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Intelligence files from Argentina's military era found in vault |
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April 16, 2000
BUENOS AIRES, APR 15 (AP) - Rare intelligence files dating to the past military dictatorship have been found in a musty bank vault, shedding new light on the regime's crackdown on leftist opponents.
The cache of yellowing papers was found by Interior Ministry workers cleaning the vault of a now-defunct state development bank in Buenos Aires, La Nacion newspaper reported Friday. The ministry has offices there.
The dusty archive includes old intelligence reports on left-wing groups and suspected opponents of authoritarian rule during the so-called "Dirty War."
La Nacion called it a rare find, noting many documents from the 1976-83 dictatorship are presumed to have been destroyed.
Lautaro Garcia Batallan, an Interior Minister subsecretary, said Friday the documents provide revealing insights into the past regime and are of national interest. They will be made public once they have been inspected and organized, he said.
"This is an issue that that touches everyone," he said. The files report on activities of leftist groups and individuals, moves to censor the media, and tactics for opposing human rights groups, which had pressured for information on the whereabouts of the missing, Garcia Batallan said.
They also include letters from the International Red Cross appealing for better conditions for those detained and documents on counteracting what military authorities considered a "smear campaign" against their rule. Officials say at least 9,000 people disappeared during the "Dirty War." Human rights groups put the figure as high as 30,000 missing or killed.
Separately Friday, national news agencies reported that documents had been uncovered regarding 88 unidentified bodies buried in a cemetery outside Buenos Aires between 1976 and 1977.
Noticias Argentinas said the municipality of Lomas de Zamora had turned the information over to authorities. The fate of the Dirty War victims remains a sensitive issue in Argentina.
In Buenos Aires, a former army chief, Gen. Jorge Livera Rovere, was ordered detained Friday by a federal judge probing the alleged kidnapping of children born to dissidents in captivity, the news agency Diarios y Noticias reported.
Human rights group charge the military organized a systematic plan for the illegal adoption of more than 200 children born to dissidents held during the military's seven-year campaign against leftists and political opponents.
At least 10 former officers, including the regime's first president, Jorge Videla, have been detained or held under house arrest.
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