Incident
Argentina's military junta threatens journalists with prison for reporting on its opponents
Hours after seizing power on March 24, 1976, Argentina's military junta, led by General Jorge Videla, issued Communiqué No. 19, threatening up to 10 years in prison for reporting favorable to groups it called subversive. Hundreds of journalists were later detained, killed or forced into exile.123
What happened
Argentina's armed forces overthrew President Isabel Perón's government on March 24, 1976 and installed a military junta headed by General Jorge Videla. The same day, the junta issued Communiqué No. 19, threatening imprisonment of up to 10 years for anyone who published or reproduced material from organizations the government had banned, and threatening up to 10 years for reporting that the government said disrupted, harmed or discredited the armed forces. Security forces raided newspapers around the country, arresting and jailing editors and reporters and closing some publications outright. Jacobo Timerman, editor of the newspaper La Opinión, was detained in April 1977 and later held under house arrest. At the English-language Buenos Aires Herald, editor Robert Cox and journalist Andrew Graham-Yooll kept publishing the names of people who had disappeared under the military's rule, until death threats forced both men to leave the country. A subcommittee investigating the period found that roughly 500 journalists had left Argentina for political reasons, while dozens more were reported missing or held in detention centers.123
What reason was given
Stated justificationThe junta's Communiqué No. 19 framed reporting on groups it had banned, or coverage it considered damaging to the armed forces, as itself a punishable offense carrying years of imprisonment.1
What changed for reporting
Newspapers were raided and some closed, editors and reporters were jailed, and rights investigators later documented dozens of journalists missing or in detention and roughly 500 who left the country for political reasons during the military's rule.2
Timeline
1976
Who acted
| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
|---|---|---|
| Andrew Graham-Yooll | other | Journalist, Buenos Aires Herald |
| Jacobo Timerman | other | Editor and founder, La Opinión |
| Jorge Rafael Videla | enforced | President of Argentina and head of the governing military junta |
| Robert Cox | other | Editor, Buenos Aires Herald |
Outlets and journalists
| Name | Kind | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| Buenos Aires Herald | outlet | affected |
| La Opinión | outlet | affected |
Sources
- Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Argentina, Chapter VII: The Right to Freedom of Investigation, Opinion, Expression and Dissemination archived copy
- 150 years, one mission archived copy
Claims and evidence
Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.
- The junta's Communiqué No. 19 provided for imprisonment for an indefinite period for anyone who disseminated or reproduced communiqués or pictures from organizations it had outlawed.
he, who, by whatever means, disseminates or reproduces communiqués or pictures from...illegal associations...shall be punished, by imprisonment for an indefinite time period
Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Argentina, Chapter VII: The Right to Freedom of Investigation, Opinion, Expression and Dissemination archived copy, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of American States, 1980.Claim 150, checked 2026-09-22. - A subcommittee reported that approximately 500 journalists were forced to leave Argentina for political reasons, while documenting 68 missing journalists and 80 detained.
approximately 500 journalists were forced to leave the country for political reasons
Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Argentina, Chapter VII: The Right to Freedom of Investigation, Opinion, Expression and Dissemination archived copy, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Organization of American States, 1980.Claim 151, checked 2026-09-22. - Communiqué No. 19 threatened anyone who published information against the junta's interests with up to 10 years in prison, yet the Buenos Aires Herald kept publishing under editor Robert Cox and journalist Andrew Graham-Yooll, who both later had to leave the country after death threats.
an order that threatened anyone who published information against its interests with a prison sentence of up to 10 years
150 years, one mission archived copy, Buenos Aires Herald.Claim 152, checked 2026-09-22.