JUL.26.

2016

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THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF

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LATIN AMERICA

The actions of military governments in South America against real or perceived threats from
subversive groups have led to numerous violati~ns
of human rights over the years. Largely as the
result of international opinion and publ.icity,
there has been a slight improvement in the countries that have been the chief targets - of crit i cism. The~e are Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and
Paraguay. The situation has also improved in
Brazil, but violations of humn rights still occur there.
Argentina
Violations by bot~ the left and right remain serious in Argentina,
although the frequency and scale of abuses by security forces and
rightist vigilantes have diminished somewhat since last summer.
The government now is~ues public lists of those it detains; the
completeness and accuracy of .the lists, however, is open to question.
International criticism of the human rights situation in Argentina has caused considerable irritation among gDvernment officials, particularly those charged with stopping leftist guerrilla
warfare. President Videla has indicated that he expects some
worsening of relations with the US over human rights, but he apparently feels con)trained by hard-line factions within the armed
forces.

--continued
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Fo r The Pre s i den t 0n1y .
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THE PRESIDE.NT'S
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1 October 1979

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.THe: PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF

19 July 1978

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ARGENTINA: New foreign

policy directions

The Argentine Government, increasing ly irritated by US criticism of

Argentina's huma n rights practices
and US advice on how to develop a
nu clear prog ra m, is see king to
strengthen its ties with France
and several Communist and Arab
countries .
Argentina r ecently purchased 170
jet engines from the French , who - despite their own disagreeme nts
with the Argentines over human
rights--are apparently willing to
sel l arms and may provide the
mi li tary training previously give n
--.conti nu ed
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by the US. J~nta member Admiral

Massera recent l y visited Romania
and claims .to have opened up new
possibilities for bilateral trade .
Foreign Minister Montes will travel
to Romaniq this month and to the
USSR later in t .he year. An Ar gentine eco~omic delegation is cur rently vtsiting Libya, Algeria,
and Iraq.
The USSR , a r e 1 at i:ve.l y- minor t r ading partner for Argentina, imports
far more from the Argentines than
it exports to them and would welcome an opportunity to correct
this imbalance. Moscow has expressed strong interest in provid ing turbines for Argentina's

massive Yacyr et a hydroelectric

project, for which the ExportI mport Bank turned down concessio nary financing on human rights
grounds.
The Argentines .are obviously posturing to some extent about
strengthe~ing relations with Communist nations . Their conserva tive political bias and their
fears regarding potentia l subver s i on probably preclude any close
diplomatic alignment or the purchase of Soviet military equipmen t. Nevertheless, Argentine
-- cont in ued

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willingness to turn to the Commu nists on economic gro unds is l i kely

t o increase if the US Congress .
denies s up plier credits through
the Export - Import Bank of approx i mat ely $800 mill ion fo r .us ex ports
to Argentina.

- - continued
7

T8P SECRET
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. THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF

February 25. 19 77

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We have seen no spec i fic Ch ilea n react i o~. but the reg ime has
been trying f o r som e time to im prove it s human ri gh t s image.
Ab uses continue but are fewer in number.
Argentine President Videla has sai4 t~dt he regrets having prob lems with the us over human rights but sees no alternative to
continuing the fight agai~st subversion .

Nicaraguan President Somoza bel i eves emphasis on human rights is

proper but that it is ha r d to see how you or anyone else can
persuade o t her governments to change their practices--especially
if th ey think strong meas ures are re quir ed for their survival .
The Uru guayan government th in ks US legislation penalizin g coun trie s that violate hu man rights is unfair, and that US officials
have a distorte d view of conditions in Ur uguay . There is evi dence, noneth el ess , t ha t . t be gove r nment is considering ways to
improve its huma n rights image .

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