Siempre con las madres Always with the mothers
Siempre con las madres ©2011
Every Thursday afternoon for more than 30 years, mothers and grandmothers of “the disappeared” (los desaparecidos) and their supporters have gathered and marched around Plaza de Mayo in front of the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires.
During the Dirty War of the military dictatorship in Argentina (1976 to 1983) it’s estimated that anywhere between 9,000 and 30,000 people disappeared. They were predominately trade unionists, students, journalists, Peronists, and people opposed to the military rule. Imprisonment, torture, detention centers that some call concentration camps — it’s not a pretty story. It’s also estimated that around 500 of those who disappeared were the babies of women imprisoned during those years.
U2 has a song about the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and when U2 performed in Buenos Aires in March, “Mothers of the Disappeared” was performed. Sting, Ruben Blades, and Joan Baez have also immortalized in music the plight of mothers of the disappeared.
Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo ©2011
The mothers and grandmothers want to know what happened to the disappeared and the babies. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) has proposed legislation this year and in each of the previous three years, that would have required the U.S. to release records and documents that could help the mothers find out what happened to their children and the others. In the last vote, in May, the amendment was defeated by just 20 votes.
It seems way past time for the United States to release this information. It’s just short of 30 years since the military dictatorship ended in 1983. If these were our babies and Argentina had information that could help us determine what happened to them, what would we want? Wouldn’t we want Argentina to release that information, even if it revealed some ‘dirty little secrets’ about Argentina? Doesn’t the world already know that the U.S. has ‘dirty little secrets’?
“Groups like the Madres are needed to serve as a reminder, not only to Argentina but also to the world, of the atrocities that can be committed by governments in the name of patriotism.” –Jeff Barry, Author of 4 Perfect Days in Buenos Aires.
Siempre con las madres.
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Video from our afternoon with las madres at Plaza de Mayo.
Ilene Squires has some great photos here on her blog.
It might have been useful if you said what time the mothers march
in Plaza de Mayo
You’re right! I believe we were told 3 p.m., 3:15 p.m. and 4 p.m. Did you go? Aim for 3 p.m. to be sure — there were speeches and other activities prior to the actual march and other groups marching on the day we went.