The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence

State terrorism

State terrorism may refer to acts of terrorism conducted by a state against a foreign state or people. It can also refer to acts of violence by a state against its own people.-Definition:...

 in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists

Journalism

Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...

, Marxists, Peronist

Peronism

Peronism , or Justicialism , is an Argentine political movement based on the programmes associated with former President Juan Perón and his second wife, Eva Perón...

 guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected. Some 10,000 of the disappeared were guerrillas of the Montoneros

Montoneros

Montoneros was an Argentine Peronist urban guerrilla group, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The name is an allusion to 19th century Argentinian history. After Juan Perón's return from 18 years of exile and the 1973 Ezeiza massacre, which marked the definitive split between left and right-wing...

 (MPM), and the People's Revolutionary Army

People's Revolutionary Army (Argentina)

The Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo was the military branch of the communist Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores in Argentina...

 (ERP). Estimates for the number of people who were killed or "disappeared" range from 9,000 to 30,000; the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons estimates that around 13,000 disappeared.