Terrorism in Argentina

The assault on the military barracks located in La Tablada, in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, by 40 members of Movimiento Todos por la Patria (MTP), commanded by former ERP leader Enrique Gorriarán Merlo. 39 people were killed and 60 injured by the time the Argentine army retook the barracks. The MTP carried out the assault under the alleged pretense of preventing a military coup supposedly planned for the end of January 1989 by the Carapintadas, a group of far-right military officers who opposed the investigations and trials concerning Argentina's last civil-military dictatorship (1976–1983).

The Argentine president of the time, Raúl Alfonsín declared that the attack, which carried the ultimate goal of sparking a massive popular uprising, could have led to a civil war.[4] Given a life sentence and imprisoned, as his comrades, in high security quarters, Gorriarán Merlo was eventually freed in 2003.[5][6] He died on 22 September 2006 while awaiting surgery for an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

On 17 March 1992, a suicide bombing attack occurred at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the attack, 29 civilians were killed and 242 additional civilians were injured.[7]

On 18 July 1994, a car bombing took place at the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA; Argentine Israelite Mutual Association) building in Buenos Aires killing 85 people and injuring hundreds.[8][9]

During the 1998–2002 Argentine great depression a series of attacks were reported, on 18 December an improvised bomb detonate in front of a commercial establishment, leaving only material damage.[10][11] On 8 May 2002 a bomb detonated in front of a Banco Francés ATM near a shopping mall in Buenos Aires. Police reported that the attack was attributed to a self called "Comando Nacionalista Ricardo López Jordán".[12][13][14] Days later an improvised explosive/incendiary attack were blast in a branch of Banco Francés bank Villa Urquiza, Buenos Aires. The "Comando Nacionalista Ricardo López Jordán" and "Comando Felipe Varela" claimed responsibility for the attack.[15][16][17]

On 21 December, of 2006 an improvised device detonated at an HSBC branch in Buenos Aires, days later a far left cell so-called "Brigada Venceremos" claimed responsibility for the attack.[18][19] In in the early morning of 16 November 2009 in Buenos Aires, Argentina an explosion in front of Banco Ciudad branch in front of a luxury hotel, days later an anarchist-communist so-called "Célula Revolucionaria Marco Ariel Antonioletti" claimed responsibility for the attack.[20][21]

On 3 February 2010 a branch of LAN AIRLINES was attacked with an improvised explosive device, leaving only material damage in the downtown of Neuquén, Neuquén Province. Days later an anarchist group so-called "Brigada Internacionalista Insurreccionalista Rebeldes de Jacinto Araoz" claimed the incident in a web statement.[22][23] On 23 December 2010 an improvised device blast in Plaza Constitución the morning of the same day the attack did not cause material damage, and the "Comando Juan Eliseo Ledesma" claimed the attack in a statement.[24]

On 19 July 2011 an improvised explosive device blast in front of a Telecom Argentina office in Belgrano, Buenos Aires, causing only material damages and no casualties were reported.[25][26] At the next day the "Comando Revolucionario del Pueblo Mario Roberto Santucho" (CRP-MRS) claimed responsibility for the attack.[27][28]

Between 2011 and 2013, anarchist groups claimed the largest campaign of political violence in recent Argentine history without dead or injured with attacks that reached police patrols, government and bank buildings and private property.[29] On 29 November 2011, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated at the main police station in the Buenos Aires city suburb of Avellaneda. The explosion damaged the building and nearby businesses, but caused no injuries. At the scene, police found pamphlets from an anarchist group calling itself the "Eduardo Maria Vazquez Aguirre Anti-Prison Insurgent Cell." Eduardo Maria was a Spanish anarchist who reportedly killed the Chief of the Argentine Police in a 1909 bombing. The pamphlet also stated that the bombing was in retaliation for the deaths of six named individuals shot by Buenos Aires police officers.[30] On 21 December 2011 an IED detonated within 100 meters from the Security Ministry headquarters in downtown Buenos Aires. The explosion damaged nearby cars and buildings, but caused no injuries. A group calling itself "the Nucleus of Conspirators for the Extension of Chaos" claimed credit for the attack and indicated that it would soon conduct more attacks.[30] On 19 September 2013, a small improvised explosive device detonated in front of the headquarters of the Mutual Help Association of the Argentine National Gendarmerie. Two gendarmes were slightly wounded. Several groups claimed responsibility.[31]

Weapons confiscated from RAM after an operation carried out by security forces

Resistencia Ancestral Mapuche (RAM) is a supposed armed organization based in the Argentine Patagonia, suspected of being an assembly of intelligence services. Its existence is not proven by solid evidence or judicial headquarters. According to the Mapuche communities, the Bishop of Bariloche, politicians and journalists, the RAM does not exist or is a group created by the intelligence services of the Argentine State, in the context of the conflict for the recognition of the rights of indigenous communities over their ancestral lands, opened after the constitutional reform of 1994 (art. 75, inc. 17)[32][33]

In 1996, the Argentinian Government enacted legislation, which launched the Sistema Federal de Emergencias (SIFEM) or Federal Emergency System under the direction of the president.[1]

The Argentinian Congress passed Argentina's Anti-Terrorism Law in 2007, focusing on preventing money laundering for financing terror attacks.[35]

On 22 December 2011, the Argentinian Congress approved a package of modifications to existing Argentine law aimed at combating terrorism and financial crime. The changes raised concerns with human rights advocates.[36]