Dirty Diplomacy: U.S. Diplomacy, Human Rights, and the Argentinian Dirty War, White House Historical Association, 2022 National History Day Student Paper Showcase

Process Paper:

In my high school Honors Spanish III class, much of our coursework was grounded in the culture and history of Spanish-speaking Latin American countries. As a result, we analyzed and discussed everything from the way people greet each other to movies such as Tambien la Lluvia. For me, the most interesting part was learning about the Dirty War. I read La Guerra Sucia and found its storytelling of the kidnapping of a single mom of two teenage boys incredibly sobering. After that, I watched Infancia clandestina, which depicted the daily lives and struggles of a family of anti-junta Montoneros. I then briefly learned of America’s involvement in the matter and became interested in uncovering the secrets behind its participation in such a horrible event. The records of U.S. involvement, contact, and communication with the Argentine military dictatorship at the time give insight into how a conflict of interests in diplomacy can lead to disastrous results. In this case, the covert dealings between America and Argentina under President Gerald Ford ensured that human rights abuses against innocent Argentinians would continue throughout the Dirty War. Therefore, the Ford Administration’s foreign policy and diplomatic efforts in Argentina were not beneficial to the good of the people; it chose to prioritize the elimination of left-wing Peronists and communists over human rights. The Carter Administration acted in stark contrast to the Ford Administration, as it prioritized human rights in its foreign relations and policies. The subject of diplomacy can therefore be viewed through the lens of the differences between these two presidencies regarding the Dirty War. To gain a more comprehensive knowledge of the Dirty War, I used encyclopedic secondary sources to obtain a clearer grasp of its timeline and the key issues involved. With that background, I then began to read about the United States’ general foreign policy under the two presidents who presided during the Dirty War to better understand America’s motivations forAn 3 dealing with the Argentine junta in the ways that it did. The distinct foreign policies of the Carter Administration and Ford Administration helped contextualize their actions during the Dirty War. The major components of my research were secret messages, memos, reports, etc. made by the U.S. government. The ones I reviewed were part of the 47,000 pages worth of declassified documents that the White House finished turning over in 2019. In papers detailing conversations between the U.S. and Argentina, I looked specifically at the diplomatic measures that were communicated—what goals was the U.S. trying to achieve, and what relationship did it want to maintain with the junta? In documents recording White House staff meetings or memos sent within the presidential administration, I analyzed the agendas set for working with the Argentine junta and internal disagreements within the White House. Though I knew the U.S. had turned a blind eye toward human rights, I was surprised to discover that many White House officials treated the lives of thousands of people as bargaining chips to use during diplomatic exchanges.

https://www.whitehousehistory.org/rubenstein-center/k-12-education-resources-and-programs/educational-partners/nhd22-paper-showcase