Honoring a newspaper hero

Newspapers have a duty to publish the truth without fear or favor, but that goal isn't easy to achieve when journalists face deadly threats to themselves and their families.

In the 1970s, the Buenos Aires Herald of Argentina stood alone in exposing the military junta's secret and deadly war against citizens it labeled "subversive." The English-language Herald was owned by the Evening Post Publishing Co., parent company of The Post and Courier.

Former Herald editor Robert Cox was honored this week by the Buenos Aires Legislature for his heroic efforts on behalf of the "desaparecidos" -- the thousands who disappeared after being arrested or simply snatched off the streets by the military. Anyone who ventured to protest these arbitrary abuses risked being arrested. It is estimated that 30,000 desaparecidos died at the hands of the military. Many were tortured, then drugged and dumped at sea from military planes so that their bodies would never be found.

Buenos Aires legislator Sergio Abreyaya said, "The Herald was the only newspaper to speak out against the disappearances, and Cox's courageous defense of human rights and democracy saved many lives. Argentina, and particularly Buenos Aires, where he spent so much of his journalistic career, owe him an enormous debt of gratitude."

Mr. Cox was honored on Tuesday in the Legislative Palace in Buenos Aires. He has lived in Charleston since 1981 and was assistant editor of this newspaper from 1982-2008.

A native of England, Mr. Cox arrived in Argentina in 1959 as a young journalist and was soon employed as a reporter on the Buenos Aires Herald. He married an Argentine, Maud Daverio, and the couple had five children. Mr. Cox was named editor in chief of the Herald in 1968. Under his editorship, the newspaper achieved an impressive international reputation. The Associated Press once described the Herald as the world's most reliable source for news about Argentina.

The Herald became known for something more than reliability when Mr. Cox began raising questions about Argentine citizens who were disappearing. He did so even as the few other journalists who dared to question the government were arrested and, in some instances, added to the list of desaparecidos.

Mr. Cox himself was arrested but was quickly released after an outcry from the British and U.S. governments. Years of harassment followed. Mr. Cox and his family left Argentina in 1979 after his 11-year-old son Peter Cox received a letter with death threats against him and the rest of the family.

The details of the Cox family's experience are chillingly told by Peter's brother David Cox, a journalist for CNN, in his book "Dirty Secrets, Dirty War." The book was published by this company and is available at the newspaper, in bookstores or online at eveningpostbooks.com.

The award from the Buenos Aires Legislature isn't the first recognition of Mr. Cox's heroic work in Argentina. He was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1977. He was also presented an award for defending press freedom by Argentine Supreme Court Justice Eugenio Zaffaroni.

The Buenos Aires Legislature seldom bestows recognition on those who aren't citizens of Argentina. Mr. Cox's determination was instrumental in uncovering the horrors of state terrorism, which was the first step in putting an end to it.

Military rule was replaced by a democratically elected government in 1983, but the country continues to wrestle with issues of culpability and punishment.

Argentina has done well to remember and honor the courage Mr. Cox demonstrated during his years as the editor of the Buenos Aires Herald.