Human rights maverick visits Law Center

The hard-charging diplomat speaks at the CAROLA event.Students, faculty and guests gathered earlier this month to hear remarks by F. Allen “Tex” Harris, a career diplomat who influenced State Department policy on human rights. In an event organized by the Center for Rule of Law in the Americas (CAROLA), the affable Harris spoke about his experiences as a political officer for the US Embassy to Argentina in the 1970s.  Harris helped the State Department gain a clearer picture of the worsening state of human rights in Argentina at the time.  He also fought to make sure that information about atrocities pierced political resistance at the embassy to reach policy-makers in Washington.  

The Texan described the process by which the Carter-era State Department realized that the Argentine regime’s pursuit of violent extremist groups had broadened to target non-violent dissent.  The military junta used plain-clothed operatives to abduct individuals suspected as subversives, imprisoning and often torturing them to root out entire networks of democratic or religious reform groups. In many cases, individuals would simply disappear without a trace. Those targeted were most often educated youths—much like the student body here at GULC—who were involved in small-scale student movements.  The regime also made a ruthless effort to silence public criticism in similarly authoritarian style.     

Harris said he was sent to Argentina to negotiate a dismantling of their budding nuclear weapons program, but he soon heard rumors of a quiet but ruthless campaign against dissent.  Harris made an effort to open his doors to anyone willing to speak about the issue. Speaking with family members, Harris soon realized that the number of chupados—those that had been “sucked up” by the regime’s agents—was disturbingly large.  Estimates of the victims now range between 13,000 and 30,000.  

Harris felt that the principle defenders of justice were the mothers of these young reformers.  The famous Madres de Plaza de Mayo, are now an icon in Argentine history.  Gathering outside government buildings with white scarves on, the mothers perpetually circled the pubic squares with candles in their hands—a silent protest for their disappeared children.  A 1980 Bill Moyer’s piece on Harris recounted how Tex approached a group of bereaved women on the street and handed out business cards, insisting that they come to the embassy to tell their story: The article featured an interview with one such mother who said, “we were grateful just to know that someone cared about our problems.”  

Thanks to Harris’ efforts, Washington got wind that an Argentine corporation with US ties, Astilleros Argentinos, was regime-owned.  As a result, the Carter administration blocked a large development project to put pressure on the repressive junta.  Despite significant backlash from the business community, the Carter-era State Department took a hard line on human rights in Argentina.  Harris says this was a paradigm shift, as human rights had not previously been a high priority in diplomatic relations.     

A self-described “Texas optimist,” Harris was often “frozen out” by careerist supervisors in the Foreign Service who found Tex’s boat-rocking to be politically inconvenient.  He was not deterred. He even occasionally circumvented his direct superiors to make sure that Washington knew of the injustices that were occurring in Argentina.  This determination eventually won Harris the Rivkin Award for Creative Dissent and the Distinguished Honor Award, the State Department’s highest.  Harris also served in Venezuela and South Africa.  He retired in 1999.  

Mario del Carril, an Argentine historian and Georgetown professor, was on hand to greet the now-retired diplomat. “If Tex had not been in Buenos Aires,” said del Carril, “things would have been very different.”  

By John Thompson