The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo () is a human rights organization with the goal of finding the children stolen and illegally adopted during the 1976–1983 Argentine military dictatorship. The president is Estela Barnes de Carlotto.

The organization was founded in 1977 to locate children kidnapped during the repression, some of them born to mothers in prison who later "disappeared", and to return the children to their surviving biological families. Around 8,000 people between the ages of 16 and 35 are believed to have disappeared; around 30% were women, and of those women, around 3% were pregnant. The work of the Grandmothers, assisted by United States geneticist Mary-Claire King, has led to the location of about 25 percent of the estimated 500 children kidnapped or born in detention centers. During the military era they were illegally adopted, with their original identities hidden. In 13 other cases, adoptive and biological families agreed to jointly raise the children after they had been identified. The remaining cases are bogged down in court custody battles between families. As of July 2023, their efforts have resulted in finding 133 grandchildren.

The kidnapped babies were part of a systematic government plan during the "Dirty War" to pass the children for adoption by military families and allies of the regime and thereby avoid raising another generation of subversives.

As an offshoot of the Silvia Quintela case, former dictator Jorge Videla was detained under house-arrest in 2010 on multiple charges of kidnapping children. In July 2012 he was convicted and sentenced to fifty years in prison for the systematic stealing of babies.

On 14 September 2011 the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo received the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize in Paris for their work in defense of Human Rights.

The Dirty War and methodology

thumb|The Plaza De Mayo in Buenos Aires, where the grandmothers have consistently protested since 1977

The war began in 1976 under the government of Lieutenant General Jorge Rafaél Videla. It was a period of state-sponsored violent purges directed towards everyone deemed to be a leftist supporter. Part of Videla's campaign aimed to deter the possibility of a new generation growing up subversive. Although men and women were abducted, children were of higher value and importance in shaping the future of Argentina. There was a waiting list of military families who wanted to adopt the trafficked children. These families specified ideal physical characteristics such as sex, hair and eye color. The children who were not chosen by new families were placed in orphanages and adopted later in their lives. Many of the children who were abducted decline the option to meet their biological family because they believe that they are not their true relatives due to the fact that the children were deprived of being raised by their biological parents. Meeting with relatives such as the grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo may open up dark memories that the children cannot handle. Whatever the circumstance of the child, the organization still believes in providing the abducted the opportunity to learn more about themselves and their family history no matter how tragic it is, which is why the grandmothers have continued their movement, periodically protesting to gain more followers. They make sure to continue to protest at the plaza to remind the people of Argentina that their work is not finished.

Formation

The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo was founded in 1977 to protect children's rights as a response to state sponsored terrorism. In 1983 the constitutional government was re-established and the grandmothers searched for missing children using anonymous tips and conducted their own investigations, but were unable to prove the children's identities. Geneticists from the United States worked with the Grandmothers and were able to store blood samples from family members in the National Genetic Data Bank until the grandchildren could be located and could confirm the relatedness with an accuracy rate of 99.99%. The organization turned to a commercial campaign and joined with actors to appeal to younger audiences. Their goal was to use popular culture to create doubt within the minds of a group of people who would have never questioned their family.

  • Estela de Carlotto – Current president of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo
  • Rosa Tarlovsky de Roisinblit
  • Nélida Gómez de Navajas
  • María Isabel Chorobik de Mariani
  • Elsa Sánchez de Oesterheld

Originally 13 grandmothers gathered to form the organization, including Mirta Acuña de Baravalle.

See also

  • Dirty War
  • Mothers of Plaza de Mayo
  • National Reorganization Process
  • Lost children of Francoism
  • Child abductions in the Russo-Ukrainian War

References

Further reading

  • Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (sitio oficial)
  • Where Is My Grandchild? a short documentary by Retro Report
  • Interviews with Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, Rita Arditti collection, University Archives and Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library, University of Massachusetts Boston
  • Abuelas recuperó el nieto número 88, Télem, 2 de julio de 2007
  • Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo recuperaron al nieto número 82, Clarín, 15 de febrero de 2006
  • 30 Años, Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo
  • stolen at birth, now 32, learns identity