Argentina: US knew about stolen babies

Former US diplomat Elliot Abrams has stated that the country was aware that the Argentine junta was illegally giving up the children of disappeared people for adoption. Testifying by video conference from Washington at a trial in Buenos Aires, he said

"We knew that it wasn't just one or two children". There must have been some sort of directive from a high level official, he suggested: "a plan, because there were many people who were being murdered or jailed."

Groups like the Grandmothers have seized on this because they have long argued that there was a systemic plan to appropriate children, it was not merely a couple of corrupt officials or a spontaneous decision.

He said he suggested to the junta's ambassador to Washington, Lucio Alberto Garcia del Solar, that the dictatorship could improve its image by creating a process sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church to return the children to their rightful families. But he said the ambassador told him Bignone had spurned the idea.

Abrams' testimony has also sparked further calls for the US to declassify all documents relating to the Argentine dictatorship, which could shed further light on the crimes committed.

Ex-diplomat: US knew about Argentina baby thefts (CBS)
US was aware of Argentine military “systematic plan to steal babies born in captivity” (Mercopress)
Un secreto a voces para la diplomacia norteamericana (Pagina/12)