Madres de Plaza de Mayo

The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo are a group of women who began protesting in Plaza de Mayo, in front of the Casa Rosada (seat of government) after the military dictatorship began making people "disappear" in what is sometimes called the dirty war in Argentina. Anyone who was involved with the left was a potential victim, and people went missing from their homes, work, off the street, at any time of day. Initially the organization was a group of mothers of these "desaparecidos" who demanded they be returned. Later they they demanded to know the truth about these disapearances, and to know who was responsable. The estimate is that about 30,000 people disappeared, which is a eupahmism for kidnapped, tortured and killed. The Madres wear white head scarves to represent their children`s diapers. In the beginning they were told they could not loiter in Plaza de Mayo, so they began to circle around making their protest. They have continued ever since then, although now they protest once a week, every thursday at 3:30 pm, and we finally went down to see them.

As you can see in the picture, their reason for protest has changed, or at least diversified. Here they are demanding a fairer distribution of wealth. In the next picture you can see the Casa Rosada behind them. Their website is www.madres.org