THE RISE OF LATIN DICTATORS - 1976/10/10

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Argentina Declassification Project - The "Dirty War" (1976-83)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03394336
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: April 3, 2019
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2019
• Publication Date: October 10, 1976

21U:ZagL3TAPPE,4RE1.
ON PAGE e- 7
Jack Anderson.
7
Throughout most of its 200 yearS; the.
� ''United States has held aloft ther.torch of
libertrand his.'Prennoted. dercioe0cy
1, among its; neighbors But thepainstak-
lug; progress- has now been1a.rgel44m-'''..
� .by kUnited States-thatisuddenly
ebegaiieto. see CeinnituaiStssuider.eVet.7-?.
btishbeyonditisonthern.border%,;.,:e'-.,.-:e.'�]A
The statistics of tell thestory.e,
1963, .cinlY foux siiall tatik-Aiiieriaan"
�.:nations--,E1Salvade'fi:HoriditraS;.Nicir
gni -and Paraguay--.were
etary dictators.Then Bra& fell to a junta':
ein. 1964. Panama and Peru...Went Militarya
iii 1968.: The armed forces took
livia In,. 169, Ecuador. lit 1972,Chit..ahd
Uruguay' fit .1.973 'after.1.1j
:brief,military flirtation
(:has now.4aIlen.. under.' harstV_
rule......And,. behind .inost:Of.-the.)nihtary
� dictatorships.cari.be.fetirldfornierclass7.4
triates in the .Pentagen or. ShadOWYfig.
uresin the Central Intelligene:AgenCY.e;
There is ShOcking exxn-
ple,that.th�itedat:theeUnited Stites.:41iletl?en
:Oottrag ed. the gehetaLg,
.of.rSouth:Atherica'sedernotraciesdee;,
adeeapart,. in,J317T
�, tWeen,; there Were M.:8;:whiSperbigs hi tci",
. :the ears of other LithiA,Merican. gerier;;;:.,
..4....liliailbeen'estab1islied Olaf-the CIA irk;
.f Mine' dot:
:-Iars. into .organizations .that. opposed: the'',
fjOact.Goulart."1-16 was deposed,,. interest
:ifigli.;enough, while 4: colonel named
:YerritaWaltersWat.thel.I.S; military at;::
...tache in Brazil
-Nine years laler': thii-Same-Verlion?'
',...Walters turned up'as deputy director of'
� :the . CIA. He was involved, in. funneling
I. subsequent,. CIA
tions that ;Were pppOseci i!.17.eident;t
I SaIVidotAllende.niCtale;,;;4.-..4.
Approved for Release: 2018/09/17 C03394336
10 OCTOBrAt 1976 Y5L�11'414J91 Uii d
,
---!-::Arid what didthe. U.S. taxpayers get.,
. .
' for their money? Both Brazil and Chile ,
. are'no t,V 'hided by:. repressive' Militirr,
,dictatorships. They have brought a!mea.:�4.,
� sure of stability to their countries'-Butz'
,.only � rarely..has the . economic trickle:-
reached the poorer masses. For :their
:dubious blessings ; the people haVe. paid .,
a high price: arrests in the "niglitarbi-,
trary imprisonment arid torture for the
crime of disagreeing. .. '." " .',.
, - But:for the United States, the plice-,.
has been higher. This country, once re':
garded around the world as the bastion,.,,
of freedom, is now. thought no. laetter,..r
than its Communists rivals. The militaryi
governments of Latin America have,bef:
come so opPressive that thejmOderafeS;.'
Including 'many who despise cOnunurt-;'
Ism,' have turned' in desperation not to
Washington but to Havana. - , ,
For in, nation after nation, they have:
,.,vitnesSed the. love affair between the -
dictatorships- and the. Pentagon,. 'Overt
.the ',past' 30 :years, the Pentagon. : has','
squandered $2 billion' worth. Of- 11.6.rd: :
Ware and training.on-the military estab--
lishments of Latin Anaerica. - -,
growing concern -of , Congress ,
hasnt yet stopped the flow. In the year;2
� ahead,. for' example, the American Mx-e,
payers will deliver, $49.3 million in Mili-e,
.-,
tary aid . to the Argentinian: junta,
million to the Brazilian generals,',$1 _
. , . .
'Million. te" the military dictators in Bo-:
livia. and $1.4 mfflion to General AlfredO
Stroessner's regime in Paraguay.. '.-,...,:.-..(,-..-1:.,
;,--: Military brass from virtually everyna-��:
tion in Latin America meanwhile have,'
..trained at such.U.S.' military sehoOls:as,..
the Command and General Staff College:
at Fait' Leavenworth,' Kan., arid.tiie Na-�
val War College at NeWPort; R.T.Indeed7
., a
�
the' Pentagon las even established onci.
, school that. is: specifically deigned ':to
train.La.tini. Its Called the,School of the;
AiriericIns and is located in the Pararna,:
-Canal Zone. Over, 30,000 Latin. Ameridan-
Military Men havetrained at the schOoll
.overthe past three decades. Of 1,765 'stu-
dents Who: attended the :school ini1975;.'
.575 came from the cfateiti regimei,;A:.'-..
1
The Defense 'Department also niain--::
tains military advisers in 17 Latin Amer.:.
ican countries: ThdOhe top. military'.
...brass in Latin Arrierica and the lInited;:
States have developecrclose personal re,
10 ships .;,:.,_ :' -.;...-e.,:�,:.�..,;,:, ! ': .7: '.......,.!, e ,�..';..
&lit) cliaz
At the White House aiid State Depart-71
ment�there has been little sentiment for
restoring democracy in Latin America. -
It. doesn't seem to matter, whether'the .1
governments use terror: and torture.!,
Our diplomats Prefer to keep a "low,:.
profile" and confine their objeetiOns to -
-"quiet .representations:.' Secretary of.?
State Kissinger appears to be finite corn,
fortable with repressive dictator-ships.
Take Argentina, for example. Kidnap-...,
pings, murder and tcirture have become
dairy occurrences. The outrages are
committed by militants of both political
extremes. There have been "more peo-
pie killed in one year in Argentina," one
_State Department source told us, "than.
in five years in Northern Ireland:" ,
- :The . situation has deteriorated since
the military junta took over on March
2/1. The dictatorship, rather than join in
the murder-and mayhem directly, per- ,
mits right-wing para-police _and para-
\military.squads to roam the cities and.
/countryside, dispensing street justice:
- Some Rey congressmen, such as Rep.-
Edward Koch tD-N.Y.), would like to cut-
off militarY aid to Argentina as 6 ges-
ture of U.S. concern. U.S. law states that
this can be done if a country demon-'
strates a "consistent pattern" of "gross
violations" of human rights. But the
State Department characteristically has
objected. that a "consistent pattern" of
abuse lutist still be proved. .
:-RespoiriaS;:Kpeir . "Bold steps are
needed;to itnpresi the Argentine gov-
erninent that its graCe-period is over."
At least dirmly;-those Wifo=7.15elieve the
United States-sliould--promate democra-
�:Cies; not dictatorship, are being heard.
'176,IteFire8yndaLe.Inc..c&tc.
Approved for Release: 2018/09/17 C03394336