s iil IH ltl't' 1VNOIJ 't'N 3Hl LV03 J Q l d3ll · •' · OEPARTM ENT OF STATE W ' hingt o D C c f _ - ' 20520 ·- p p- E- April 7 1977 utrrlelrt of State A GISllPSISRP OFFICIAL-INFORMAL 88HPIBi8U'i'H is Honorable Robert C Hill American Ambassador American Embassy Buenos Aires Dear Mr Ambassador Our lunch with Robert Cox at the American Club was just perfect Patt discussed Jinuny Carter the man and his life-long dedication to hurnari rights I think Cox recognized that th e Administration ' s dedication to basic rights is a very genuine long-range conunitment Patt gave him a signed copy of the President's United Natio s' Address Other copies we nt to Muller of the UNHCR Timme rman of La Opinion Mrs Justo of the Permanent Assembly and the Nuncio I think a sixth would have gone to Mr Jenner of the Red Cross had one been available ' · Cox described the horrors of the Pe ronist era leftist terrorism and he presen t-day situation There was nothing new in this although Cox is v ery articulate A few specific points Solari Irigoyen's offense to the Armed Forces came in 1972 when he publicly criticized the Trelaw Prison killings in the aftermath of Santucho's escape to Chile - Gustavo Roca was contemptible because he had published a n e wspaper or maga z ine exalting leftrst violence eenPI J JlH Hi IS NW 51067 Docl d 330 64 616 a __ _ · · eeuI IS l JU Ht l - 2 - Christopher Roper is a Marxist businessman - There is no way to onf irm whether crematories exist in Cordoba It is the kind of horror story that has a certain pornographic quality that people pass around as the truth - Perhaps the most dangerous of the hard-line generals is Suarez Mason On the other hand Neustadt spoke well of Suarez perhaps because they are neighbors - The American Embassy has performed well oh the human rights issue Our session with the Permanent Assembly was undoubtedly the most passionate exposition of the h uman ·rights picture which we experienced Ninety-year old plus Alicia Moreau de Justo spoke with great dignity lucidity and indeed fire She characterized the human rights situation as barbaric She described an incident which took place on March 16 Armed men invaded a home at night where an elderly grandmother a mother and young daughter lived Two young men were visiting at the time These thugs broke into the house ransacked it stealing at will and took everyone with them except the older woman The prisoners were blindfolded At an unknown place of detention the mother was beaten with rubber truncheons She could hear her daughter's screams in a nearby room Final ly the mother was released at an unknown spot she had been blindfolded throughout her ordeal and she made her way home To this day she is desperately trying to locate her daughter who to her knowledge is guilty of no subversive activity Labor ·'leader Bravo then told the story of a family that with much trouble was able to recover the body of a daughter who died in prison in Cordoba An autopsy later revealed that two live rats had been sewn into the girl's vagina and had torn her body apart as they tried to g t out Mr Pimentel discussed the problem of habeas corpus ' petitions and the intimidation of the press in connection with the publication of the· writs The La Opinion reporter who covered the courts was kidnapped other papers simply ignore the subject Pimentel described LONI IDLiHUt S NW 5 7067 Docid 3306 4 616 '- ·- - s't iH lW lVNOll'IN 3Hl l'I i• 03 1100tld3 8 8UFI tJHlf 'Iil J - 3 - how the Assembly tries to document disappearances largely through families that inform the Assembly of what is happening ' The Westerkampfers he teaches physics described the conditions of their son's detention at Sierra Chica a crowded ell confinement 23 out of 24 hours and no reading material They did not that the food improved slightly after a Red Cross visit Finally Emilio Mignone old us of his daughter Monica's disappearance and his conviction that the avy is holding her We left this meeting subdued and went to the Canadian Residence We were briefed on the refugee sit-in at the Canadian Embassy and Cana-d a' s efforts on behalf of the refugees Patt briefed the Ambassador on the Administration's hwnan rights conunitment and determination to do something about the pandemic spread of repression in the world He told us that he was leaving the next day for a meeting of Canadian Ambassadors to be held in Mexico City Human rights was to be on the agenda and ·the Ambassador continued this conversation would be very helpful to him in Mexico He stated that Canada had not pressed Argentina on the human rights issue but that as a result of our conversation there might be a change The Ambassador also mentioned that a bomb had been discovered in an automobile very near hi s Resi'dence possibly meant for him Our meeting with the Canadians was very pleasant On Saturday morning I had breakfast with Bernardo Neu tadt He will be spending his week in Washington as Or£ila's house guest I promised to try to arrange an appointment with Todman and not ed that Patt looked forward to meeting him in Washington Neustadt claimed that Videla had ordered an accounting of all prisoners in detention and that a list would be published by May He stated that the Army Command was holding strategy sessions on waging the peace He f el t he would be able to repo rt on positive developments during his visit to the United States I seem to have heard this before He was ve r y disturbed by the disappearance of Edgardo Sajon saying that he had heard it might be re iated to I emF I IHmi' I JI r NW 57067 Doci d 3306 4 61f ii ' __ p _ _a g e__ -' - - ---------------- 1 e _ ·_ C· e - - - - 5 - - 2 _' if' - ' ·s31 iH W 1V1'101l 3H1 lV 03 Jl100 d3 ·- Iii lli1I ii iill'i' IJzi - 4 the Graiver bankruptcy case Neustadt was troubled that the government might now be making secret economic arrests in addition to political ones Our other meetings have of course beenrecorded in Memoranda of Conversation While we were able to review several of these in Buenos Aires I look forward to going over these memos in more contemplative circumstances What came across most clearly to me is the C ntinuing hope that nearly everyone we spoke to places in Videla People - at least most of our contacts - do not blame him for the seemingly uncontrollable activities of the goon sq uads The Navy seems to operate secretly in an effort to polarize the Army It would appear that some of the military and leftist extremists are doing all they can to provoke a civil war Timmerman fears that his newspaper will be closed in some kind of Reichstag incident signaling a hard-line triumph He declared that the Montoneros would eventually win a civil war if one took place He therefore welcomed the Carter Adrninstration's efforts including the military credits reduction because it had finally stiffened the moderates and given them the courage to face up to the hard liners The business community Timmerman suggested is at long last afraid of what the United States might do in the economic arena and is therefore backing the moderate cause Our sessions with the Foreign Ministry were almost beside the point Arlia seemed in another world I really sympathize for those on your staff who deal with this Alice in Wonde rland character I guess we must continue judging events in Argentina with extreme caution and hope that we will take every opportunity we can find to nurse whatever forces of moderation exist in that tragic society My very best Sincerely al rrence' Fernando E Rondon D HA - Ms Derian in draft @8HPI15 JifTIAL NW 5706 7 I fI bj e I FWD 53 TE 5 5 ij 15' 2 2 30316 1 33154619 This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu