The Hidden Legacy of U.S. Foreign Policy in Argentine Memory Sites

This paper explores the consequences of the United States’ support for the military dictatorship in Argentina from 1976 to 1983, through the provision of political, military, and economic aid to the repressive regime. Employing the theoretical framework of memory studies, I interrogate how the legacies of U.S. foreign intervention in Argentina impact collective memory of the dictatorship and human rights in both countries today. I turn towards the establishment of Argentine memory sites - through the country’s transitional justice process - as a means of reckoning with the violent legacies of the past. I examine what the United States has done to acknowledge its past human rights record in Argentina and how else it might be held accountable for a more conclusive truth and reconciliation process to occur in both countries. By bringing memory studies and foreign policy into conversation, I argue that the search for truth and justice in post-dictatorship Argentina is incomplete without acknowledgement and accountability from the United States as well.