Vice President Joe Biden has announced the United States will hand over internal documents related to Brazil’s military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985.

Vice President Joe Biden: “I was pleased to announce that the United States is standing up a special project to declassify and share with Brazil’s National Truth Commission documents that shed light on Brazil’s 21-year military dictatorship, which is obviously of great interest to the president. And we turned over an initial batch of those documents today to the Brazilian government. And I hope that by taking steps to come to grips with the past, we can find a way to focus on the immense, the immense promise of the future.”

The United States backed the coup that overthrew Brazil’s government in 1964 and provided support to the ensuing military regime. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was herself a political prisoner under the regime, suffering torture during her time behind bars.