Buenos Aires, Argentina • Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio was 39 years old when Argentina’s military junta seized power in March 1976. The seven years that followed were a time of darkness in his country. Union leaders, students, journalists and other left-wing activists were rounded up on the mere suspicion of "subversion." Many were tortured and raped, or tossed alive from military airplanes into the mouth of the Plata River. As many as 30,000 Argentines Read more [...]

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A Vatican spokesman hit back today at accusations that newly elected Pope Francis is in any way to blame for the kidnappings of two Jesuit priests during Argentina's military dictatorship decades ago. Since his election Wednesday to become the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis has been hailed as a compassionate new pontiff, but the spotlight Read more [...]

ARGENTINES reacted with euphoria to the news on March 13th that Jorge María Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, had been elected as the new pope. Hundreds of the city’s faithful gathered in its cathedral after the white smoke was released to celebrate, and local media filled their programming with elated commentary from celebrities. After Argentina tussled with the IMF, litigious creditors and the Falkland Islanders in the past month, the choice of Pope Francis was a much-needed Read more [...]

The term describes a violent, dark period in Argentina’s history, from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, when the ruling military junta was at war with its left-wing opponents. The right-wing military had seized control in 1976 after a period of instability, and decided to purge their enemies. As Shannon O’Neil, a Latin America expert at the Council on Foreign Relations puts it, the military’s thinking was this: “We’re going to get rid of the cancer that is in our society—i.e., the left Read more [...]