It's impossible to summarize this in tweets but I will try. In 2015 a team of researchers found a cache of documents in the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs that included 4 years worth of contracts between US PR firm Burson-Marsteller and the junta. cjr.org/analysis/willi…
In March 1976 the Argentine military overthrew the government and began a campaign of repression against leftists that, defined in the generals' own words was a policy of extermination. In June 1976, PR firm Burson-Marsteller signed a contract to provide PR services to the Junta.
In October 1976, Burson-Marsteller delivered a 155 page report titled "An International Communications Program for Argentina" that outlined a years-long campaign to improve the image of the military dictatorship that from 1976 to 1983 kidnapped, tortured and killed 30,000 people.
The communications program was a blueprint to establish a filtration system in leading global newspapers and magazines, working closely with Argentine embassies in 8 countries, in order to "help correct misunderstandings" and "provide balance in the news reporting on Argentina."
At the time, most of the media inside Argentina supported the dictatorship and/or was controlled by the military government. The junta hired Burson-Marsteller to influence the media they could not control: the foreign press. cjr.org/analysis/willi…
One of the strategies was organizing press junkets to bring foreign journalists to Argentina whom they thought would go home and report favorably about the dictatorship.
William F. Buckley was one of those journalists. cjr.org/analysis/willi…
William F. Buckley was one of those journalists. cjr.org/analysis/willi…
"The National Review is considered Republican to the right of the center with conservative supporters in circles around the country. Its publisher may be persuaded to travel after the US election." - page 31 Burson-Marsteller communications program 
The US presidential elections were in November 1976. In December 1976, US Ambassador sent the following cable to the State Dept:
"I'm delighted to learn that my old friend, Bill Buckley, is expected to visit Argentina in late January/Early February." wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1…
"I'm delighted to learn that my old friend, Bill Buckley, is expected to visit Argentina in late January/Early February." wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1…
In late January/Early February 1977, William F. Buckley filmed four broadcasts of Firing Line in Buenos Aires. Ambassador Hill was a guest on one of the shows and mentions that the government of Argentina recently hired a NY PR firm to represent them.
Buckley's visit was just one component of the campaign. The program contains 16 pages of journalists that Burson-Marsteller believed "will undoubtedly return to their countries to write stories about Argentina." cjr.org/analysis/willi…
"Burson-Marsteller representatives in each country have taken great care in preparing the lists of the working press to maximize the opportunity to obtain good coverage... Where political writers are included, they are of
moderate or conservative persuasion."
moderate or conservative persuasion."
Diálogo, a small Argentine marketing agency worked for awhile w/ Burson-Marsteller on the campaign. In a 2015 interview, its founder Héctor del Piano, described the work they did for the dictatorship as traumatic and terrifying. lavaca.org/mu95/mad-men/ he sold the agency in 1978.
I could probably write a book about all this but TLDR: I read a 155 communications program written by one of the world's largest PR firms to improve the image of the Argentine dictatorship that kidnapped, tortured and murdered 30,000 people #AMA: cjr.org/analysis/willi…
One of several witnesses I interviewed for this story, former US diplomat Tex Harris, sadly passed away while I was still working on it. From 1977 to 1979, Harris filed ~13,500 complaints on human rights violations committed during the dictatorship. justsecurity.org/68980/legacy-o…
Harris - and everyone - knew Burson-Marsteller was working for the junta. In a phone call with me, he mentioned that he thought they had also worked in Africa. On page 114 of the comms program, Burson-Marsteller wrote that they did similar work for the Nigerian government.
"The Nigerian government accepted a similar proposal from us during the war with Biafra, when the government was accused of generalized genocide by propagandists paid by Biafra, who acted in Europe."
1 to 3 million people died in the Nigerian civil war. theconversation.com/nigerian-write…
1 to 3 million people died in the Nigerian civil war. theconversation.com/nigerian-write…
I also had the privilege to talk with Robert Cox, former editor of the Buenos Aires Herald, a small English-language newspaper that was the only newspaper to publish names of disappeared people during the dictatorship. He was arrested in 1977 and had to flee the country in 1979.
Cox told me when he was arrested, he was walked past a giant swastika that was painted on the wall at police headquarters. His arrest & the swastika were mentioned in diplomatic cables:
I read *tons* of diplomatic cables while researching this article.
I read *tons* of diplomatic cables while researching this article.
Finally everyone should take some time to read this incredible article by @ukigoni ‘Silence Is Health’ How Totalitarianism Arrives: nybooks.com/daily/2018/08/… Goñi worked at the Buenos Aires Herald, he gave this excellent talk in 2011 about his experience:
A 🧵 with more info
In 2014, Harold Burson lied to @PRWeekUS about Burson-Marsteller’s work for the junta
