Argentina, 1975-1980: The Making of U.S. Human Rights Policy

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Comprising 2,429 documents, this set on one of Washington’s most important Latin American relationships describes the development of U.S. policy as it attempts to deal with the tragedy experienced in Argentina during the critical, formative period of the late 1970’s, which featured a political collapse verging on civil war; a military coup; and massive illegal detentions, torture, and kidnappings. The documents show U.S. officials from two very different presidential administrations grappling with human rights violations in the context of the Cold War on a scale never heard of in the Western Hemisphere, underscored by the dramatic disappearance of tens of thousands of people at the hands of the security forces.