Roberto E. Dalton

Roberto E. Dalton’s career included international organizations as well as bilateral diplomacy. In 1976 he headed the Argentine foreign ministry’s United Nations affairs office. A July American embassy cable named him to the planned delegation to the Non-Aligned summit in Colombo and recorded his request for an American contact with whom he could discuss the meeting. By 1978 he was deputy chief of mission in Washington, where he also acted as chargé d’affaires. ^{1, 2}

Dalton’s Washington work brought him into discussions over the relationship between human rights and international lending. In March 1979 Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher presented him with the American position on votes concerning loans to Argentina. Washington had considered opposing a railway loan because repression continued, but retained abstention after Argentine representations about possible improvements. Dalton subsequently met Christopher again. ³

He later represented Argentina at the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. At the FAO Council’s ninety-fifth session, held on 19–30 June 1989, he served as one of its three vice-chairmen while holding the post of permanent representative. He subsequently became ambassador to Hungary. In November 1995 the Argentine government ordered funeral honors for him under his full name, Roberto Eugenio Emilio Dalton. ^{4, 5, 6}