Raúl Alfonsín is the recipient of LI’s 1984 Prize for Freedom for his various contributions to solidifying peace in South America. He was born in the city of Chascomús, in the eastern Buenos Aires province of Argentina.
After his elementary studies, he was educated at the General San Martín Military Academy, graduating as a second lieutenant. In 1945 he joined the Radical Civic Union (UCR) while taking an active role in the reform group, Movimientio de Intransigencia y Renovación. As a member of the UCR, he was elected to the Buenos Aires provincial legislature in 1958. After the collapse of the military junta and the National Reorganization Process in 1993 (due, among other things, to the disastrous Falklands/Malvinas war), new presidential elections were held. Alfonsín, who had been elected leader of the RCU in July of that year, became president. His government sponsored the Trial of the Juntas, prosecuting some of the top members of the previous military regime for crimes against humanity. He also created the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons to document the human rights abuses of the junta, despite resistance from the military. In 1984 he signed the Peace and Friendship Treaty with Chile, ending a border dispute over the Beagle Channel. Due to his constant pursuit of democracy and human rights LI is happy to bestow upon Sr. Alfonsín its 1986 Prize for Freedom.
Main Image: Clarín, Public Domain.
