Institutionalizing Human Rights in U.S. Foreign Policy: U.S.-Argentine Relations, 1976-1980*

Abstract

This article examines U.S.-Argentine relations during the period of military dictatorship (1976–1983). I argue that during the Gerald R. Ford administration, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's subtle support for the Argentine military junta—despite widespread state-sanctioned violence against perceived subversives—was a continuation of a historical process rooted in the early years of the Cold War: U.S. support for anticommunist Latin American military establishments. By contrast, Jimmy Carter's effort to promote human rights in U.S.-Argentine relations was a courageous effort to fulfill his campaign promise to bring “competence and compassion” to the Oval Office. Although clearly not unlimited, Carter's emphasis on human rights, particularly evident in his selection of Patricia Derian as Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, provided an unprecedented government-sanctioned arena for human rights advocacy.