Argentina bestows another in former President Carter’s long list of humanitarian accolades

Native Georgian and former President Jimmy Carter’s humanitarian efforts over the nearly 37 years since the end of his presidency have earned him not just respect, gratitude and admiration the world over, but the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. With his wife, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and the resources of the nonprofit Carter Center in Atlanta, the former state senator, Georgia governor and U.S. chief executive has become synonymous with human rights advocacy and the monitoring of government integrity.

While most of the recognition that has come Carter’s way has been for the work he has done since leaving office, a ceremony in his honor earlier this month was notable for many reasons — not least among them being the fact that at least part of the recognition had to do with policies enacted during Carter’s presidency.

In March, President Mauricio Macri announced that Argentina would bestow on Carter that nation’s highest honor, the Order of the Liberator San Martin, Grand Cross. As reported on the website Global Atlanta, Argentine Secretary of Human Rights and Cultural Pluralism Claudio Avruj presented the medal to the former president during a ceremony at the Carter Center.

As the Global Atlanta story noted, neither during his presidency nor in the decades since has Jimmy Carter shrunk from confronting both adversaries and allies of the U.S. when he has been convinced human rights were threatened or denied. Carter’s presidency in the late 1970s, Global Atlanta’s Trevor Williams writes, “coincided with the rise of a military dictatorship that presided over tens of thousands of ‘disappearances’ of political opponents. These arbitrary detainments, conduct without any due process, often ended in the deaths of the accused.” Indeed, it was during this dark period of Argentine history that “disappear” became a transitive verb: The government of Jorge Rafael Videla routinely “disappeared” people on scant evidence of their being troublesome or inconvenient.

In announcing the award, Argentina’s foreign ministry credited the Carter Administration with using the State Department to apply diplomatic pressure against the Videla junta, hastening its end and very likely saving lives.

Not every human rights success story involves parades and confetti; most of them don’t, and many probably go unnoticed. They are human triumphs nonetheless.

Put to best use

Sports arena food is notoriously expensive — except when it’s leftover food from the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Then it becomes free meals for people in need in the greater Atlanta area.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Falcons owner Arthur Blank’s AMB Group has partnered with Second Helpings Atlanta to repackage unused food from the stadium’s luxury suites and deliver it to rescue missions, faith communities and charitable organizations.

We’re not talking table scraps; this is the good stuff — salads, baked goods and box lunches, the AJC reports. Since the program began in late August, it has delivered more than 11,000 meals to people who need them.

Obviously Atlanta’s new sports venue is home to more than one winning team.

This story was originally published November 29, 2017 at 6:20 PM with the headline "Argentina bestows another in former President Carter’s long list of humanitarian accolades."