Madres de Plaza de Mayo

Madres de Plaza de Mayo

Every Thursday between 3.30 and 4.00pm, the Madres de Plaza de Mayo make their protest.  Plaza de Mayo is the square in front of the Casa Rosada, and Madres means mothers.  But simply translating the words doesn't explain who these ladies in their trademark white headscarves actually are.  They are traditionally the mothers, but could also be grandmothers, aunts etc, of people who 'disappeared' in Argentina in it's darker years.

The exact facts are still debated but broadly, from 1976 to 1983, there was what became known as the 'dirty war' during which the military juntas carried out illegal arrests, torture and 'forced disappearance' of various opponents ranging from militias to trade union activists and students.  Many thousands of people disappeared and their families still do not know what happened to them. The actual number of 'disappeared' varies from around 11,000 to 30,000 depending on whose account you believe.

the painted pathway

The laws at that time stopped people from gathering in groups, thereby preventing them meeting to discuss issues or to protest.  But the Madres found a way around this.  The laws covered sitting and standing in groups, but said nothing to prevent situations where many people were moving around the same place.  So since 30 April 1977 the Madres would march around the Plaza de Mayo swapping stories and information to try to discover what had happened to their missing loved ones, and calling out their names to demand justice for them.  Each of their white headscarves has the name of their missing loved one on it. They were effective too, as they raised the profile internationally and helped bring about investigations and political change.  Of course their protesting made them targets too, and it is known that some of the 14 founding members were also detained, tortured and murdered.

the Madres stall

The Madres continue their walk of protest, though these days they have a circular pathway marked out around the column in the square, and others join in. They also have a stall where they sell literature and other items, and they have their own van and minibus.  But if that sounds like they are commercialised then I don't mean it to; they just have legitimacy and are a more formal organisation now albeit that their numbers are presumably dwindling with the passing of the years.



When we were there yesterday, there were two groups of Madres and at the time I didn't know why.  But having read up on it I see that some of the Madres developed different priorities and so they split into two groups in 1986, the Linea Fundadora (Founding Line) and the Association.  The Linea Fundadora group retains its original aims of 'Memory, Truth and Justice', and together with the Abuelas (grandmothers) group is also trying to locate the 296 children they say were born whilst their mothers were detained.  These children were taken by other families and the Madres and Abuelas want them identified to at least have them know their true families.
 

Madres Association

Madres Association

The Association is more political, aiming to carry on the idealogies of the disappeared. Yesterday, the Association group was the larger and was marking 11 years since the establishment of their private University.  The film crews were out in force for this and that group, whilst clearly sincere, did have a slight air of performing for the cameras.

Madres - Linea Fundadora

The Linea Fundadora group was smaller, and had no flags, but was absolutely compelling for it's dignity and determination. The Madres led the group and were followed by other men and women who had lost people. Some carried placards with pictures of the person they had lost.  All listened to the constant roll call of names of those who have 'disappeared' and after each name repeated the word which I presume means missing or something similar.

placards of the disappeared

The other group had the numbers, the flags, the chants and the film crews, but it was this smaller group that epitomised what the Madres are all about.  The nature of their protest is saddening, but their courage, composure, determination and presumably at least some level of hope, made this proud and defiant too.

What horrified me was the comparison of this protest, to the behaviour of a small minority of the English population right now.  These women have a horrifying and legitimate complaint, but they behave in a way that is peaceful, dignified, and harms no-one else.  Like everyone else, I don't yet know the truth of what happened with Mark Duggan, and if the shooting was unjustified then his family will have a legitimate complaint and the police will have to improve how they handle these cases.  But nothing can justify the looting, violence and apparently now murders that have happened over the last week.  I am not ashamed to be British when I hear about this because I know that the majority of the British people are as horrified as I am. But I am genuinely appalled at the behaviour of these people. If they truly wanted to protest at Mark Duggan's shooting  (despite presumably not knowing the real facts any more than I do) then they should take a leaf out of the Madres book.

Sadly I suspect that they just have an over developed sense of what is owed to them and a desire for some free mobiles, trainers and anything else they could lay their hands on through a broken shop window.