Page 286 - Argentina - Carter, Regan, and Bush VP

No Objection To Declassification in Full 2013/02/04 : NLC-24-67-9-9-3

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Recent Developments (Pastor/Trachtenberg)

OASGA. The issue of human rights dominated the seventh OAS General
Assembly from the opening speech to the las/ rebuttal. Brazil, Argentina,
Paraguay, Chile, Guatemala and £1 Salvador opposed the human rights
position, with Uruguay far out in front as a harsh critic of U.S. politici­
zation of the IAHRC. Thanks largely to Mrs. Carter's trip, Ecuador
and Peru lined up alongside traditional human rights supporters like
Costa Rica and Venezuela. These countries, joined by the U.S ., formed
the core of a group which defended a strong resolution commending the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for its work and recom­
mending that the OAS allocate greater resources to the Commission.

Ultimately, four human rights resolutions were approved. The key
victory involved the resolution to ratify the Inter-American Human
Rights Convention3which eventually passed with key additional support
from Peru, Ecuador, and Haiti. The efforts of Argentina and Chile
to persuade the General Assembly to call for "reform" of the commission
to meet the challenge of terrorism were defeated. Venezuela, which
emphasized that human rights have been violated for centuries by
nations who use terrorism as their justification, played the leading
role through the entire conference.

Panama Canal Treaty. The negotiations for*a new treaty' broke
down briefly this week. General Omar Torrijos called his negotiators
home because he felt the U.S. delegation displayed too little flexibility.
Talks resumed June 23. Torrijos reportedly instructed his negotiators
last weekend to remain firm on the question of compensation by the
U.S . for use of military bases in the Canal Zone and on the issue of
Panama's freedom to select its own representatives to the Canal
entity's governing council.

Hopes persist that we will have a Treaty by this summer.

CONFIDENTIAL

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No Objection To Declassification in Full 2013/02/04 : NLC-24-67-9-9-3....