US President Barack Obama was yesterday set to tackle one of the most troubled periods of US history with Argentina, visiting a memorial to victims of the country’s murderous US-backed dictatorship.
Obama was to visit the Parque de la Memoria near Buenos Aires, a monument to the estimated 30,000 people who were killed or went missing from 1976 to 1983, and deliver a speech.
Obama’s two-day visit coincides with the 40th anniversary of a right-wing military coup, which the US government condoned and which ushered in the dictatorship.
Photo: AFP
During his visit, Obama has tried to present a softer side of the hemisphere’s pre-eminent power.
He joked about trying Argentina’s national beverage mate for the first time and about trying to meet soccer superstar Lionel Messi, while fondly recalling reading books by Argentine writers Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortazar.
He even had a go at tango — with a pro, at a state dinner, no less.
Looking relaxed while practicing a few steps with dancer Mora Godoy, while first lady Michelle Obama gave it a whirl with dancer Jose Lugones, the Obamas held their own on tango’s home turf.
However, the past has never been far away.
In 2002, Washington declassified 4,000 diplomatic cables that showed US officials, including then-secretary of state Henry Kissinger, encouraged the military junta’s purge of leftists.
While acknowledging “moments” in US foreign policy “that were counterproductive,” Obama pushed for reconciliation during his first full day in Argentina on Wednesday.
In a strategic gesture, Obama agreed to declassify sensitive military and intelligence records linked to the “dirty war.”
The intelligence and military documents could shed new light on the depth of US involvement in the coup and in the purges that followed.
“Prior US government releases have detailed human rights abuses and US policymaking in Chile, Guatemala, El Salvador,” said Carlos Osorio at the National Security Archive.
They might also shed more light on the extent of US involvement in “Operation Condor,” a plan among secret police agencies across the Southern Cone to target communists, leftists and dissidents.
“We all need and we are entitled to know what the truth is,” said Argentine President Mauricio Macri, who had asked for the documents to be released.
Obama’s visit has angered some victims’ groups. Several have called on Obama to apologize for US support of the military regime.
Adolfo Perez Esquivel, 84, an Argentine human rights activist who, like Obama, is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said that US military academies trained troops from Argentina and other Latin American regimes in torture techniques.
“It would be good to have a public recognition of United States interventionism,” Perez Esquivel said.
Obama is on his first visit to Argentina hoping to nurture a new regional ally.
He also offered a warm embrace of Macri, the country’s charismatic centrist and pro-business leader, praising him as a “man in a hurry” who wants to create jobs and mend the underperforming economy.
The White House is keen to help bolster the new president, spotting a chance to put Argentina on a firmer financial footing and create a new ally in the region.
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