Argentina

CHAPTER 1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ON ARGENTINA'S DIRTY WAR : CHAPTER EXERCISES

1. Argentina Since the late 1800s : Encyclopedia of Latin America (A historian describes Argentina as a nation possessing great natural resource wealth and economic potential but notes that it was under military control for much of the 20th century.) / no author given

2. Argentina's Secret War, 1976-83 (A lawyer and activist summarizes the violent attempts by Argentina's military government to stifle dissent and intimidate opponents in the late 1970s and early 1980s in what is often referred to as the Dirty War.) / Juan E. Mendez

3. The US State Department Reports on Events in Argentina (A recently declassified 1978 memorandum written by American diplomats describes the Argentine government's use of tortue and "disappearance" against alleged subversives.) / US State Department

4. Argentina's Media was a Target of Government Repression (A scholar examines why Argentina's newspapers, even old and highly respected ones, felt so threatened that they failed to report the tragic events that were unfolding.) / Jerry W. Knudsen

5. Argentina Maintained a Network of Torture and Detention Centers (To silence and punish alleged subversives, military leaders sent many Argentine citizens to clandestine prisons and other facilities. A reporter tells the story of one of the most notorious: the Navy Mechanics School.) / Anna Mulrine

6. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo Leave a Powerful Legacy (A reporter for an Indonesian newspaper describes the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, protestors who gathered weekly in a public square in the capital, Buenos Aires, and emerged as the most visible symbol of resistance to Argentina's military leaders.) / Tifa Asrianti

7. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo Continue Their Protest (Among the lasting images of Argentina's Dirty War was the continued presence of the mothers and wives of many victims in the Plaza de Mayo. A reporter chronicles how they continue to seek justice decades later.) / Marie Trigona

8. The Dirty War Ended with Argentina's Decisive, if Uneasy, Shift to Democracy (A journalist summarizes the ways in which, following a loss to Great Britain in the Falkland Islands War of 1982, Argentina began to implement a democratic system.) / Sahil Nagpal.

CHAPTER 2. CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING ARGENTINA'S DIRTY WAR : CHAPTER EXERCISES

1. The Argentine Government Believed it Enjoyed American Support (Citing official documents, two scholars note that the US secretary of state in 1976, Henry Kissinger, appeared to approve of the Argentine government targeting left-wing dissidents.) / Martin Edwin Anderson and John Dinges

2. An American Government Official Protested Strongly Against Alleged Human Rights Violations in Argentina (Patricia Derian, an assistant US secretary of state under President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s, continued to speak out against alleged Argentine actions even after leaving office.) / David Beard

3. Victims of Argentina's "Dirty War" of the Late 1970s Blast Pope's "Deadly Silence" (Jorge Bergoglio, a powerful official of the Roman Catholic Church in Argentina in the 1970s, became Pope Francis I, the global head of the Church, in March 2013. Some of the surviving victims questioned his actions during the Dirty War, as two journalists report.) / Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein

4. The Pope is Not Guilty of Any Involvement in Argentina's Dirty War (A journalist reports on the Roman Catholic Church's official statement rejecting the claim that Pope Francis bears any guilt from the days of the Dirty War and comments on the larger controversy.) / Nicole Winfield

5. Priest Details Arrest During Argentine Dirty War but Doesn't Comment on Pope Francis' Role (A reporter documents the memories of several Argentines with an interest in the actions of the Argentine cardinal named as Pope in 2013, including a priest who was victimized by the regime.) / Daniel Politi

6. Trials to Reveal Argentine Ghosts (A journalist suggests that Argentina's transition to a democratic government in the 1980s, and the trials of some generals, might help the nation heal its recent wounds, even if other alleged perpetrators are not prosecuted.) / Oakland Ross

7. By the Mid-1980s Many Argentines Seemed Willing to Forget their Recent Past (In the 1980s, as a specialist notes, Argentina's military government was replaced by a democratic one, and many ordinary people hoped to forget the country's recent past.) / Elizabeth Fox

8. Violent, State-sponsored Persecution May Have Continued Long After the Dirty War was Over (A journalist notes that a number of Argentine officials continued to die under suspicious circumstances into the 1990s.) / Diana Cariboni

CHAPTER 3. PERSONAL NARRATIVES : CHAPTER EXERCISES

1.

A Childhood During Argentina's Years of Terror (A British reporter helps Laura Alcoba, who was seven years old when Argentina's military leaders took over in 1976, tell her story of fear and oppression.) / Angelique Chrisafis

2. An American in Buenos Aires Tells of Imprisonment and Torture (In a recently declassified US government document, an American activist in Argentina during the rise of the military junta tells an investigator of her arrest for distributing political pamphlets.) / Anonymous

3. Argentine Tells of Dumping "Dirty War" Captives into Sea (Some of the victims of Argentina's Dirty War were simply thrown out of airplanes, a former officer reports.) / Calvin Sims

4. A Journalist Refuses to Forgive Those He Claims Persecuted His Father (An Argentine reporter, who was twenty-two years old when his outspoken father was arrested in 1977, reports on his refusal to speak at a 2002 event held by the nation's military, citing his Jewish tradition and alleging not only continued injustices but also Nazi connections.) / Hector Timerman

5. A "Dirty War Baby" Finds Out the Truth (Having reached adulthood, a young woman is surprised to discover not only that her biological parents were "disappeared" during the Dirty War, but that her adoptive father was involved in torture.) / Mei-Ling Hopgood.