New details revealed about U.S. support for 1976 coup and dictatorship in Argentina

Buenos Aires, March 25 (RHC)-- In Argentina, thousands marched in Buenos Aires to mark the 45th anniversary of the 1976 coup that ushered in a bloody U.S.-backed dictatorship, under which as many as 30,000 people were killed and disappeared. 

In the U.S., the National Security Archive has revealed new details about how the U.S. government was in direct contact with the coup plotters in Argentina prior to the overthrow of Isabel Perón’s government on March 24, 1976.  Declassified documents show then CIA Director George H.W. Bush briefed President Gerald Ford on a “possible” coup almost two weeks before it happened.  

The U.S. government also told the Argentinean military in advance that it would recognize the new regime, thus giving the military 'permission' to carry out their bloody coup.  At the time, the State Department was privately acknowledging a coup would lead to -- and we quote -- “military rule for an extended duration and of unprecedented severity.”  Washington's support of the dictatorship in Argentina would continue until the military was ousted and democracy returned in 1983.