March 2, 1995
Every Thursday for the last 18 years, Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo has marched for human rights in Argentina.
Tuesday was the first time Las Madres has visited the United States since they were here to receive the Rothko Peace Prize in 1981.
Hebe Pastor de Bonafini, president of Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo and Juana de Pargoment, treasurer, spoke at Jack Adams Hall in the Cesar Chavez Student Center following a film documenting the history of the group.
The group is here to plead with Congress not to sell arms to the Argentinean government. According to Pargoment, an increase in poverty and unemployment has the government worried. They need a well armed military in case people mobilize and go to the streets, she said.
"Such sale of arms is dangerous," Pargoment said. "Countries like this one (the United States) invent wars."
Many of the current military leaders in Argentina have served under the previous military dictatorship, Pargoment said. That regime was responsible for the disappearance of more than 30,000 people from 1976-1983.
According to Bonafini, many of the programs started by earlier regimes are being carried out by the current Menem administration. "We've suffered through so many things in Argentina," Bonafini said. "Today, those same things are being repeated."
Bonafini said government programs that resulted in repression are now carried out through economic means.
"In Argentina, one child dies every 20 minutes from hunger or from an incurable disease," Bonafini said.
More private hospitals are being established. There are few places where free medical treatment is still available, according to Bonafini.
There is a huge recession in Argentina. "Thousands are unemployed," Bonafini said. "All of the big companies were sold to private groups. They bring in Brazilians and Peruvians who will work for nothing, just food. Many people have to work illegally."
In Southern Argentina, the government is closing the coal mines and selling them cheaply to private interests.
The film, "La Voz de Panuelos" (Voice of the Shawls) gave a detailed explanation of the struggle of Las Madres against the Proceso, the military regime that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983.
Las Madres began when 14 mothers gathered in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires after trying every imaginable avenue to get information about their children who had disappeared. The desaparecidos (missing ones) were abducted from their homes, work, school and the streets.
"They were among the few who dared to organize and to confront a regime that paralyzed most of the rest of us," said Dr. Julyana Peard, associate professor of history, who lived in Argentina until 1978.
"The loss of our children united us," said Bonafini. "We socialized motherhood. We changed from me to us and from my child to our children."
"Ours is a collective fight. We know they tortured and executed them. We will never accept their death while their murderers are free. We march in the Plaza for all -- not just our children. For all in Latin America who died unjustly."
At first, Las Madres was not taken seriously. "Day after day, Thursday to Thursday, we stayed in the Plaza," said Bonafini. "They called us madwomen, but we kept returning."
"To struggle and fight it is important to be a little crazy," Bonafini said.
It was not until it was too late that the government realized the power of Las Madres.
The military Junta began picking up members of Las Madres from the Plaza and detaining them. They used fear to keep people in line, Bonafini said. In addition to harassment, the Junta assassinated the leader of Las Madres and two of its members.
These courageous women continued to oppose the terrorist government who had kidnapped, tortured, raped and killed their sons and daughters.
Today, Las Madres, which now has more than 3,000 members, spends time educating the youth of Argentina. "We go to secondary schools and universities to give talks," said Bonafini. "We also give workshops in philosophy and history."
Once a year, in March, Las Madres celebrates the day of human rights. It spends 30 hours in the Plaza, walking constantly. It is called the March of the Resistance. Last year, more than 50,000 people attended.
"We show resistance today in order to insure victory for tomorrow," said Bonafini.