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Isabela Peron's loss of power

Peron lost power both in congress and in the eyes of the public, as her majority in congress was lost, as well as her government being ridiculed publicly, and her popular support reduced to a right wing sector of Peronism. By February 1976, three service commanders had requested that she resign from the presidency. Another issue with Peron’s presidency was the ongoing terrorism problem. Throughout her presidency Peron struggled against dealing with both the Montonero and ERP left wing terrorists as well as the right wing Alianza Anticomunista Argentina group (AAA), with a clear example being the 25 political murders between March 20 and 21st 1975, which had victims on both the left and right wing. Only in late May of 1975 did her Social Welfare minister, Lopez Rega announce an investigation of the AAA group, though the group had been active for 550 days without a single arrest. As the government finally addressed the AAA, it indicated public dissatisfaction with the current regime’s treatment over the AAA. By late may 1976, local press was open reporting on a coup happening within hours, which led to ramped up political violence between left and right, as those were interested in “settling scores” which led to about 165 people killed from the start of the year until then, of which the Peron regime was powerless to stop.

Media coverage of the coup

By the end of March 24th, the Clarin newspaper had released a second publication detailing the new government takeover, confirming that between 3:10 and 3:15, that the military had taken over the government. The paper's front page also declared the military’s  reason to replace Peron in order to not create a power vacuum. In the coming days, the Clarin continued to publish parallel to new developments, but by March 28th the paper was beginning to shift away from coverage of the coup. Additionally, the Clarin also released the names of the new cabinet members under Jorge Videla, those being Albano Harguindeguy, Ricardo Franke, Julio Gomez, Osvaldo Cacciatore, Jose A. Martinez de Hoz, Ricardo Bruera, Horacio Liendo, and Julio J. Bardi, all high ranking military officers of some kind. On the release of the March 28th publication, the newspaper also explained that the Junta had been recognized by thirty two countries already as the government of Argentina.

Media censorship

Under Isabela Peron’s presidency, media coverage was severely restricted, applying to both local press as well as foreign press coverage of Argentina. Under Peron, several decrees were released, one being a news agency registry, and the requirement that all local as well as foreign news outlets follow all the guidelines, the main one being that “domestic and foreign news media are forbidden to carry news about argentina supplied by foreign news agencies” through decree 1273. Several newspapers, such as La Prensa and La Opinion immediately spoke out against the restrictions, condemning them, and explaining how they are “ambiguous, arbitrary, and absurd”. These same newspapers were punished by having their government funding suspended. Under the Military government, media coverage was also restricted, with the Junta exercising control over the media. The difference between the two regimes was in the message, however. When the foreign media representatives met with the interim Junta press secretary, Jorge Luis Argiotti, in which he requested “collaboration when reporting matters other than material contained in the communique”, which some foreign media outlets took as implicit control over the media. All the same, radio and television in Argentina strictly broadcasted Junta communiques, but foreign news reporters still had access to international news as of March 1976.

US Interest

The American government paid close attention to any changes in r interested in a regime change. Terrorism under Peron’s presidency had resulted in serious political violence, as well as the murder of John Egan ,(cite terrorists murder US consular)a US consular to Cordoba, by the Montoneros, which contributed to a feeling of insecurity among Americans in Argentina, as well as the possibility of Americans being the target of terrorism. The American government also had predicted a possible regime change as Peron’s regime began to lose political power, noting that in February 1976 the military “dissatisfaction is so pervasive and intense that one [a coup] could occur at any time”. Another worry with a possible regime change from the US was the protection of US interests, those being economic investments in Argentina, from Ford and General Motors to Exxon industrial centers, but those in the US State Department were not worried about major fundamental changes, citing that left wing groups did not have enough support for a coup and the military was not interested in making sweeping reforms.