Aldo Rico

Aldo Rico (born 4 March 1943) is an Argentine retired major and politician, famous for his role in the episodes of 1987 (usually referred to as "Semana Santa", or Easter week) and 1988 (the "Monte Caseros" mutiny) where sectors of the Armed Forces, known as carapintadas ("painted faces", due to their usage of camouflage painting), revolted to protest the policies of President Raúl Alfonsín. Rico later created the Modin political party and contested several elections. Rico was elected mayor of San Miguel (1997–2003) and was Minister of Police of Buenos Aires province for a short period in 1999.

Rico was born in Buenos Aires, and was an army major at the time of the 1982 Falklands War. As commander of the 602 Commando Company, Rico's soldiers became famous in the Argentine Army for their exploits against British troops. After the war, Rico achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel and started agitating against the prosecution of the 1976-1983 juntas.

In 1987, Rico and his followers took up arms in Easter week and negotiated a series of demands. The Argentine public was overly sensitive to any military claims (as every President elected democratically since 1928 was deposed by successive coups d'état) and rallied around Alfonsín, who agreed to consider the demands of the carapintadas. No blood was shed in the episode, but Alfonsín was accused of caving to insurgent demands, and came to be perceived as a weak president. Rico was condemned to house arrest and escaped in 1988, whereupon he led a second armed episode in 1988. In its aftermath, Rico was imprisoned. Mohamed Alí Seineldín took over the leadership of the military rebellion, and Rico shifted his focus to electoral politics.

President Carlos Menem pardoned Rico in 1989 (in the context of a series of pardons that included all Junta members). Rico created the Modin party (Spanish initials of Movimiento por la Dignidad Nacional, "Movement for National Dignity"). Rico occupied several elective offices, including as a member of the Constitutional Convention during the Menem administration. He was elected as mayor of San Miguel in 1997. Two years later, Buenos Aires province governor Carlos Ruckauf named Rico as Minister of Police, but a series of scandals made Rico quit the post after four months.

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