Hemispherical uncoverings

By: Beatrice E. Rangel - 26/03/2025

The end of March has provided the backdrop for two historic revelations. The first, announced by United States President Donald J. Trump, will make all the files containing the investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy available to any interested party. And in the far south of the continent, Argentine President Javier Milei ordered the public release of the files on Nazi refugees in Argentina after World War II. The files of the dictatorships that ruled Argentina between 1973 and 1983 will also be made public.

Both decisions will have significant repercussions for the course of hemispheric and world history. In the first case, there has been much speculation about the existence of a conspiracy involving various actors in what was called the state crime of the 20th century. In fact, according to polls, 50% of Americans do not believe the conclusions of the Warren Commission report. And of course, the footage of the assassination captured by the Kodak camera of Abraham Zapruder, an ordinary citizen, has been the most stubborn witness to the inadequacy of the report's conclusions. Indeed, the Commission concludes that there was only one assassin, and that this assassin was possibly Harvey Oswald. But the film captures a bullet entering the back of President Kennedy's neck from behind, and another entering from the front, causing President Kennedy's head to explode.

And it was after the Zapruder surveys were made public that the general public and American civil society began to pressure the Warren Commission files to be opened. Since this never happened, multiple parallel investigations were triggered. None of them provided conclusive evidence against the Warren Commission's conclusions, but they did discover that Fidel Castro had a special interest in the Dallas events and that, as Brian Latell, a former Central Intelligence Agency official, writes in his book "Castro's Secrets," on November 22, 1963, the Cuban leader mounted a special intelligence operation targeting the city of Dallas. Other investigations point to an alleged discontent with Kennedy's leadership in his confrontation with the Soviet Union, which led radical sectors of the American far right, the bosses of the Cosa Nostra, and Fidel Castro's agents to collude in a conspiracy that culminated in JFK's assassination. If this were the case, the disclosure of the documentation could demonstrate the existence of a power apparatus within the American deep state, which could strengthen Donald Trump's argument about the need to dismantle this node of arbitrary power.

In the case of Argentina, it is a matter of initiating an opening with the United States Congress, whose representatives over the years since 1945 have unsuccessfully requested classified information from various Argentine governments about the safe haven of Nazi leaders in that country. This gesture will be an excellent bargaining chip for Milei if Trump agrees to conclude a free trade agreement with Argentina, which will require parliamentary approval. The archives of the military dictatorships that ruled Argentina for a decade (1973-1983) have also been opened to the public.

There, evidence will surely be found of the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Argentine Armed Forces. But also of the terrorist campaign unleashed by the Montoneros, which, according to reliable sources, claimed at least 10,000 lives. This could have a liberating impact on the Argentine population, since by gaining in-depth knowledge of the actions of the military and extremists, they will likely value freedom more, which is what Milei seems to want to foster in the Argentine psyche.

Of course, in both cases, the exposure could produce collateral damage that is difficult to undo. In the case of the United States, the presence of a conspiracy within the US state itself could lead Americans to anarchy and violence. In the case of Argentina, it could lead to disregard for the established order. Both outcomes would be negative for the nations affected, as well as for their political, economic, and military leadership.

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