Between urgency and reconciliation: the great Argentina press and the enactment of the Law of “Punto Final” in 1986

Abstract

This article discusses how Argentine newspapers Clarín, La Nación and La Prensa informatively built the enactment of the Act called "Punto final" in December 1986 -during the government of Raul Alfonsín (1983-1989)-, which stipulated a deadline for filing legal complaints against members of the Argentine armed forces who had committed crimes during the clandestine repression ordered by the military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983. In a context where the military pressured the government not to be judged, the publications studied construct a scenario of urgency and need for reconciliation to resolve the conflict.