WikiLeaks has returned with its largest ever release of formerly confidential information. The "Kissinger Cables" include over 1.7 million diplomatic records from 1973 to 1976, of which 205,901 are connected to controversial US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. In total, the release is around 700 million words long, and contains what WikiLeaks describes as "significant revelations about US involvements with fascist dictatorships, particularly in Latin America, under Franco's Spain (including about the Spanish royal family) and in Greece under the regime of the Colonels." However, rather than receiving leaked information from a source, for this release WikiLeaks has created a searchable database of public records.

"The US administration cannot be trusted to maintain the history of its interactions with the world."

WikiLeaks says that although the files should have been reviewed for declassification after 25 years, the government has repeatedly attempted to reclassify them; furthermore, there are no diplomatic records from later than 1976 available. In order to make the earlier documents accessible, WikiLeaks obtained all the files from the National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) and collated them into a single, searchable database.

The Kissinger Cables form the largest part of WikiLeaks' Public Library of US Diplomacy (PlusD), which also launches today and stores a total of two million records for perusal. While the release won't be as explosive as previous leaks on still-classified events such as the Iraq war, WikiLeaks' aim is to make government documents easier to access for the public. "The US administration cannot be trusted to maintain the history of its interactions with the world," said founder Julian Assange. "Fortunately, an organisation with an unbroken record in resisting censorship attempts now has a copy."