BUENOS AIRES — Tens of thousands of Argentines marched in Buenos Aires’ on Thursday to mark the 40th anniversary of a military coup, which led to a bloody seven-year dictatorship.
Rights groups believe US backing for authoritarian regimes in Latin America extended to Argentina during the 1976 to 1983 period known as the “Dirty War.”
Some 13,000 people were killed or disappeared during the brutal rule of “the generals,” according to government estimates.
Rights groups put the number closer to 30,000.
The iconic human right organizations, the Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, led the march.
Along with other participants, they held a large banner with the pictures people who “disappeared” during this dark period of Argentina‘s history.
Participants also protested against US President Barack Obama’s presence in their country.
Thousands of State Department documents were declassified in 2002, but they don’t paint a full picture of what the US knew or its possible role in bloodshed.
The most suggestive document is a series of notes from a late 1976 meeting between Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Argentina‘s foreign minister.
“If there are things that have to be done, you should do them quickly,” Kissinger said, according to a transcript, suggesting an implicit green-lighting of a clampdown on dissidents.
Obama has said his administration will endeavor to make amends by declassifying even more documents that could shed light on what role the US may have played in one of the region’s most repressive dictatorships.
The release likely will come after Obama leaves office next year.
This video was produced exclusively for The Associated Press on March 24, 2016. Click here to watch it. If the link is not working, search “ARGENTINA DEMO”
