Dossier Secreto: Argentina's Desaparecidos and the Myth of the ""Dirty War""

This well-researched but somewhat stilted narrative persuasively attacks both the rationalization for the Argentinian military coup in 1976 and the U.S. influences that supported seven years of societal repression. A staff member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a former reporter for Newsweek and other publications, Andersen draws on more than 1000 interviews as well as public and confidential documents for this lengthy, detailed reconstruction of events. Portraying Argentina as ``a land of stunning paradoxes,'' Andersen traces the Golden Era of Juan Domingo Peron and the twisting trail of political and societal changes, such as a surge in virulent anti-Semitism and anti-labor violence, culminating in the military takeover. He shows how the military overstated the threat from left-wing guerrillas and manipulated guerrilla activities through turncoats, setting the stage for torture and murder, buttressed by a cultural war against intellectuals. While the Argentine military feared President Jimmy Carter's human rights policy, Andersen shows how U.S. bankers supported the security apparatus and Ronald Reagan's administration cozied up to the generals. (Apr.)