Obama to Unseal Files on Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’
Source: New York Times
WASHINGTON President Obama is moving to declassify American military, intelligence and law enforcement records that could reveal what the United States government knew about Argentinas brutal dirty war of the 1970s and 80s, a senior adviser said on Thursday, hoping to pierce the shroud of secrecy that has surrounded a painful chapter in that countrys history.
Susan E. Rice, Mr. Obamas national security adviser, said that the president would use a visit to Argentina on Wednesday and Thursday, which coincides with the 40th anniversary of the 1976 coup that began the war, to honor the victims and formally begin the declassification process.
On this anniversary and beyond, were determined to do our part as Argentina continues to heal and move forward as one nation, Ms. Rice said during a speech at the Atlantic Council in Washington.
Human rights activists have long pressed for access to more classified United States records about the war, which lasted from 1976 to 1983, a period when the Argentine government and military carried out vicious crackdowns against dissidents and abducted thousands of people, including babies taken from parents who were detained.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/18/world/americas/obama-to-unseal-files-on-argentinas-dirty-war.html?smid=tw-share
WOW!
Thank you Mr. President!
I can hardly wait to read these files.
If there are things that have to be done, you should do them quickly, Mr. Kissinger told Mr. Guzzetti, according to the declassified account.
dflprincess
(28,075 posts)why many of us don't think snuggling up to Kissinger is a good thing.
noretreatnosurrender
(1,890 posts)Maybe the President was ticked off about the anonymous sourced story in the NYT that said he endorsed Hillary and decided to make this announcement this week instead of later.. Probably not but I'd sure like to think so.
Kissinger is certainly radioactive to this voter.
elljay
(1,178 posts)that Kissinger was involved?
flamingdem
(39,313 posts)Latin America and is doing the right thing where he can.
Too bad he didn't know before the Honduran coup, he never would have allowed the right wing in the USA to control what happened there. At least I want to believe that is the case.
hopemountain
(3,919 posts)do so.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)It will not be helpful to Hillary, but the truth should come out.
Kissinger is Hillary's friend and she is proud of that fact.
Kissinger should not be allowed to enter the annals of history without facing the public reaction to at least some of the truth about his career and life.
malletgirl02
(1,523 posts)I think however, Bernie Sanders calling out Kissinger on national TV a the PBS debate, may had buffeted his courage. I think knowing another national politician was on his side helped.
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)Here is a compilation thread with 167 posts on this topic.
George Bush Sr. May Face Charges: Conspiring to Kidnap and Murder Political Activists
L. Coyote Dec-12-07 07:40 PM - Original message
This Junta Day, 2007, news is a positive step towards justice.
Latin Americans are reacting to organized political murder of liberals and social activists.
==================
Plan Condor: Crimes Without Borders in Latin America
Marie Trigona - 12 Dec 2007 - http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1042/1 /
Former military dictator Jorge Rafael Videla and 16 other military leaders in Argentina will be prosecuted on charges of conspiring to kidnap and kill political activists in a scheme known as Plan Condor, developed by Henry Kissinger and George Bush Sr., head of the CIA at the time. Dictators in Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina killed opponents in the 1970s and 80s under the plan, also known as Operation Condor. The United States and Latin American military governments developed Operation Condor as a a transnational, state-sponsored terrorist coalition among the militaries of South America. In Argentina alone some 30,000 people were disappeared as result, leaving loved ones to seek justice decades later.
Coordinating Terror with U.S. support
Plan Condor began with the U.S. supported military coup against Chile's democratically elected socialist president, Salvador Allende. Allende's government was targeted as a threat to U.S. strategic policy in Latin America early on. White House tapes reveal that on Sept. 14, 1970, then-President Richard Nixon ordered measures to force the Chilean economy into bankruptcy. "The U.S. will not accept a Marxist government just because of the irresponsibility of the Chilean people," declared Henry Kissinger, Nixon´s secretary of State.
Declassified U.S. Department of State documents have provided evidence to Plan Condor's broad scope. The Operation was an ambitious and successful plan to coordinate repression internationally. FBI special agent intelligence liason to the Southern Cone countries Robert Scherrer (now deceased) sent the letter to the U.S. embassy in Argentina on September 28, 1976: "'Operation Condor' is the code name for the collection, exchange and storage of intelligence data concerning so-called 'leftists,' communists and Marxists, which was recently established between cooperating intelligence services in South America in order to eliminate Marxist terrorist activities in the area."
The memo also specified Argentina's enthusiasm over the plan. "Members of 'Operation Condor' showing the most enthusiasm to date have been Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. The latter three countries have engaged in joint operations, primarily in Argentina, against the terrorist target." Operation Condor has been difficult to investigate, due to the selectivity of victims and lack of official declassified documents from the CIA and Department of State. Many of the documents that have been released have been heavily censored. However, following an extensive investigation by Argentine courts beginning in 1999 and the decade long work of human rights groups to collect forensic evidence, 17 military leaders will be put on trial for their participation in the illegal persecution of social activists.
............
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Maybe this information will help Hillary's campaign. sarcasm.
billhicks76
(5,082 posts)Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)Why now?
malletgirl02
(1,523 posts)I think Bernie Sanders repudiating Kissinger on national TV was part of it. Sanders brought Kissinger criticism away from the fringe to the mainstream.
Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)burrowowl
(17,639 posts)When is Kissinger going to be put on trial!
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)They guys he worked for need to go on trial too.
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)Deja DU: Kissinger's extradition to Uruguay sought over Operation Condor
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2781263
Before those pages were somehow lost to us.
Babel_17
(5,400 posts)Thanks for mentioning it.
noretreatnosurrender
(1,890 posts)I hope once these documents are released he will then release the classified documents about Pinochet and Chile next.
Grins
(7,217 posts)Babel_17
(5,400 posts)"And this ((waving his murder bag)) is my Resume."