Declassified U.S. diplomatic cables showed that in 1976, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger gave Argentina’s military junta the green light to engage in widespread repression, murder, kidnappings, and torture of its citizens. “We want you to succeed,” Kissinger told an Argentine Admiral that year. “If there are things that have to be done, you should do them quickly.” The episode was still raw for Argentines. To them, America was no democratic savior; it enabled the kidnapping of their children.
