Mothers of Argentina's Disappeared March to Keep Memory Alive

The Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo gather Thursday for the "March of the Resistance" in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They march for justice for those disappeared during Argentina's dictatorship.

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"Despite our canes and wheelchairs ... we continue and will continue standing up [for our rights] because we are not alone," Taty Almeida, 88, one of the founders of the movement, said according to El Periodico.

The Mother's annual event will be supported by political organizations, workers' unions, and student associations that will mobilize themselves under the slogan "do not give up, do not negotiate, do not be silent, do not forgive, do not forget, and always fight."

Since 1997 the mothers and grandmothers of the victims of state-sponsored terrorism gather in the Plaza de Mayo, a square facing Argentina's presidential palace that has always been an important meeting point for political activism.

"41 years have passed since the disappearance of Azucena Villaflor de Vincenti, a mother of Plaza de Mayo who disappeared on Dec. 10, 1977. She was the founder of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Movement."

The "March of the Resistance" is accompanied by cultural activities which aim to remember thousands of Argentines who disappeared amid a "Dirty War" against leftist social and political organizations.

"To have memory, to obtain justice, and to know the ultimate truth ... (Governments) sometimes want to erase our memory. ... We are offended when they distort the number of disappeared", said Estela De Carlotto, one of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo.

According to the non-governmental organization Madres y Abuelas, 8,754 cases of disappearances have been formally filed and 30,000 cases were not reported during the last Argentine military dictatorship (1976-1983).

"The flag that will accompany the 30th March of the Resistance, is ready ... we wait for you in Plaza de Mayo, the Mothers' square, the People's square."

After 41 years of continuous searching for the disappeared, which even resorted to elaborate studies into DNA, the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo discovered the true identities of 128 of the 500 infants snatched from their parents and given to other families.

"We are getting the truth little by little ... Where are the hundreds of victims who were murdered and thrown into the sea or buried?," De Carlotto asked and stressed that "we will not aim to solve everything. [However] we already have relays, we have the disappeared's children, our grandchildren."