Walking alongside Argentine President Mauricio Macri through the memorial, the leaders reached the inscription of Fernando Brodsky, where they were met by Fernando’s brother Marcelo Brodsky.
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On Thursday morning Obama will pay homage to victims of the “dirty war” by Argentina’s dictators against dissidents.
Macri has worked to build close ties with the USA and Obama in particular despite criticism from some Argentinians. But if Obama sees fit to do the tango he might as well as leave office now and join the cast of Dancing With The Stars. Then he and his family will fly overnight to Washington.
Leading the protest is Estela de Carlotto, president of the of the rights group Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. “Military coups around Latin America were backed by the United States”.
Critics of the president were already displeased with Obama for attending a baseball game Tuesday in Cuba between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban National Team on the same day terror attacks killed 34 people in Belgium. The lush green forest sits along Nahuel Huapi Lake in Patagonia in southern Argentina.
With his presence at the ballgame and on the dance floor in a time of disaster, Barack Obama comes across as a man who enjoys the trappings of power but can not be bothered with the responsibilities that come with it. In 1997, President Clinton also ended his Argentina visit with a stop in Bariloche, where he delivered remarks on environmental issues such as climate change and national parks cooperation.
Protesters tried to approach Obama’s motorcade as it snaked along a riverside road, but were held back by police. Some cited concerns about the USA role in Argentina’s 1976-1983 dictatorship.
The troubled history of U.S. involvement in the region reared its head on Thursday’s anniversary.
Obama departs for Washington later Thursday.
President Barack Obama shakes hands after speaking at a town hall meeting with local Argentinians at the Usina del Arte, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 23, 2016. What followed was seven years of military dictatorship, where tens of thousands of people “disappeared”.
Obama said it takes courage for a society to address “uncomfortable truths” about its past, but that doing so is essential to moving forward.
The leaders paused halfway down the wall as a guide pointed to the tiles featuring scores of names.
Before departing, Obama and Macri paused briefly to gaze at a small statue rising from the water.
Obama’s visit coincides with the 40th anniversary of the 1976 coup that opened a period of military rule that continues to haunt Argentina. Over the past 10 years, Argentina has convicted over 600 people for crimes from that era, including former generals, admirals and other high-ranking officers, according to prosecutors.
Obama says he just left a country in Cuba that engages in such surveillance and the notion that the USA would do so “makes no sense”. He also noted that while the USA government has declassified about 4,000 State Department records, last week his administration announced that it would also declassify military and intelligence records related to that period.
“We’ve been slow to speak out for human rights and that was the case here”, Obama said after viewing a memorial park for victims of the “Dirty War”, a military-led assault on leftists during the 1970s and 80s.
Obama is in Argentina to discuss Argentina’s reform agenda.
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“I have no doubt that the declassified documents will contain useful information that could contribute to bringing those responsible for these abuses to justice”, said José Miguel Vivanco, the director of Human Rights Watch’s Americas division.
