Timerman Case Threatened Argentine Military Regime

30 years after the release of Jacobo Timerman, the former newspaper editor and Argentina's most famous political prisoner during the military dictatorship, the National Security Archive today posted declassified documents that confirm that his case almost resulted in the fracture of the military regime. One September 1979 document states, "President Videla, the civilian Minister of Justice, and the entire Supreme Court threatened to resign" if the military high command refused to release Jacobo Timerman. U.S. Ambassador Raúl Castro requested that Videla directly call President Jimmy Carter if Timerman was released "so the American President would be the first to know the fate of [a situation] of his high interest."

"The Timerman case reflects the struggle over human rights and freedom of the press in Argentina," said Carlos Osorio, director of the Southern Cone project at the National Security Archive. "For that reason it is imperative that all relevant documents in the U.S. and in Argentina be declassified and made available for public scrutiny."