MEMORANDUM NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL July 11 1978 I IGFOKQKTION MEMORANDUM FOR ZEIGNIESW BREEZINSKI xT 0 II I ROBERT PASTOR tr 1T SUBJECT Kissinger on Human Rights in Argentina and Latin America The attached cable summarizes Kissinger's visit to Argentina for the World Cup- His praise for the Argentine government in its campaign against terrorism was the music the Argentine government was longing to hear and it is no accident that his statements were played back to us by the Southern Cone countries during the O A S General Assembly His other comments on the security problem in Latin America and the Soviet Cuban threat surprise me only in that they are about 15-20 years out of date What concerns me is his apparent desire to speak out against the Carter Administration's human rights policy to Latin America within two weeks of his return which is soon Frankly I think it would be a mistake from a political point of View for him to make such a speech since he will only open himself to criticism for being antirhuman rights since clearly Latin America is one of our success stories 0n the other hand we don't want to get into a public argument with him on this subject when we will need his help on BELT etc You may want to call him and ask how he enjoyed his trip and whether he would mind if a member of your staff- me debrief him on his trip That would provide me with an opportunity to see whether he is really concerned enough about our human rights policy to launch a campaign and also to give him some information on the effectiveness of our human rights policy in Latin America Jessica Eathews DECLASSIFIED go 13526