Obama visits Argentina on Eve of Coup Anniversary

U.S. President Barack Obama has arrived in Argentina for a two-day visit that signals warming relations with the economically troubled nation, but also coincides with the 40th anniversary of a coup supported by the United States.

President Obama touched down in Buenos Aires just after midnight Wednesday, local time, in his next stop after a historic visit to Cuba. First lady Michelle Obama is with him, along with their two daughters and the first lady's mother.

Obama is set to meet Wednesday with Argentina's new President Mauricio Macri, who has signaled he wants stronger economic ties to Washington and other free-market economies. Later Wednesday both leaders are expected to speak at a state dinner.

But Obama's visit also coincides with Thursday's 40th anniversary of the start of a brutal military dictatorship in Argentina that led to the death or disappearance of some 30,000 people. On Thursday he plans to go to a park built in memory of those victims

Declassified U.S. documents indicate that the United States supported the military regime despite its human rights violations. The United States announced last week, at the behest of the Argentine government, that it will declassify even more military and intelligence documents linked to the period known in Argentina as the "Dirty War," from 1976 to 1983.

Some critics of the visit have vowed to stage protests. In the past, critics have called on the U.S. to apologize for its support of the military regime.

After the announcement that documents would be declassified last week, White House aide Ben Rhodes said the president believes "moving forward in the Americas or any other part of the world involves a clear-eyed recognition of the past."

The president's trip to Argentina comes on the heels of a historic visit to Cuba, the first by a sitting U.S. president in almost nine decades. During his meeting with President Raul Castro, Obama called on the U.S. Congress to lift the decades-long trade embargo on Cuba.

Print
Share: