Former senior army commander Jorge Rafael Videla, who came to power as the de facto president of Argentina after a coup d'état, died at the age of 87 on Friday.
Videla was famous for his open and unabashed outlook on state-ordered kidnappings and murders. He was the first leader to distribute and carry out the kidnappings of thousands of suspected leftists from 1976 to 1983, according to Reuters.
He was arrested for human rights abuses and crimes against humanity that occurred under his rule. He spent his last days in a prison outside the capital, Buenos Aires, where he died of natural causes.
Jose Miguel Vivanco, director of Latin America for U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said that Videla ruled a brutal government during his time in office, "disappearing" up to 30,000 people who went against the dictatorship.
"Videla presided over a government that engaged in one of the most cruel repressions that we have seen in Latin America in modern times," he said. "He was arrogant to the end and unwilling to acknowledge his responsibility for the massive atrocities committed in Argentina. Many of the secrets of the repression will die with him."
Videla targeted union organizers, students, journalists and anyone else he and members of his cabinet considered a communist.
In an interview with an Argentine journalist last year, Videla said that the kidnappings were a necessary price for Argentinians to pay in order to maintain the republic.
"War, by nature, is cruel," he said. "An internal war, between brothers, is especially cruel."
The former dictator was born in Mercedes, located west of Buenos Aires in 1925. His father, an army colonel, led Videla to enlist in the military in 1942. He attended National Military College, where he was well-liked and largely respected.
When then-President Juan Peron died, his widow and Vice President, Isabel, became President. Videla led a military coup that threw her from power in 1976. Two days later, Videla took up presidential status.
Videla was sentenced to life in prison for giving out orders to kidnap students and reporters that went against his rule.
