The bloodiest of four army uprisings in four years was also the shortest, and President Menem's decisive management of the crisis may strengthen his government. Monday's uprising, two days before President Bush's scheduled visit, was quickly crushed. Menem said Tuesday the rebel leaders will be tried by military court and face the death penalty if found guilty. Late Monday, after the rebels had filed out of the last of the buildings they had seized before dawn, Menem told a news conference that ``my pulse isn't going to tremble'' if military officers who had rebelled repeatedly - and killed people in the proces - forfeit their lives. The unofficial death toll in the uprising rose Tuesday to 14 when a soldier died from wounds suffered in putting down the insurrection. Unofficial tallies put the number of wounded at nearly 60 and the arrested at more than 400. The government did not disclose its figures on casualties and arrests. Menem and Defense Minister Humberto Romero signed a decree that legally separated the rebel leaders from their followers. While the leaders could face the death penalty, the followers face charges in civil court, where the worst punishment is life in prison. Menem ``is convinced the death penalty should be applied to end these happenings,'' said Raul Granillo Ocampo, the president's legal adviser. That attitude found support in this capital city of 10 million, whose residents saw their democracy threatened by the uprising. In quelling it, air force planes bombed tanks on public roads and a bridge was dynamited. Rebels fired at and hit Vice President Eduardo Duhalde's helicopter. On Tuesday, rebels who hid overnight at a rural Buenos Aires Province farm gave themselves up, along with three tanks they had seized. Argentina's two biggest political groups, the governing Perronist Party and the Civic Radical Union, issued a statement with 23 other parties saying the government should punish the rebels ``with severity.'' The rebels had demanded a shakeup of the military high command and a bigger military budget. Observers said they also sought to embarrass Menem by forcing Bush to cancel a visit to Argentina on Wednesday. Bush was in Uruguay on Tuesday. Menem refused to concede a single point, and even while rebels still held the army headquarters, Bush said he would arrive on schedule. Menem was sworn in 17 months ago amid hyperinflation, recession, food riots and military unrest. He seemed to have strengthened his government by choosing to fight the rebels instead of negotiating as former President Raul Alfonsin did on three occasions. It did not escape Argentines' notice that under Menem, the air force and navy for the first time helped put down an army rebellion. So no one would doubt that rebels surrendered unconditionally, they were ordered to walk out with their hands behind their necks and shoeless, a gesture meant to humiliate them. The rebels ``thought the president would be frightened and give in to their pressures,'' and become ``their puppet,'' said Adelina Dalesio de Viola, a national deputy with the opposition Union of the Democratic Center. ``But at every moment, Menem showed himself to be very firm,'' she said. Granillo Ocampo, Menem's aide, said the jailed leader of a December 1988 revolt, retired Col. Mohamed Ali Seineldin, admitted he played a role in the rebellion. He said Seineldin asked for ``a pistol with one bullet,'' presumably to kill himself, but authorities refused. Several other current and former officers under arrest sided with Seineldin or cashiered Lt. Col. Aldo Rico during the April 1987 and January 1988 military uprisings. Late Tuesday, Menem canceled the state-of-siege decree. Menem's brother, Eduardo Menem, who is president of the Senate, claimed Tuesday night the rebels intended to assassinate key political figures. The list included the president, at least one Cabinet minister and the leader of the ruling Peronist party bloc in Congress, Eduardo Menem told the independent news agency Noticias Argentina. He cited state intelligence agency information, but offered no proof to support his claim.
