A huge crowd descended on the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires on Tuesday to mark 50 years since the March 24, 1976 coup d'état that brought Argentina's military dictatorship to power.
Gathering the traditional slogan “Nunca más” ("Never again:), the massive mobilisation stretched along the kilometre separating the Plaza de Mayo from Avenida 9 de Julio thoroughfare and swamped the surrounding area.
The streets leading into the capital's famous square, situated in front of the Casa Rosada, the seat of Argentina's government, were flooded with demonstrators, each of whom marched to commemorate the victims of the military junta that ruled the nation from 1976 to 1983.
Journalists and photographers said it was likely one of the biggest rallies the capital has seen in years, with tens of thousands of people in attendance. Police were expected to issue a more accurate estimate later in the day.
Other rallies took place in cities and towns across the nation, as people answered a call from human rights groups, political parties, unions, campaign and civil society groups to mark the occasion.
Many marched with images of the disappeared, the victims of the dictatorship, on their bodies or carried signs.
The main event, featuring speeches from a stage at one end of the square, was led by rights groups including the Madres de Plaza de Mayo and Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, continuing a tradition that began during the dictatorship, when they started gathering in the square to demand information about the whereabouts of their children.
President Javier Milei's government disputes rights groups' claims that some 30,000 people disappeared during the dictatorship era. It says the figure is closer to 9,000.
The Abuekas have restored the identities of 140 grandchildren who were taken when they were babies or born in captivity, and it is estimated that more than 300 remain to be found. “We have 140 cases resolved, what do you think of that?” Estela Barnes de Carlotto, the 95-year-old president of the association, said from the stage to cheers.
“Each restored grandchild is evidence of the atrocities committed by sinister state terrorism: disappearances, murders, theft, the abduction of minors and the falsification of political documents,” added the activist, whose grandson was the 114th to be found.
The 1976 civil-military coup overthrew Isabel Perón and installed a dictatorship that ruled until 1983, carrying out disappearances, torture and the theft of babies, forcing thousands into exile.
Valeria Coronel, a 43-year-old teacher, held the hand of her eight-year-old daughter as she marched. “Memory is passed down from generation to generation so that the struggle continues,” she said. “It’s the legacy I want to leave my daughter.”
– TIMES/AFP/NA/PERFIL
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