Argentine church says it will hand over baptism certificates

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Updated 7:48 pm, Tuesday, March 6, 2018

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The Argentine Catholic Church announced Tuesday that it will hand over to a judge more than 100 certificates from baptisms performed in a chapel at a navy base that served as a clandestine torture center during the country's dictatorship.

Activists hope the information will help determine what happened to children taken from political prisoners at the center and later illegally adopted, often by military families. Human rights groups say most of the detained biological parents were later killed.

"We firmly believe the Church should make every effort to contribute to the path of memory, truth and justice in all fields, especially given the gravity of the crimes against humanity committed during the years of state terrorism from 1976 to 1983," the Argentine Episcopal Conference said in a statement.

The bishops said the decision was a response to "a longing of Pope Francis," the Argentine pontiff who previously promised human rights groups that the church would hand over documentation to help clarify the crimes committed by the military regime.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Argentine-church-says-it-will-hand-over-baptism-12733357.php

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Kissinger hindered US effort to end mass killings in Argentina, according to files
Newly declassified files show the former secretary of state jeopardized efforts to crackdown on bloodshed by Argentina’s 1976-83 military dictatorship
Uki Goñi in Buenos Aires

Tue 9 Aug 2016 14.05 EDT

Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger jeopardized US efforts to stop mass killings by Argentina’s 1976-83 military dictatorship by congratulating the country’s military leaders for “wiping out” terrorism, according to a large trove of newly declassified state department files.

The documents, which were released on Monday night, show how Kissinger’s close relationship to Argentina’s military rulers hindered Jimmy Carter’s carrot-and-stick attempts to influence the regime during his 1977-81 presidency.

Carter officials were infuriated by Kissinger’s attendance at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina as the personal guest of dictator Jorge Videla, the general who oversaw the forced disappearance of up to 30,000 opponents of the military regime.

At the time, Kissinger was no longer in office after Carter defeated Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election, but the documents reveal that US diplomats feared his praise for Argentina’s crackdown would encourage further bloodshed.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/09/henry-kissinger-mass-killings-argentina-declassified-files

[sandensea]

1. Good. But meanwhie, Macri got the doctor who delivered a lot of those babies out of jail.

You may recall the case of Dr. Jorge Luis Magnacco, the Navy obstetrician at ESMA - by far the largest concentration camp ran by the dictatorship at the time.

The good doctor was convicted in 2000 - but was ruled in December to have "served out" his sentence by a Macri-controlled federal court.

His lawyers cited Macri's policy of allowing Dirty War convicts to avail themselves of the "2-for-1" benefit - akin to good conduct time normally granted to non-violent felons.

Thank you for posting these news, Judi.

Magnacco (right) and his erstwhile boss, dictator Jorge Videla

[Judi Lynn]

2. Macri, Argentina's Donald Trump shows his colors, doesn't he? He's a monster. Magnacco is, as well.

It doesn't seem to be a problem to either of them that as soon as they could get the mothers to deliver, or occassional leap ahead and simply take them through a Caesarian delivery, they stripped them, chained them together, and threw them out of airplanes into the River Plato. or the Atlantic Ocean.

Sane people, people of conscience would see that level of criminality as being so evil NOTHING should be done to make life easier for those who participated in it.

The same people who committed these atrocities are getting right back in business through the auspices of their loyal supporter, Mauricio Macri, right-wing fascist, racist, absolutely deceitful, greedy, scheming villain.

He's exactly what this doctor would have ordered, isn't he?

So sad to know he's out walking around on the streets with the relatives of his victims, sandensea.

Thanks for the information we need.

[UpInArms]

3. Thank you for posting this

We need to never forget what the rightwing is capable of doing ...

[Judi Lynn]

4. You've got that right. Our government has always played down the atrocities in the Americas

because it always supported the right-wing massacres, tortures, and political assassinations, training their militaries, giving their militaries the weaponry, and heavily supporting their wars against the poor with billions of US taxpayers' hard-earned dollars. During this time, we all remained almost totally ignorant of what was happening until decades later, if we ever heard about it at all.

Makes you sick.

The right-wing couldn't be happier with the terrorism and mayhem against the poor. Some of the nastiest, most sadistic stuff has been proudly supported by even fundamentalist evangelists, like Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson.