By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
Nobel Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel has called for Obama to cancel his visit to Argentina, scheduled for 24 March. Esquivel is just the latest in a series of prominent Argentines, including the president of the Madres de Plazo de Mayo Hebe de Bonafini to criticize the timing of the visit.
24 March of this year marks the 40th anniversary of the U.S.-backed coup, which led to a seven year dictatorship. The dictatorship lasted from 1976 to 1983, and about 30,000 people were killed or disappeared during that time period.
The date is a public holiday in Argentina known as the Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice. Events are held each year to commemorate the victims of the dictatorship.
Esquivel won the Nobel Prize in 1980 for his defense of human rights in Argentina. Obama and Esquivel have been in communication regarding human rights issues in the past.
Esquivel does not oppose to Obama visiting the country, only the timing of the visit. “I think it’s great (for Obama to come) . . . The question is when and how.” He says he plans to publish an open letter regarding the matter in the upcoming days.
Argentine President Mauricio Macri says the visit “signifies a recognition of a change that has taken place in Argentina, towards good relations with the world, relations which must be mature, intelligent and mutually beneficial.” Argentina is, according to Macri “aligned with the United States in defending human rights in the region.”
President Macri has met with several human rights organizations in Argentina to assure them that Obama’s visit will not take away from the commemoration of the day, but they are still opposed to the visit.
Noah Mamet, the U.S. ambassador to Argentina, said the date of the visit was set in order to combine the visit with Obama’s historic trip to Cuba, planned for 21-22 March.
For more information, please see:
The Argentina Independent – US President Barack Obama to Visit Argentina – 19 February 2016
Agence France-Presse – Obama visit shows Argentina mending ties: Macri to AFP – 22 February 2016
Associated Press – Argentine Nobel Prize Winner to Obama: Don’t visit March 24 – 3 March 2016
TeleSur – Nobel Peace Prize Tells Obama to Cancel Trip to Argentina – 3 March 2016
