Argentina (1976 – 1983)

Between 1976 and 1983 Argentina underwent a military dictatorship, that began with the leadership of Jorge Rafael Videla. This authoritarian regime garnered transnational support and justified its actions by claiming to combat corruption and the perceived dangers of leftist ideologies. According to Human Rights organizations, there were 30,000 desaparecidos or missing people during this time. The military junta, an alliance of the navy, air force, and army that governed the country, employed illegal methods to persecute and capture students and workers. In some instances, they killed their captives and disposed of their bodies in the sea or the desert. Additionally, they forcibly took babies from female prisoners and placed them in new homes. The junta also established the General Direction of Publications (Dirección General de Publicaciones), an organization responsible for determining which books were considered subversive and dangerous to the population. Besides novels, essays, and children’s books, certain editions of dictionaries, almanacs, and atlases were banned too.