The “Dirty War” of Argentina, which lasted from 1976-1983, was nearly a decade of violence carried out against Argentine citizens by presidents Jorge Rafael Videla, Roberto Eduardo Violaand, Leopoldo Galtieri and their successive military government. The government sought to obliterate all “leftist” resistance and influence within Argentine society. It is widely believed that up to 30,000 Argentine citizens and refugees from Chile and Uruguay disappeared during the Dirty War. They were arrested, tortured and killed, most of them being trade unionists and students.
Seeing a neo-liberal and capitalist ally in the Argentine regimes, the U.S. was supportive of these military governments despite having knowledge of the systematic arrests and killings of civilians. Then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wished to remain friendly and supportive of Argentina in the late 1970’s on account of Videla’s anti-communist leanings. Kissenger apparently felt that having a Cold War ally was more important than objecting to the wide-spread human rights violations being committed in Argentina by far-right organizations (read: death squads) such as the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance. One cannot forget that Republican administrations of the second half of the twentieth century especially have had a penchant for supporting violent and oppressive regimes out of politico-economic interests (e.g., Pinochet, Batista and Abdullah). The Argentine government was given the impression that Washington was supportive of its actions despite the protest of the U.S. embassy in Argentina. Under Jimmy Carter, the U.S. backed off from its support of Argentina, but Ronald Reagan reversed this trend when he sought Argentine assistance in training Contras for guerrilla warfare in Nicaragua. The Ford and Reagan administrations turned a blind eye to the injustices and murders in Argentina, perceiving a greater good in bolstering neo-liberal (i.e., democratic capitalist) interests in Latin America and subverting a burgeoning Marxism in various Latin American countries. In 2002, the U.S. State Department declassified more than 4,600 documents pertaining to the Dirty War and U.S. involvement with, and support of, the Argentine regimes. The U.S. chose several times to ally itself out of economic interest with some of the most violent and cruel regimes of Latin America rather than standing up for the human rights of the innocent civilians. Economics preceding ethics. Adam Smith’s theory of moral sentiments and J.S. Mill’s utilitarianism trumping Aquinas’ virtue ethics and Kant’s moral formalism.
But cutting through the politics for a moment, what about the families of the disappeared? What about the mothers who mourn their children, having never said good-bye? From 1977 to 2006, the mothers of Argentina’s disappeared stood in solidarity as the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, protesting the violations of human rights and the subsequent cover-up by the Argentine governments. Their sons, brothers and husbands were tortured and killed without any warning, without any explanation and without any burial. 30,000 people vanished in less than eight years.
Every Thursday afternoon these mothers dressed in black and wore white scarves (symbolizing peace), and marched around Plaza de Mayo in downtown Buenos Aires. One of the founders of the group, Azucena Villaflor, was arrested in late 1977 and taken to a concentration camp. She was never seen again until her remains were found in 2005 by the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team. It was determined that Villaflor was tortured, drugged and dropped from a plane (vuelos de la muerte) over the ocean to fall to her death. Villaflor’s remains were found with those of Sr. Léonie Duquet, a Catholic nun who supported the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and had disappeared in 1977. She, too, was dropped out of plane, plummeting to her death.
A rather moving tribute to the Mothers of the Plazo de Mayo occurred at U2’s concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1998. This was the first time I had ever heard of the Mothers of the Plazo de Mayo, having relied on popular news services in the U.S. that report stories that only have U.S. interests in mind. Bono, the lead singer of U2, had a number of the mothers join him on stage where they each said the name of their disappeared son, brother or husband. They stood with him through U2’s performance of “One” and “Mothers of the Disappeared,” the latter of which he wrote back in 1987 specifically for the Mothers of the Plazo de Mayo. Here are the two songs performed in Santiago, Chile that featured images of the Mothers of the Plazo de Mayo in protest. Mothers whose sons and daughters will killed by both the Chilean and Argentine governments were on stage for Santiago show. The concert was televised on Chilean television for even Pinochet himself to see.
Whenever I hear of America’s benevolence in liberating Iraq from its dictator, I cannot help but think what a farce this benevolence is. We toppled a violent regime in Iraq that we didn’t see eye-to-eye with…we supported, funded and militarized dozens of violent regimes that were advantageous to us in terms of economic and foreign interests. That’s not benevolence, that’s greed. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, who was perhaps the most sober-minded of the U.S. founding fathers: “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.” Those who truly love America–the true patriots–are not those that boast of her glory or dominance, but those who recognize her sins and seek to transform her. Love for one’s country is not coextensive with love for the current public policy of one’s country. To quote another brilliant man: “We must open our eyes!” Pope Benedict XVI is absolutely right.
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