Buenos Aires, March 24 (RHC)-- Shortly before concluding his official visit to Argentina on Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement at Memorial Park alongside President Mauricio Macri paying tribute to the victims of the U.S.-backed military dictatorship and Dirty War, which left up to 30,000 killed or disappeared.

During his remarks, President Barack Obama praised the courage and sacrifice of the activists and dissidents whom endured tremendous human rights abuses by the U.S.-backed Argentine military regime.

"We have a responsibility to confront the past with honesty and transparency,” President Obama stated during the press conference. However, he failed to acknowledge the role that the United States government played in supporting military dictatorships in Argentina and across Latin America.

Leading up to Thursday's ceremony, members of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, an organization founded in 1977 to find children stolen, kidnapped, or born to women in detention during Argentina’s dictatorship, announced that they would not attend the event.

“Mothers-Founding Line, Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, Relatives of the Detained and the Disappeared for Political Reasons and the HIJOS group, took the decision of not participating in any official event along with the US president,” Taty Almeida, a leading member of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo said.