Luciano MenÃ©ndez former Argentine general convicted of crimes against humanity  dies at 90
Luciano MenÃ©ndez
Luciano MenÃ©ndez  a former Argentine general convicted of  his  role in the killings and forced disappearances of political adversaries under the military junta that ruled from 1976 to 1983  died Feb. 27 in a military hospital in the city of Cordoba.  He  was 90.
Argentine media reported the death and said  he  had been hospitalized for coronary and biliary conditions.
 Mr. MenÃ©ndez  who was born into a military family   was one of the most bloodthirsty leaders of a violent dictatorship. Government death squads and paramilitary forces did their utmost best to eradicate armed leftist groups as well as political rivals and others they came to suspect of being dissidents  including artists  authors  academics  social workers  labor unionists and journalists.
During this period  which came to be known as the âdirty war â  Mr. MenÃ©ndez  was the head of the Third Army Corps  commanding 10 Argentine provinces and overseeing the largest detention center  La Perla  in Cordoba  which one witness called âa factory of death.â
Former Gen. Luciano Menendez  right  talks with  his  attorney Horacio Guerineau at a courthouse in San Miguel de Tucuman  northern Argentina  in 2008. (Julio Pantoja/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
 Mr. MenÃ©ndez  presented  himself  as a Cold Warrior who saw  himself  as a bulwark against communism  at all costs. âWe are going to have to kill 50 000 people: 25 000 subversives  20 000 sympathizers  and we will make 5 000 mistakes â  he  was widely quoted as telling  his  men.
 Mr. MenÃ©ndez  laughed during torture sessions  earning the nickname the âHyena â according to the Agence France-Presse.  He  later defended  his  brutal actions as necessary measures to prevent leftist guerrillas from obtaining power. âThese were not peaceful citizens â  he  said in 2010  according to the Associated Press.
In 2016   Mr. MenÃ©ndez  was convicted of 52 homicides  260 kidnappings  656 torture cases and 82 disappearances of people who were never found  the AFP reported at the time. At  his  trial   he  said there was ânever repression of any kindâ at La Perla. âThese criminals accuse the armed forces and go to the courts saying theyâre victims.â
 Mr. MenÃ©ndez  was given 14 prison terms and 12 life sentences  more than any other military leader of the dictatorship  according to the Spanish-language news agency EFE.
 Luciano BenjamÃ­n MenÃ©ndez  was born June 19  1927  in San Martin  a suburb of Buenos Aires.  He  was a nephew of Gen. BenjamÃ­n MenÃ©ndez  who tried unsuccessfully to overthrow President Juan Domingo PerÃ³n in 1951  and a cousin of Gen. Mario MenÃ©ndez  who became the military governor of the Falkland Islands while Argentina briefly occupied the archipelago in 1982.
 His  wife  Edith AngÃ©lica Abarca  died in 2012. A complete list of survivors was not immediately available.
Amid increased international attention to human rights violations in Argentina  many leaders attempted to pay at least lip service to toning down extrajudicial killings.  Mr. MenÃ©ndez  was the exception.
 He  accused Roberto Viola  commander in chief of the army  of âinadmissible toleranceâ toward âMarxist subversionâ and led a brief and failed insurrection to oust him in 1979  The Washington Post reported in 1979. As a result   Mr. MenÃ©ndez  was imprisoned for 90 days and forced into retirement.
After the Falklands debacle  the regime crumbled  and Argentina returned to democracy. Over the next years   he  was called to testify about  his  involvement in human rights crimes. At one hearing in 1984   he  was seen being restrained by aides after  he  drew  his  parachutistâs knife in response to protesters taunting  him ;  he  claimed that  he  was protecting  his  wife and daughter against âanother attack on the armed forcesâ by leftist sympathizers. A photo of the incident came to be seen as emblematic of  his  brutish temperament.
[TGT] ndez  a former Argentine general convicted of   [TGT]   role in the killings and forced disappearances of political adversaries under the military junta that ruled from 1976 to 1983  died Feb. 27 in a military hospital in the city of Cordoba.  He  was 90.
Argentine media reported the death and said  he  had been hospitalized for coronary and biliary conditions.
  [TGT] ndez  who was born into a military family   was one of the most bloodthirsty leaders of a violent dictatorship. Government death squads and paramilitary forces did their utmost best to eradicate armed leftist groups as well as political rivals and others they came to suspect of being dissidents  including artists  authors  academics  social workers  labor unionists and journalists.
During this period  which came to be known as the âdirty war â   [TGT] ndez  was the head of the Third Army Corps  commanding 10 Argentine provinces and overseeing the largest detention center  La Perla  in Cordoba  which one witness called âa factory of death.â
Former Gen. Luciano Menendez  right  talks with  his  attorney Horacio Guerineau at a courthouse in San Miguel de Tucuman  northern Argentina  in 2008. (Julio Pantoja/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
  [TGT] ndez  presented  himself  as a Cold Warrior who saw  himself  as a bulwark against communism  at all costs. âWe are going to have to kill 50 000 people: 25 000 subversives  20 000 sympathizers  and we will make 5 000 mistakes â  he  was widely quoted as telling  his  men.
  [TGT] ndez  laughed during torture sessions  earning the nickname the âHyena â according to the Agence France-Presse.   [TGT]   later defended   [TGT]   brutal actions as necessary measures to prevent leftist guerrillas from obtaining power. âThese were not peaceful citizens â  he  said in 2010  according to the Associated Press.
In 2016    [TGT] ndez  was convicted of 52 homicides  260 kidnappings  656 torture cases and 82 disappearances of people who were never found  the AFP reported at the time. At  his  trial   he  said there was ânever repression of any kindâ at La Perla. âThese criminals accuse the armed forces and go to the courts saying theyâre victims.â
  [TGT] ndez  was given 14 prison terms and 12 life sentences  more than any other military leader of the dictatorship  according to the Spanish-language news agency EFE.
 Luciano BenjamÃ­n MenÃ©ndez  was born June 19  1927  in San Martin  a suburb of Buenos Aires.  He  was a nephew of Gen. BenjamÃ­n MenÃ©ndez  who tried unsuccessfully to overthrow President Juan Domingo PerÃ³n in 1951  and a cousin of Gen. Mario MenÃ©ndez  who became the military governor of the Falkland Islands while Argentina briefly occupied the archipelago in 1982.
 His  wife  Edith AngÃ©lica Abarca  died in 2012. A complete list of survivors was not immediately available.
Amid increased international attention to human rights violations in Argentina  many leaders attempted to pay at least lip service to toning down extrajudicial killings.  Mr. MenÃ©ndez  was the exception.
 He  accused Roberto Viola  commander in chief of the army  of âinadmissible toleranceâ toward âMarxist subversionâ and led a brief and failed insurrection to oust him in 1979  The Washington Post reported in 1979. As a result   Mr. MenÃ©ndez  was imprisoned for 90 days and forced into retirement.
After the Falklands debacle  the regime crumbled  and Argentina returned to democracy. Over the next years   he  was called to testify about  his  involvement in human rights crimes. At one hearing in 1984   he  was seen being restrained by aides after  he  drew  his  parachutistâs knife in response to protesters taunting  him ;  he  claimed that  he  was protecting  his  wife and daughter against âanother attack on the armed forcesâ by leftist sympathizers. A photo of the incident came to be seen as emblematic of  his  brutish temperament.