Reply #1: Chronology of events surrounding the June 10, 1976 Kissinger-Guzzetti meeting

[Judi Lynn]

Chronology of events surrounding the June 10, 1976 Kissinger-Guzzetti meeting

NOTE: Links below refer to source documents


~snip~
5:27 am, June 10, 1976 - Early this morning, as the Secretary of State prepares to meet Guzzetti in Santiago, Chile, Deputy Secretary of State Charles Robinson sends a cable from Washington informing Secretary Kissinger that, "There is no evidence available suggesting the existence of a conspiracy among the governments of the Southern Cone to track down and prominent asylees resident in those countries."

Nevertheless, the cable continues, "gainst the backdrop of these political murders, the UNHCR representative in Buenos Aires has provided the embassy with disturbing reports about the inhospitable atmosphere for many foreign political exiles living in Argentina… Their total is estimated by UNHCR at 15,000, 10,000 of whom are Chilean and most of the balance Uruguayan. UNHCR estimates that about 1,000 of the Chilean exile and 300-400 of the others could be considered to be in danger from Argentine security forces or rightist extremists, either from Argentina or from their native countries… If the abuses continue or spread without a firm and unequivocal response from the junta, we can expect our efforts to maintain coherent relations with the new government in Argentina to become much more complicated, if not frustrated altogether. Robinson"

8:00 am, June 10, 1976 - Secretary of State Kissinger meets early in the day with the Argentine foreign minister, Admiral Guzzetti, for over one hour. The U.S. participants included Under Secretary for Economic Affairs William Rogers, Under Secretary for International and Security Affairs Carlyle E. Maw, and Luigi R. Einaudi as note taker. On the Argentine side, Guzzetti was accompanied by Ambassador Pereyra and Argentina's Ambassador to the OAS and renowned diplomat Julio Cesar Carasales.

{Note: the Memorandum of Conversation for this meeting was misdated June 6, 1976. The meeting took place during the morning of June 10, 1976, when Kissinger met with several foreign dignitaries attending the OAS General Assembly in Santiago. That afternoon he traveled to Mexico City. See Secretary Kissinger's travels at the State Department historian's web page and the Secretary's calendar of events for that day}

The encounter is cordial and the Secretary never raises the issues of torture and disappearances in Argentina, nor the Americans endangered there. The Memorandum of Conversation shows that after a series of pleasantries, Guzzetti opens the substantial part of the meeting by stating: "Our main problem in Argentina is terrorism. It is the first priority of the current government that took office on March 24."

In closing, Secretary Kissinger says, "If there are things that have to be done, you should do them quickly. But you must get back quickly to normal procedures."

More:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB133/chron.htm