' ' SECRl 7 SENSITIVE XGDS OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT WASHINGTON September 5 1978 MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION AMBASSADOR GARDNER'S RESIDENCE September 4 1978 10 00 a m ARGENTINE SIDE U S SIDE President Videla Col Miguel A Mallea Gil Dr Ricardo Yofre Vice President Walter F Mondale A Denis Clift Intetj reter VP I am pleased to have this meeting I remember the meeting we had in the White House at the time of the Panama canal Treaty ceremony We wane good re lat1 ons and speaking candidly there are strains now I hope today we can make some p ogress I told the President of your request He said by all means I should meet with you and he asked me to extend best wishes He said we don't want trouble with Argentina but human rights are a central concern I will report to the President personally on your views V Thank you Mr Vice President for inviting me For me it is an extremely important opportunity to discuss these matters because I feel our relations are deteriorating I fully concur with President Carter's position on human rights We have profound belief in the democratic ' process so that men can live with dignity and freedom We are with the United States and we are not troubled by criticism when it is objective However we are concerned by attitudes projecting interVention in domestic affairs I spoke with President Carter about this at the time of the Panama Canal Treaty signing but since that time we have had to delay our announcement of an invitation to the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights because of U S criticisms projecting intervention A second probfem--Argentine politicans were invited to visit the United States but they too did not visit because SEC' R I SENSITIVE XGDS ADP Declassification Review DECLASSIFIED by John Fitzpatrick 4 24 2017 t SBGRBT SENSITIVE XGDS Memorandum of Conversation Ambassador Gardner's Residence page 2 September 4 1978 V continued of the U S statements intervening in our affairs Mrs Darien's statements are contributing to a deterioration in our relations VP Were her statements ma de in Argentina or in Washington V In Washington before Congress Mr Vice President the western world must be united and the United States must lead the western world At the same time tqe people of Argentina cannot tolerate intervention This is our concern VP I fully understand We don't want to get into such a situation We want to work with you to have good relations As you know the Humphrey-Kennedy Amendment is coming into effect We must soon take decisiqns on the Allis-Chalmers deal We want to be helpful It would be important if you could have the Interamerican Human Rights Commission received in Argentina on terms acceptable to the commission We would not link your actions with our own but if y ou do something then we could do something As you know the U S press covers developments in Argentina closely There are certain human rights ases with the people known to our press--people such as Jacobo Timerman To the extent that you make progre ss on thef le cases it will help us to make progress We know that you have had problems in your country and we want to work with you to establish a firm basis for p ogress V I understand and government-to-goveri unent relations are not easy My concern is WQen a problem between us is raised to the level of a public or popular issue This leads to situations where our citizens adopt partisan positions against the United States to situations where our businessmen adopt partisan positions because they cannot conclude deals when Ex-Im does not grant a loan VP I understand If we could get this turned around then we could move ahead for example on Allis-Chalmers I would also like to suggest that it would be good if Assistant Secretary Vaky could come to Argentina to meet w ith you or with a person of your choice for a review of our relations V Would this be after the Interamerican Commission or before SECl t ET SENSITIVE XGDS o -------------------------- SEeRET SENSITIVE Memorandum of Conversation Ambassador Gardner's Residence ------ XGDS page 2 September 4 1978 VP Oh I think it should be as soon as possible V Perhaps we could arrange a visit by the commission by mid-October VP But could you announce the visit earlier V Perhaps I would like to point out that since our meeting at the Panama Canal signing there have been a series of events showing the efforts on the part of-our government we have issued a list and names of all the detained we have published a list of all of those who disappeared and then reappeared last Christmas we released approximately 500 this last week 65 individ UJ ls were freed I have indicated that we are prepared to give a favorable response to the Commission oq Human Rights Timerman's situation has changed he is now out of jail and under house arrest Professor Bravo is now under house arrest and we expect the court to lessen the charges against him Officials of the U S government are weleome in Argentina but they cannot give the impression that they are coming to inspect us VP No they would come exercising discretion It will be important to have the announcement on a vi it by the Human Rights Commission on the terms acceptable to the commission V We could have done so last month but Mrs Darien's statement before the Congress forced us to suspend our ani iouncement In the course of a few days I believe we could develop a satisfactory announcement SECRET SENSITIVE XGDS S C tEI SENSITIVE XGDS page 4 September 4 1978 Memorandum of Conversation Ambassador Gardner's Residence C In considering the announcement it is important to remember the tight timing in the United States The Ex-Im Bank must take its decision by September 15 The Humphrey-Kennedy Amendment comes into effect on October 1 VP We would hope the announcement could be taken care of before then V This was our intention before September 15 VP We are encouraged that you will receive the commission Will you authorize me to tell the President that this will be done V Yes VP When may Assistant V After our announcement on the commission I don't think it can be done however ecretary Vak y come For Vaky we would prefer no other stops VP You would like him to visit Argentina alone V Ideally yes VP I won't give you a yes on this but I will recommend it and I will get back to you V Will you let us know ahead of time what his mission will be to permit us to prepare for it VP I will report to the President on mv return and we will contact your ambassador immediately V Mr Vice President U S -Argentine relations proceed in multiple channels--economic political cultural Now our relations are focused solely on human rights We can unde stand this problem if it is addressed in the broader spectrum of our overall relations and is not the single focus S Clt Y SENSITIVE XGDS SBCRHT SENSITIVE XGDS Memorandum of Conversation Ambassador Gardner's Residence page 5 September 4 1978 VP We have no desire to interfere in the affairs of your country We have enough domestic problems of our own If we can get on the road to progress in human rights this whole other vista will open We want the best possible relations The President was taken by you during the meeting he had last year Be is disappointed in the current course of our relations He wants our relations to head in the right direction I think we are now at a point where we can turn the right way V I think we can Mr Vice President I know your time was limited I appreciate this meeting Please give my greetings and best wishes to President Carter o o S Clt t SENSITIVE XGDS                     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