HILVERSUM, 06/03/01 - Jorge Zorreguieta knew of the disappearances in Argentina during the Videla regime. As state secretary and later agriculture minister under Videla, the father of Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander's girlfriend Maxima even used his influence to make a missing friend reappear.

According to J. Alemann, finance state secretary under Videla, Jorge Zorreguieta personally supported the 1976 coup d'etat in Argentina. Alemann's statement is in line with allegations by other Argentineans, who claim that Zorreguieta, as leader of the Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA), an umbrella organization for the agricultural sector, was involved in the preparations for the coup together with other prominent civilians and military leaders, including Videla.

Alemann's made his statement in Sunday night's TV newscast Netwerk. The program also cited an Argentinean newspaper, which reported shortly before the coup about a conference where Zorreguieta was speaking. Maxima's father called for tough action against the government and the trade unions, which he described as subversive elements, according to the daily.

After the conference, Argentina's then economic affairs minister A. Cafiero stepped down. He stated that the SRA was steering towards a coup. Shortly after Cafiero's resignation, the American Embassy in Buenos Aires informed US foreign minister Kissinger that a coup was imminent and that prominent civilians were playing an important part in it.

In the Netwerk broadcast, parliamentary leader Paul Rosenmoller of the leftwing green (GroenLinks) party reacted that there is hardly any distinction between Zorreguieta's political and civilian liabilities. The latest disclosures underline in Rosenmoller's eyes his party's point of view that Zorreguieta should not be attending the wedding of his daughter and Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, should it take place.