook in Argentina. The military, which had adopted an uncharacteristically
apolitical stance after relinquishing power in 1973, now appears willing to consider
reassuming its self-appointed role as political arbiter. Army leaders have come to this
point only because of the inability of civilian political and labor leaders to contain
Lopez Rega, whose blatantly political firing of Lt. Gen. Leandro Anaya as army
commander last week and the appointment of Laplane caused deep resentment
within the army. Although Laplane certainly got his position through his ties with
the social welfare minister, his actions indicate that Lopez Rega may have made a
serious miscalculation in his appointment.
One important question is how adroitly Lopez Rega adjusts to the fact that his
protege is not a puppet. In his various confrontations in the past, the presidential
adviser has shown an ability not only to survive but also to increase his political
strength. In the changed political climate of the present, however, the army appears
more willing to see Mrs. Peron go, if this is the price that must be paid to rid the
country of Lopez Rega.
The government's backing down in its confrontation with the army has
lessened the likelihood of a coup for now. Any further interference in army internal
affairs, however, will refuel coup plotting.
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