Documents show US support for ‘dirty war’

LEADERS of Argentina’s military dictatorship believed Washington was willing to overlook the junta’s bloody efforts to stamp out political dissent, newly declassified US documents show.

In a telegram signed by then-US Ambassador Robert Hill, a top Argentine official returned to Buenos Aires following a 1976 visit to Washington "convinced there is no problem with the US government over the issue of human rights".

Mr Hill said the comments by Argentine foreign minister Admiral Guzzetti had come after meetings with then US Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during a two-week visit to the UN and Washington.