This day will be remembered as one of the darkest days in
Argentina's history. On March 24, 1976, the democratically elected government
of Argentina was overthrown by a military junta called el Golpe Militar de
1976. In a process called the National Reorganization Process, a dictatorship
was installed and chaos overtook the country. During the next 8 years following
the overthrow, 30,000 Argentinian people were "disappeared".
Meaning that everyone from priests to factory workers to house wives who had
extreme leftist ideals and opposed the new dictatorship were taken from their
homes in the middle of the night, never to be found again. Only 2,000 dead
bodies were found and the other 30,000 are still missing today on the 36h
anniversary. These missing people
and bodies are called the DESAPARECIDOS. Many of the desaparecidos were women
who were pregnant at the time, taken to prison camps, and whose babies were
given to government officials and their wives to raise as their own. After the
births, the mothers were killed. Shortly after 1976, a group of mothers and
grandmothers of the desaparecidos was formed, Madres de Plaza de Mayo and
Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo came together to fight for justice, remember those
they lost, and work to find the missing. Every week, the Madres and Abuelas de
Plaza de Mayo march in front of the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, each wearing a white
scarf tied around their heads and holding a sign with a picture of their
missing children and/or grandchildren. These two groups of unstoppable women
have become internationally known and are an example of how together, the
people of Argentina are stronger than the horrible crisis that their country
faced 36 years ago today and that the desaparecidos are not forgotten. Argentina was returned to a democracy in the late 1980s and there since have been many efforts to both reunite the missing with their families and to find traces of the desaparecidos as well as explanations for their disappearence and/or deaths.
I feel lucky to be in Argentina on this day and will be
going to Al Centro to participate in a march, watch a parade, and try to take
in as much culture as possible. 24 de Marzo is both a day of remembrance
for the desaparecidos and a day of celebration that the dictatorship is no longer and that the nation
of Argentina is still strong.
Have a great weekend everybody and thanks for reading!
Alex
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