Rodolfo Almirón

Who was Rodolfo Almirón?

Rodolfo Almirón Sena was a former Argentine police officer and a leader of an extreme right-wing death squad known as the Triple A, operating in Argentina from 1973 to 1976 against the left-wing of Peronistas and other political dissidents. The group is held responsible for 1,500 murders of government opponents during the terms of Juan and Isabel Perón.

Almirón was alleged to be the chief operating officer of the squad and was charged with personally executing several murders. In 1975, shortly before the military takeover the following year, Almirón fled to Spain with José López Rega, founder of Triple A, who had been appointed ambassador plenitpotentiary by Isabel Perón. Almirón was briefly located in 1983 in Spain, revealed to be working as chief of security for the Interior Minister Manuel Fraga. Public outrage caused his dismissal, but he stayed in Spain, shielded by the conservative government and had other security jobs.

In 2006 an Argentine judge ruled that the crimes committed by Almirón were crimes against humanity and thus excluded from statutes of limitations. A reporter for El Mundo located Almirón in Valencia in December 2006 and interviewed him.