Suspect in Argentine death squad killings of mid-70s extradited from Spain

[Judi Lynn]

Source: IHT/Associated Press

Suspect in Argentine death squad killings of mid-70s extradited from Spain
The Associated Press
Published: March 19, 2008

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: A former police officer suspected of taking part in dirty war death squad killings was returned to his homeland in handcuffs on Wednesday.

Prosecutors say Rodolfo Eduardo Almiron Sena was a key aide to Jose Lopez Rega, alleged chief of the Triple A death squad, whose political killings in the mid-70s were a grim precursor of Argentina's bloody 1976-1983 military dictatorship that killed thousands of dissidents.

Spain's government announced in February that it would extradite Almiron to faces charges that include genocide. Prosecutors tie him to two specific deaths.

The Argentine Anticommunist Alliance is blamed for killing hundreds of leftist students, labor activists and others between 1973 and 1975.



Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/19/america/LA-GEN-Argentina-Dirty-War.php

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[Judi Lynn]

1. [center]ARGENTINE MILITARY BELIEVED U.S. GAVE GO-AHEAD FOR DIRTY WAR

ARGENTINE MILITARY BELIEVED U.S. GAVE GO-AHEAD FOR DIRTY WAR

New State Department documents show conflict between Washington and US Embassy in Buenos Aires over signals to the military dictatorship at height of repression in 1976

National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 73 - Part II
Edited by Carlos Osorio

Assisted by

Kathleen Costar, research and editorial assistance
Florence Segura, research assistance
of the National Security Archive

Natalia Federman, research assistance and Spanish translation
of CELS

Washington, D.C., 21 August 2002 - State Department documents released yesterday on Argentina's dirty war (1976-83) show that the Argentine military believed it had U.S. approval for its all-out assault on the left in the name of fighting terrorism. The U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires complained to Washington that the Argentine officers were "euphoric" over signals from high-ranking U.S. officials including then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

The Embassy reported to Washington that after Mr. Kissinger's 10 June 1976 meeting with Argentine Foreign Minister Admiral Guzzetti, the Argentine government dismissed the Embassy's human rights approaches and referred to Kissinger's "understanding" of the situation. The current State Department collection does not include a minute of Kissinger's and Guzetti's conversation in Santiago, Chile.

On 20 September 1976, Ambassador Robert Hill reported that Guzzetti said "When he had seen SECY of State Kissinger in Santiago, the latter had said he 'hoped the Argentine Govt could get the terrorist problem under control as quickly as possible.' Guzzetti said that he had reported this to President Videla and to the cabinet, and that their impression had been that the USG's overriding concern was not human rights but rather that GOA 'get it over quickly'."

More:
http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB73/index3.htm

[santamargarita]

2. Absolutely!

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