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| - Argentina's defense minister on Thursday accused a group of retired army officers of conspiring to destabilize the leftist government of President Alberto Fernandez. The minister, Agustin Rossi, slammed the group after a picture of the officers meeting in Buenos Aires appeared in the media, which also quoted some of the group's manifesto. Rossi slammed the gathering as "an absolutely unprecedented act in the democratic life of the country," adding that it was an affront to the current military leadership and their commander-in-chief Fernandez. Memories are still fresh in Argentina of the iron-fisted 1976-83 military dictatorship which left an estimated 30,000 people missing or dead, according to human rights groups. "They present themselves as an alternative to the official military leadership which is the heads of the armed forces, appointed by the commander in chief, who is the president of the nation," Rossi told Argentine Radio AM750. "Clearly, this is an action that seeks to conspire, destabilize and try to question the role of the defense policy being pursued by the government," the minister said. Estela Carlotto, president of Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo -- set up to find children stolen and illegally adopted by the dictatorship -- said she was "concerned" by the meeting. "These people are not sleeping and are continuing to dream of dictatorial power," she said. The group said it plans to participate in the public debate over Argentina's defense and national security. Media reports said key members of the group are retired generals Ernesto Bossi and Daniel Reimundes, both former heads of the military's Life Insurance Society SMSV. "Bossi is a born conspirator," said Rossi, saying he was a former member of the state intelligence service, the SIDE. Bossi rejected the accusations in an interview in the daily Clarin, saying the group had no intention of undermining Argentina's constitution. "From the beginning we know that an idea like ours always generates mistrust. But there is a change in attitude, we are not wasting energy defending ourselves from accusations that have no foundation. "We are not part of any conspiracy, nor, of course, do we encourage it. For us, respect for the constitution and the whole legal framework is not in discussion." The heads of the Malvinas War Veterans' Association and an army welfare group said in a statement they were invited to participate in Wednesday's meeting but declined to join the initiative. ls/nn/db/mjs
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