Supreme Court, which gave rise to the De facto government doctrine. This doctrine legitimized the new government, "as long as it executes the administrative and political function derived from its possession of the force as guarantee of order and social security." He dissolved the National Congress, declared a state of siege, replaced the governors of the provinces with radical governors through federal intervention, and attempted to establish a neo-corporatist government. In this system of government, similar to fascism, Uriburu saw an example of peace and political order. On 18 September 1930, the ambassadors from the United States and England (a country Uriburu had served as an attaché), recognized his provisional government. Though Uriburu publicly claimed to respect the Constitution, he personally felt that it was necessary to return the country to the rule of a conservative government as was the case prior to the Law of Sáenz Peña, which had established a secret vote for all men over 18. In a speech given to the Superior School of War, Uriburu expressed his opposition to universal suffrage: We must try to achieve a political authority based in reality rather than purely theory... Aristotle defined democracy as a government by those best fit to rule. The difficulty is in making those who are best fit the rulers. It is difficult to make that happen in any country where, like ours, there is a 60% illiteracy rate, therefore it is clear and evident that it is those 60% that govern the country, because in legal elections, they are the majority. He established a repressive regime that included for the first time the systematic use of torture against political opponents, particularly anarchists, communists, and radical yrigoyenists, using the Sector of Public Order of the Capital Police, with Leopoldo Lugones, Jr. at the helm. He declared martial law and secretly executed anarchist militants such as Severino Di Giovanni, Gregorio Galeano, José Gatti, Joaquín Penina, Paulino Scarfó and Jorge Tamayo Gavilán. He imprisoned several political leaders, such as former president Hipólito Yrigoyen; censured news publications; and took over the nation's universities, eliminating the autonomy and co-government that they had enjoyed since the University Reform of 1918. Once the coup had taken place, the newly founded General Confederation of Labor (CGT) adopted an attitude of complacency towards the military regime. In the economic sphere, the Great Depression had an impact on the country and caused a significant