Alfonsín, the Trial of the Juntas, and Argentine Democracy

In 1983, Raúl Alfonsín took office as Argentina's first democratically elected president after the brutal military dictatorship. This episode tells the story of how he confronted the legacy of the Dirty War by ordering the Trial of the Juntas, a landmark prosecution of the nine former commanders. We discuss the political calculations behind the trial, the role of the CONADEP truth commission, the Nunca Más report, and the moral weight of prosecuting those who still held power. We also explore the military uprisings that followed—the carapintadas—and the ultimate limits of Alfonsín's justice, including the Full Stop and Due Obedience laws that later pardoned many. How Argentina wrestled with accountability and democracy in those fragile years casts a long shadow over its politics today. Names like Alfonsín, Videla, Massera, and Leopoldo Galtieri appear, alongside key events like the 1984 trial and the 1987 Easter Week uprising at the Campo de Mayo barracks.

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