Las Madres De La Plaza De Mayo

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Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, or the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, is an association dedicated to protesting the human rights violations carried out by Argentina’s military regime between 1976 and 1983 during the Dirty War. This group is comprised mainly of mothers of citizens who were kidnapped, or “disappeared”, by the government in attempts to silence anti-government sentiments. Families lost their children and, to this day, many families remain desolate of their loved ones. The Mothers continued searching for their children and their families in the hopes that they are still alive. After the military was overthrown and was replaced, the Mothers’ purpose began to be fulfilled as many as the disappeared were found, and many of the members …show more content…

Often, the mothers were found circling the Pirámide de Mayo wearing white scarves, risking the possible disappearance of themselves. As the first president, Azucena Villaflor de Devincenzi was abducted, along with two nuns, following a church meeting in 1977. As the organization grew to thousands of members, “fear of state terrorism on one side and public indifference or even mild complicity with the military… on the other left the Mothers standing alone against the regime.” United States State Department officials worked to diminish the mothers’ isolation and the mothers received international recognition when, in 1980, Adolfo Perez Esquivel made a reference to the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. …show more content…

They also received the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in 1999. At the award ceremony, the President of the Prize Jury, Dimitra Papadopoulou, said the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo “have transformed their pain into an ethical struggle and movement” (“UNESCO Prize”). Estela de Carlotto, one of the founders of the Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo, was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, although she did not win. De Carlotto’s daughter, Laura, was abducted while pregnant during the Dirty War, and she was murdered after giving birth to de Carlotto’s grandson. Thousands of Argentinians wanted de Carlotto to be reunited with her grandson, and she finally was in 2014. Ignacio Montoya Carlotto and Estela de Carlotto found each other after more than 30 years (Uki

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