La Madres De La Plaza Mayo Research Paper

La Madres de la Plaza Mayo
Argentina, the second largest and most populated country in South America, was discovered in 1516 by Juan Diaz de Solis. As a result, Argentina developed under Spanish colonial rule. Buenos Aires, the country’s capital was settled in 1580 and by 1600 the country already had a booming the cattle industry. Later, from 1806 to 1807, invading British forces were expelled from Argentina. In 1808 Napoleon conquered Spain and two years later Argentinians created their own government. Six years after that, Argentina claimed independence on July 9, 1816. Almost a century later, World War I broke out. During this time, Argentina chose to be neutral.
When World War II broke out Argentina attempted to stay neutral. On March 27, 1945 however, when the country could no longer remain neutral, they declared war on the Axis powers. After the war, army colonel Juan D. Peron won the
presidential elections of both 1946 and 1951. Much of Peron's political strength came from his second wife Evita Duarte de Peron who was popular with the working class of Argentina. Though she was never in a government post herself, Evita did have power and acted as the minister of health and labor. She also established charitable organizations, and awarded large wage increases to unions, who in return gave political support to her husband Peron. Unfortunately, during this time Peron's views had become increasingly authoritarian and as a result, the Argentinian armed forces staged a coup. In 1955 Peron was exiled, His wife Evita was not exiled however since she had died three years prior. With Peron and his wife gone, Argentina fell into an extended period of both military dictatorships and occasional constitutional governments.
In 1973, Peron became Argentina’s president once again and Isabel Martinez de Peron, his third wife, became vice president. When Peron died in 1974, Isabel became the first woman in the southern hemisphere to take control of a country. Unfortunately, Argentina was very unstable at this time both politically and economically. Strikes as well as demonstrations were constant sights in Argentina as the cost of living skyrocket to 355%. The situation was made worse in 1975 when terroristic acts by both right- and left-wing groups killed around 700 people. A year later on March 24, army commander Lt. Gen. Jorge Rafael Videla led a military junta and seized power, imposing martial law.
From 1976 to 1983 the ‘Dirty War’ was waged. During this time the Argentinian military went after left-wing militants as well as anyone claiming to be ‘subversives’. These groups along with anyone who posed a political threat were, kidnaped, tortured, then murdered. Those who had been abducted by the government were referred to as the ‘disappeared’. Any records that could be used to help families reclaim people they lost were destroyed. Many of the unfortunate souls who experienced this treatment were young people, students who were trying to express dissatisfaction with the oppressive regime they lived under.
As is often the case in situations like this, military censorship prevented there from being any discussion of the matter. Those who did dare to speak out put their own lives at risk. In 1977 however, a group of mothers, distressed by what the government was doing, decided the risk was worth taking. Every Thursday, the mothers would meet at Plaza de Mayo. This spot in Buenos Aires was the very site where Argentina’s government resided. This group of brave women preformed non-violent protest in the Plaza de Mayo, walking and chanting: “We want our children; we want them to tell us where they are. No matter what our children think they should not be tortured. They should have charges brought before them. We should be able to see them, visit them.”
These demonstrations eventually drew international attention and human rights groups came to help the mothers.
They helped them open an office, write speeches, and publish their own newspaper. Many of people involved in this ‘disappeared’ just as others had however, it was becoming harder and harder for the government to control the situation. The mothers, now dubbed La Madres de la Plaza Mayo, were more dangerous than they had originally thought. The Madres were presenting a powerful moral symbol which eventually changed them from women seeking to protect children to women who wished to transform the state to reflect maternal values.
In 1983 when civilian government had been restored, the Madres continued to speak out. They refused let officials involved in the Dirty War get away with what they had done. Splitting the work load allowed the Madres to focus on several tasks at once. By working with the new democratic government, they were able to recover remains and hold silent vigils. This was done until laws that granted previous government officials immunity were
lifted.
Seeing their success, organizations similar to La Madres de la Plaza Mayo began to spring up in other counties as well. In the mid-1970s Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay began to speak out about their ‘disappeared’ as well. A government commission, the Argentinian government states that there are around 11,000 unresolved disappearances in the country. The mothers still working for La Madres de la Plaza Mayo claim there is closer to 30,000.