ARGENTINA: MOTHERS OF PLAZA DE MAYO STAGE FINAL "MARCH OF RESISTANCE" AFTER 25 YEARS.
Jan. 25 marked the final march of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, the human rights group that, for a quarter century, brought both domestic and global attention to the human rights abuses of the 1976-1983 Argentine military junta. The mothers of disappeared persons held their last 24-hour demonstration in the capitol plaza, saying it represented a positive change in their relation with the government.
"Now the enemy is no longer in the house of government"
Hebe de Bonafini, leader of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, said they would still hold weekly silent vigils to demand information on their children's whereabouts. She said their "resistance protests" were over because "now there is no longer an enemy in the House of Government," meaning the presidential palace in Buenos Aires. Bonafini referred to the good relations the group enjoys with President Nestor Kirchner who has done much to revoke the immunity from prosecution of former military leaders.
"First we had dictatorship, then those who sold the country, who negotiated," she said. "Now, we are now experiencing a very interesting political moment in the country and also at the Latin American level. Those who can't see it are blind."
The Madres pointed to a series of prosecutions and gestures by the Kirchner government (see NotiSur, 2003-08-08, 2004-04-02, and 2005-06-24) and other governments (see NotiSur, 1999-11-12, 2001-07-13, and 2005-04-29).
"It isn't that we're changing the Madres," said Bonafini, but the political backdrop had changed. "If we are arriving at socialism by the ballot, it seems to me that we must bet on this Latin American and Argentine political moment."
The daylong protest began at 6 p.m., Jan. 25, 25 years after the first one began. About 70 mothers, between the ages of 74 and 93, marched, guarded by 300 police officials. Street musicians performed, and sympathizers were also in attendance.
The mothers first began their silent protests in 1977, wearing white kerchiefs on their heads and holding up photos of their missing loved ones. The protest was a form of pressure against the government, with an annual march always ending in the capital plaza and a 24-hour vigil. The final "march of resistance" came after some 1,500 prior marches, most occurring every Thursday, when the Madres decided to come together. The Thursday marches began in 1977, with the 24-hour vigils of resistance becoming an annual event after 1981.
Between 10,000 and 30,000 people were killed or...
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