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         Obamas to Attend Memorial for Argentina's 'Dirty War' Victims

   by VOA News

   U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to visit a memorial park to
   victims of Argentina's so-called "Dirty War" Thursday, on the 40th
   anniversary of the coup that installed a brutal military regime.

   Obama is the guest of Argentina's new president, Mauricio Macri, who is
   intent on strengthening the strained ties between the two nations.

   After being guests of honor at a state dinner Wednesday night,
   President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are to attend a ceremony
   Thursday to remember the victims of the regime at Remembrance Park in
   Buenos Aires.

   Criticized visit
   Declassified U.S. documents have shown that the United States backed
   the regime that human rights activists say was responsible for the
   death or disappearance of some 30,000 people between 1976 and 1983 -
   the Dirty War period.

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   Critics of the president's visit, including many who lost friends or
   relatives during the years under the military government, say the
   Obamas should not have come to Argentina on such an important
   anniversary. Protests linked to the anniversary are expected in Buenos
   Aires and across the nation.

   Evidence of U.S. support for South American dictatorships has been
   public knowledge for more than a decade; but, the United States
   announced last week, at the behest of the Argentine government, that it
   will declassify even more military and intelligence documents linked to
   the Dirty War.

   White House aide Ben Rhodes said last week that the president believes
   "moving forward in the Americas or any other part of the world involves
   a clear-eyed recognition of the past."

   ''
   Meanwhile, the Obamas are expected to spend their final few hours in
   Argentina enjoying a few hours of leisure time in the southern resort
   city of Bariloche before flying back to Washington.
   Macri said Wednesday that the Obamas' visit came "at a perfect time"
   because, he said, "Argentines have understood and decided to build
   mature and reasonable relationships with every country in the world."

   Cuba visit
   The president's trip to Argentina follows a historic visit to Cuba, the
   first by a sitting U.S. president in almost nine decades. During his
   meeting with President Raul Castro, Obama called on the U.S. Congress
   to lift the decades-long trade embargo on Cuba.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-argentina-dirty-war-ceremony/32
   52515.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-argentina-dirty-war-ceremony/3252515.html