Jorge Rafael Videla

Jorge Rafael Videla came to power in a coup that deposed Isabel Perón in 1976, installing himself as president during the National Reorganization Process. His regime became infamous for abductions, torture, and executions carried out through a network of secret concentration camps, with an estimated 13,000 to 30,000 political dissidents vanishing during his rule. He also oversaw the systematic kidnapping of babies born to captive women, passing them to regime associates for illegal adoption. After democracy returned, Videla was prosecuted in the 1985 Trial of the Juntas for crimes against humanity and remained under house arrest for decades. In 2010 he took full responsibility for his army's actions and received a life sentence for prisoner deaths; in 2012 he was sentenced to 50 additional years for child kidnapping. He died in a civilian prison in 2013 after falling in a shower.