Spanish police await Interpol order to arrest Peron

Spanish police today said they are awaiting an Interpol order to carry out an arrest warrant from an Argentine judge for former President Isabel Peron, who is believed to be living in Madrid.

Judge Raul Acosta, of the Argentine province of Mendoza, ordered the arrest yesterday of Isabel Peron, also known as “Isabelita Peron”, for her alleged connections to a right-wing death squad that terrorised Argentines before she was ousted in a March 1976 coup. She has lived in exile in Spain since 1981.

Peron, the third wife of former strongman Juan Domingo Peron and now in her mid-70s, is wanted for questioning about three decrees she signed in her brief tenure calling on armed forces to crack down on “subversive elements” during a turbulent period predating Argentina’s last 1976-83 dictatorship.

Judge Acosta also ordered her detained for questioning in connection with the disappearance of leftist Hector Aldo Fagetti Gallego in February 1976.

“The Interpol order has not arrived yet,” a spokesman for Spain’s National Police said. “As soon it arrives we will proceed,” he said.

He added that the arrest warrant from Argentina is sent straight to Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France and from there to Spain. Once she is detained, she will be taken to the National Court for the start of extradition proceedings.

Peron ruled Argentina from July 1974 after the death of her husband until her ouster in March 1976 coup.

During Peron’s rule, anti-Communist death squads that killed 1,500 people began to operate.

Peron testified in 1997 in Madrid as a witness in a Spanish case probing crimes during the “dirty war,” a campaign of torture, kidnappings and murder under the military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983. during the military dictatorship.

Back then she recalled signing a law authorising the “annihilation” of leftist guerrillas, but did not remember details.

She also said that she was unaware of human rights abuses that began during her tenure and expanded into Argentina’s “dirty war” after the military overthrew her.

Human rights activists in Madrid hailed the arrest warrant and said her detention would be very important as they say Peron is responsible for the beginning of the repression in Argentina.

“It’s an extraordinary development after so many years of impunity in Argentina,” said Carlos Slepoy, who represents relatives of the victims of the military dictatorship.