A de facto government is usually imposed by force.
In order to know the meaning of the term de facto government that concerns us now, it is necessary, first of all, to discover the etymological origin of the two main words that give it shape:
-Government comes from Latin, exactly from the verb "gobernare", which can be translated as "drive a ship." That word, in turn, derives from the Greek “kybernaein”, which is synonymous with “pilot” or “drive”.
-Facto, for its part, also emanates from Latin. In this case, it comes from the noun "factum", which is equivalent to "fact".
Concept of de facto government
The government is the body that assumes the executive power of a State , made up of the president, ministers, secretaries, undersecretaries and other officials. The term can also refer to the length of time the mandate of an authority extends. The adjective phrase de facto , for its part, refers to what is specified or carried out in fact (without adjusting to a previous norm).
A de facto government , therefore, is one that exercises power in practice, but is not recognized or supported by a legal norm . A government that emerges after a coup d'état, therefore, is a de facto government.
Freedom of expression is not guaranteed with a de facto government.
Main features
In addition to everything indicated, it is necessary that we proceed to indicate other characteristics of the so-called de facto governments:
-They can not only be established after a coup d'état but also due to a power vacuum, a de facto state or electoral fraud.
-Among the consequences that this type of government has is that there is no way to limit its power and that can lead to the establishment of a dictatorship.
-They are usually imposed by force and, as a general rule, are not recognized by the other institutions and organizations that exist within that country.
-Among the examples of de facto government we can highlight the one established by Augusto Pinochet in Chile in 1974 after forcibly overthrowing Salvador Allende or the one established by Hugo Banzer in Bolivia in 1971 after establishing a military coup with which he overthrew the government of Juan José Torres González.
De facto government in Argentina: 1976-1983
Argentina , for example, had a de facto government between 1976 and 1983 . In 1973 , the Argentine people voted in democratic elections for Juan Domingo Perón as president and María Estela Martínez de Perón as vice president. The following year, Perón died and his wife took over as president, as indicated in the country's National Constitution .
However, on March 24, 1976 , the Armed Forces carried out a coup d'état and overthrew Martínez de Perón , known popularly as Isabelita . In this way, the military came to control the executive power and assumed a de facto government, whose operation was outside the law. It was not until 1983 that democratic elections were held again and thus the de facto government, which was headed by different members of the Armed Forces , came to an end.
As can be seen from this historical experience, de facto governments have an illegitimate beginning, since they are established by violating the rules . From this origin, their actions lack legality and legitimacy .