madres de Plaza de Mayo
Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, Argentina, marching with photos of their disappeared
Although repression and systematic violence had already begun in the years preceding, 1976 marks the official beginning of Argentina’s Dirty War. While a truth commission has estimated that about 10,000 civilians were “disappeared” by the government, others — like the Madres de Plaza de Mayo / Mothers of Plaza de May0 — say that more like 30,000 people were killed or disappeared due to state-sponsored violence. It is estimated that about 500 children were also kidnapped in the process. The military dictatorship held power until 1983, but it is only recently that those responsible are beginning to be held accountable.
Photos of the Disappeared / los Desaparecidos
Mothers of those taken by the government began marching once a week in front of the presidential palace in Buenos Aires, which sits on the Plaza de Mayo. They held photographs–many were posters made from id photos–of their loved ones who had disappeared, and demanded that the government answer to where they had been taken. Over the years the movement has gone through changes, such as a split across ideological lines, but mothers (and grandmothers) still march in the plaza and ask, Dónde están? Many women have dedicated their lives to not only continuing to search for the identities of their children which have seemed to dissolved into the air, but also to educate others of past human rights abuses. On the Asociación de Madres de Plaza de Mayo’s website, you can see the diverse and active efforts they are making to raise awareness to what has happened. The society is far from healed, and photographs continue to play a integral role in political and social struggles.
In 1985, a film was made about a kidnapped child who was adopted by a military family. Watch a clip from The Official Story / La Historia Oficial.
If you are interested, here are declassified documents showing that the US supported this Dirty War; you can also read these more recently released State Department Files regarding the war, all of which are found on the National Security Archive‘s website.
Relevant Info:
Website of the Asociación Madres de Plaza de Mayo
Website of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo
Website of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, english version
Prisoner without a Name, Cell without a Number, by Jacobo Timerman
