Plaza 5 de Mayo (Plaza of the 5th of May) is the meeting place for the mothers and grandmothers of the dirty war in Argentina that began with a military coup of the 24th of May 1976 and lasted until 1983. The regime was responsible for the disappearance of 30 000 individuals from various left wing and social organisations in an effort to suppress opposition to the new economy they wished to create. The government succeeded in creating a new economy with economic power in the hands of the privileged. Wages and unemployment benefits were eroded to decrease business expenditure while civil liberties were destroyed with kidnappings, tortures and executions of those that opposed or may have had an interest in opposing these changes.
The stories told in the award winning film "Botin de Guerra" (Spoils of war) describes the kidnapping of pregnant women who were kept alive in special cells until they gave birth, they would then be executed and the baby adopted anonymously. These children, along with those stolen away from their parents as infants, were sent to live with other families (sometimes those of the extreme right involved in the killings). The documentary tells the story of these children who learn about the fate of their parents, who their adoption parents really are and the fight of their relatives to find them.
In 1983 when the dictatorship fell their was an expectation that justice would be served by the new leader and impunity for the perpetrators would end but this was not to be the case. There were a number of convictions and life sentences handed out to some of the worst criminals of the time but this soothing justice was taken away from them when President Menem announced that the black time in Argentina's past was to be forgotten and all criminals would be pardoned. This was met with massive protest, which were not heard by the leader.
In the background to all this is "Operation Condor" designed by the CIA in 1974, run out of U.S. controlled Panama, to end the influence of the left (the so called communist threat) in South America. It was to target possible troublemakers and provide direction for all the countries in the southern cone of Latin America and would later extend to include Peru and Ecuador. Henry Kissinger who was responsible for many part of U.S. foreign policy at the time is now wanted in Chile and Uruguay for his crimes in these countries and is considered by many in Argentina to be as ruthless a killer as Hitler. He was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 1973. The United States government have kept him from trial and justice.
The wikipedia version of these events casts doubt over the involvement of the U.S. There have been quotes released from Kissinger and his people directly advocating torture and execution which were on TV in Argentina on the day of commemoration which leave no doubt that he should be charged for his crimes along with many other members of the U.S. government who have been involved in subversive acts to undermine democracy around the world.
May the atrocity of using all possible means to meet economic and political means one day a thing of the past! End the war in Iraq and Afghanistan!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment