Latin American Dictators: Legacies

(image source)
The old Latin Americanist in me is digging these recent archival releases:

Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 16:36:23 -0500
Reply-To: National Security Archive
Sender: The National Security Archive
From: National Security Archive
Subject: Jacobo Timerman Destabilized Argentine Dictatorship
To: NSARCHIVE@HERMES.GWU.EDU

National Security Archive Update, December 3, 2009

Jacobo Timerman Destabilized Argentine Dictatorship

For more information contact:
Carlos Osorio - 202/994-7061
cosorio@gwu.edu

http://www.nsarchive.org

Washington, DC, December 3, 2009 - 30 years after the release of Jacobo Timerman, the former newspaper editor and Argentina's most famous political prisoner during the military dictatorship, the National Security Archive today posted declassified documents that confirm that his case almost resulted in the fracture of the military regime. One September 1979 document states, "President Videla, the civilian Minister of Justice, and the entire Supreme Court threatened to resign" if the military high command refused to release Jacobo Timerman. U.S. Ambassador Raúl Castro requested that Videla directly call President Jimmy Carter if Timerman was released "so the American President would be the first to know the fate of [a situation] of his high interest."

"The Timerman case reflects the struggle over human rights and freedom of the press in Argentina," said Carlos Osorio, director of the Southern Cone project at the National Security Archive. "For that reason it is imperative that all relevant documents in the U.S. and in Argentina be declassified and made available for public scrutiny."

A selection of 18 U.S. documents illustrates how the military used multiple legal pretexts to break up his newspaper, La Opinión, expropriate his other properties, strip him of his citizenship, and expel him from the country. After he was finally released and expelled from Argentina on September 25, 1979, Timerman recounted his experience in a best-selling book, Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number, which called international attention to the repression in Argentina.

As part of this collaborative project with the National Security Archive, the Provincial Commission for Memory in Argentina today is publishing a selection of secret documents on the Timerman case from the files of the Directorate of Buenos Aires Police Intelligence. In addition, the College of William and Mary is publishing a chronology of abuses committed against Jacobo Timerman.

For more information, visit the Archive Web site

http://www.nsarchive.org

Chronology

http://www.wm.edu/as/charlescenter/faculty/qep/completed_projects/archive_project/spanish_chronology/index.php

DIPBA

http://www.comisionporlamemoria.org/index.php


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Jacobo Timerman hizo Tambalear a la Dictadura Argentina

La Administración de Carter dio prioridad a este caso; la liberación de Timerman estremeció a la Junta Militar en 1979

Carlos Osorio - 202/994-7061
cosorio@gwu.edu

http://www.nsarchive.org

Washington, DC, 3 de diciembre de 2009 - Treinta años después de la liberación de Jacobo Timerman, editor, periodista, y uno de los presos políticos más conocidos durante la dictadura militar en Argentina, el National Security Archive publica documentos estadounidenses desclasificados que confirman que su caso casi resultó en el colapso del régimen de Gen. Jorge Rafael Videla. En septiembre de 1979, los documentos confirman que "Videla, el civil Ministro de Justicia, y la Corte Suprema en su totalidad amenazaron con renunciar" si el alto mando militar no excarcelaba a Jacobo Timerman. Por su parte, el Embajador de los EEUU en Buenos Aires, pidió a Videla que el Presidente Carter sea "el primero en saber el resultado de una situación de mucho interés para él".

"El caso Timerman refleja la lucha sobre derechos humanos y de la libertad de prensa en Argentina," dijo Carlos Osorio, jefe del proyecto del Cono Sur en el National Security Archive. "Por eso es importante conseguir la desclasificación de todos los documentos relevantes".

Una serie de 18 documentos estadounidenses muestran cómo los militares usaron docenas de pretextos legales para desarticular su diario, La Opinión, quitarle otras propiedades, despojarlo de la ciudadanía argentina, y expulsarlo del país. Finalmente liberado y expulsado de Argentina en 1979, Jacobo Timerman, escribió el testimonio que dio rostro internacional a las miles de víctimas de la dictadura militar. El libro "Preso sin nombre, celda sin número" llegó a ser leído en todo el mundo llamando la atención internacional sobre la represión en Argentina.

Como parte de este proyecto de cooperación con el National Security Archive, la Comisión Provincial por la Memoria en Argentina publica hoy una selección de documentos secretos de la Dirección de Inteligencia de la Policía de Buenos Aires. Por otra parte, la Universidad de William and Mary publica una cronología de los abusos cometidos contra Jacobo Timerman.

National Security Archive

http://www.nsarchive.org

DIPBA

http://www.comisionporlamemoria.org/index.php

Cronología

http://www.wm.edu/as/charlescenter/faculty/qep/completed_projects/archive_project/spanish_chronology/index.php


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THE NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE is an independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The Archive collects and publishes declassified documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A tax-exempt public charity, the Archive receives no U.S. government funding; its budget is supported by publication royalties and donations from foundations and individuals.

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