Today was a very sad day in the history of our Nation. Today we, Argentines, received yet another confirmation of the fact that the actions of our government do not reflect in the least the will of the people: over 70% of the people were opposed to the presidential pardons for the ex-commanders while fewer than 14% were in favour (La Nación, 28 Dec. 1990), with an even larger imbalance regarding Firmenich.

The argument used by President Menem clearly lacks any real basis or logic. National pacification will not be accomplished through the annulment of court-mandated prison terms of great criminals such as those just pardoned, but rather through an acceptance of resposibilities and guilt. Presidential pardon has seldom been used during our history and usually it has been in order to correct abuses of justice in the sentencing.

Videla and Massera -despite the care with which during many years of impunity and holding absolute power they suppressed evidence that could incriminate them- were shown guilty of organizing a State apparatus devoted to kidnapping, torturing, and physically suppressing in a systematic way thousands of persons (with obvious analogies to what was done in quite recent times by some of the greatest tyrants and magnicides and world history, such as Hitler, Stalin, or Mao), and of being directly responsible of such crimes as illegal deprivation of freedom, torments, and homicide.

Their pardon is simply the result of the deformation of the structure of the Argentine State and its armed forces to the point that these have concentrated in themselves almost all power and it is they who dictate (openly or covertly) the way the country will run. They have done so for many decades. As a president, Alfonsín painfully succeeded in having some of the biggest criminals among the armed forces tried and sentenced in a public trial that gave them guarantees they themselves never respected. Shortly thereafter, unfortunately, the armed forces reminded the president and the people who is it who decides what is allowed in this country and what is not, and thus followed the ignominious laws of "due obedience" and "full stop," for exmaple. These laws, beyond having carved the political grave of Alfonsín, reminded all Argentines and the world that there is no political force, church, or group of any kind who can really decide the road the Nation will follow. It is the armed forces who hold the strings of power. Menem's pardons obviously respond to the same design, possibly in accordance with pre-electoral

The time has come to stop lying to ourselves and accept the sad reality that both Alfonsín and Menem would have been immediate victims of new coups had they not agreed to play the game imposed by the tyrants of power.

Videla asks for "...a full institutional reinstatement" for the Army. The aggravations to the army were self-inflicted and, hence, in their own hands lies the only possibility of reinstatement. The cowardice of trying to conceal and deny the horrendous crimes they were committing is similar to that shown by the commands in sending 18-year old youngsters serving their compulsory military service, without due military training, or adequate clothing or food, to die in the Malvinas without justifiable cause.

I do not share or justify the philosophy of the crimes of the extremist groups the armed forces were trying to suppress; but there are certain limits beyond which the human being should not go even in fighting against such forces.

I share with Videla -incredulous of sharing anything at all with him- his "... testimony of solidarity in front of those who cry the dead, wounded, or mutilated, fallen in defence of the Fatherland or mistaken ideals. And I pray to God to extinguish forever the hatred among Argentinians so that we may all be reconciled in peace, unity, and freedom." Old Videla forgets that most of those dead did not fall in defence of their Fatherland or for mistaken ideals, but were rather victims of a machine which did not distinguish good from evil and -just in case- destroyed both, preserving just itself. Videla's wish -which is also my own- will come true when the arrogance of believing that everything done was correct in spite of the world's condemnation is put aside, and the mistakes and guilts are acknowledged and, finally, following the will of the people, the role of the armed forces is clearly established and a structure is given to them to guarantee that they will respect it.

FABIO A. MILNER