‘The truth continues to come to light’ – Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo find another grandchild

Veteran human rights campaigner Estela Barnes de Carlotto declared this week that “the truth continues to come to light” as she warned President Javier Milei’s government’s “chainsaw” spending cuts are damaging the search for “memory, truth and justice.”

Carlotto, 94, made the remarks as she announced that the human rights group she leads, the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, had discovered the identity of the “139th grandchild” – the latest individual to discover they were kidnapped as a baby and stolen from their parents at birth during the state terrorism perpetrated by the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

"Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo joyfully announces the restitution of another granddaughter appropriated during the last civil-military dictatorship ... Welcome to the truth, dear granddaughter," said Carlotto at a press conference on Wednesday.

The person to have now recovered their identity is the daughter of left-wing activists Noemí Beatriz Macedo and Daniel Alfredo Inama, who were abducted in 1977 and have been missing ever since. 

She was born between January and February 1978. As is customary in such cases, her name will remain confidential until she consents to its disclosure.

Macedo and Inama were kidnapped in November 1977, when Noemí was six or seven months pregnant, Carlotto said, seated in a hall at the Espacio Memoria y Derechos Humanos, formerly known as the ex-ESMA Navy Mechanics School, where a clandestine detention and extermination centre once operated.

At the time of their abduction, Inama was 25 years old. He was seized in Buenos Aires. It remains unclear whether Macedo, who was 22 when he disappeared, was with her partner or in La Plata, Carlotto said.

Both activists, who were members of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Argentina, were seen by survivors at the clandestine detention and extermination centre known as Club Atlético in Buenos Aires.

The recovered granddaughter has two paternal siblings, Paula and Ramón Inama. 

Ramón, who sat beside Carlotto throughout the press conference, read a text he had written some years ago, envisioning the day he would reunite with his sister.

"We searched tirelessly for this sister, thinking we had exhausted all possibilities and that it was a closed case," Ramón Inama told the press.

The discovery, he said, is "an act of justice" that "will never again be shrouded in uncertainty."

"She has my grandmother’s eyes, the gaze of my grandmother, Daniel's mother," added Inama, who has not yet spoken with his restored sister but has seen an image of her face.

The announcement comes less than a month after the discovery of the 138th grandchild in late December. 

The organisation estimates that around 300 grandchildren are still yet to be found, all of whom were snatched from their mothers during captivity and given to families, most of which were linked to the dictatorial regime.

"It’s a moment that brings light to the present, despite so much darkness. A commitment to continue the search," said 38-year-old Malena Canteros, as she watched the press conference. 

‘Bringing light to the present’

This is the second new grandchild found during the Milei era and Carlotto was keen to emphasise that there is still work to be done.

Human rights groups have a tense relationship with the government. Several officials, including the president, have challenged the historical narrative surrounding the dictatorship and the number of people it exterminated.

Both Milei and his vice-president, Victoria Villarruel — who has familial ties to the military — question the commonly held figure of 30,000 persons disappeared by the dictatorship. The estimate, agreed upon by human rights organisations, should be much lower, the government argues, asserting that the real number is closer to 8,700.

Since taking office a year ago, Milei has implemented severe fiscal austerity measures, including the elimination of over 30,000 jobs, the reduction or closure of public offices and bodies and maintained Argentina’s 2023 budget, despite an annual inflation rate of 117.8 percent.

Milei’s chainsaw approach to public spending is having an impact on human rights policies, argued Carlotto.

She highlighted the crucial role of the National Secretariat of Human Rights in the effort to find appropriated grandchildren and called for the continuity of its work "with its full staff."

Last month, she denounced that the Milei administration had embarked upon “staff reductions as part of a dismantling plan," which she argued would damage the push for justice.

“Once again, we must stress that we could not have achieved anything alone. This is a collective struggle. The continuity of state policies is fundamental to put an end to crimes against humanity such as the appropriation of our granddaughters and grandsons,” she said.

“The role of the Human Rights Secretary is central, as it is one of the tools built in these 41 years of uninterrupted democracy,” underlined the veteran campaigner.   

These policies must be “sustained by the government with all its workers and maintain its instruments, in order to be able to continue with the process of memory, truth and justice, which has made us an example in the world,” she added.

The Centro Cultural de la Memoria Haroldo Conti, which hosts activities in cinema, music, performing and visual arts, operating on the grounds of the former ex-ESMA, has also been affected by Milei’s cutbacks. 

Milei’s government temporarily closed it on December 31, citing a "restructuring" plan.
"The cultural centre remains closed today, guarded by police, and the workers have been sent home," said employee Esteban Herrera.

Marra criticism

Without naming him directly, Carlotto also criticised La Libertad Avanza City lawmaker Ramiro Marra, who recently painted over street art celebrating the Abuelas’ recent discovery of the 138th grandchild.

‘Recently we saw how a person who belongs to politics, whose name goes without saying, and what he did was a savage, ignorant, denialist and stupid thing to do. For these things we have to keep talking, because what he erased is part of our history. If he wants to erase the 138 that exist – let him erase the 8 so that we can put the 9,” said the 94-year-old.

Taty Almeida, the head of Madres de Plaza de Mayo-Línea Fundadora rights group, also criticised the government’s “denialist” position.

“To Milei and company: beware of continuing to deny. They are making a tremendous fool of themselves, not only here but internationally. We are going to continue searching and granddaughters and grandsons will continue to appear,” she said.   

– TIMES/AFP/NA