Alfredo Astiz
| Alfredo Ignacio Astiz | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nickname(s) | El Ángel Rubio de la Muerte (The Blond Angel of Death) |
| Born | November 8, 1951 |
| Allegiance | Argentina |
| Service/branch | Argentine Marine Corps |
| Years of service | 1970–1995 |
| Rank | Commander (dishonorably discharged) |
| Unit | Grupo Tareas 3.3.2, Tactical Divers Group |
| Battles/wars | Falklands War, Invasion of South Georgia |
Alfredo Ignacio Astiz (born 8 November 1951) was a commander, intelligence officer, marine and naval commando in the Argentine Navy during the military dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla during the Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (1976–1983). He was known as El Ángel Rubio de la Muerte (the "Blond Angel of Death"), and had a reputation as a notorious torturer. He was discharged from the military in 1998 after defending his actions in a press interview.
He was a member of GT 3.3.2 (Task Force 3.3.2) based in the Naval Mechanics School (ESMA) in Buenos Aires during the Dirty War of 1976–1983. The school was adapted as a secret detention and torture center for political prisoners. As many as 5,000 political prisoners were interrogated, tortured and murdered in the ESMA during those years. GT3.3.2 was involved in some of the 8,961 deaths and other crimes documented by a national commission after the restoration of democratic government in Argentina in 1983.
Astiz, a specialist in the infiltration of human rights organizations, was implicated in the December 1977 kidnapping of twelve human rights activists, including Azucena Villaflor and two other founders of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and two French nationals, Léonie Duquet and Alice Domon, who were Catholic nuns. None of the twelve was seen alive again outside detention and all were believed killed, rumored to be among the bodies washed up on beaches south of Buenos Aires in late 1977.
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