Today is Dia de la Memoria, another public holiday. If it weren’t for my school, this day would probably have passed like any other Sunday. Quiet, relaxing. But exactly on this day we were send out by our teacher of ‘fotoreportaje’ (something like photojournalism) to shoot this event.
First of all I did some research. Or let’s say I asked an Argentine friend what this day was about, and she had no clue, she then called her mom who (fortunately) knew. It is the day that the ‘decaparecidos’ are remembered. The word ‘desaparecidos’ does not only mean ‘the disappeared’ in general, but is in fact the name given to all the people that have disappeared during the military dictatorship of Videla (1976-1983) : people that have been arrested and never officially reported dead. The 24th of March 1976 was the day of the Coup d’etat.
On this day, the Avenida de Mayo (between the Congreso and the Plaza de Mayo), as well as many surrounding streets, are the scene of marching people, all divided in different groups and political organizations, all with flags and with drums, many of them singing. I walked from Congreso to the Plaza de Mayo and back, which took me about 3 hours of ‘shooting’ the ongoing mass. I have no idea how many people there were, but I have never seen anything quite like that, people all cheerful, singing, dancing and playing the drum. It was absolutely amazing. Most of the people were young, some very young, but some were (a lot) older. There were supporters of the government, and there were haters. It was a mix of a lot of people. And it was especially a great event to shoot…
The Feel Good Way 
13 responses to “Dia de la Memoria (March 24)”
Buen articulo. Fecha fatidica para la Republica Argentina. Miles de desaparecidos y un gobierno que nunca justifico el porque o donde estan….y que a proposito: nunca recapacito y sigue de malas en peores. Una lastima!
Falta la reparación a las victimas de los guerrileros
Para nosotros que han vivido el horror, es dificil, pero hay que recordar que la juventud quiza no comparten nuestras memorias y deben de informarse; por eso el documento investigatorio se llama “Nunca Mas.” Todo se encuentra en el sitio http://www.memoriaabierta.org/ar. VISITELO! Tu tambien, Katti.
Very interesting site, thanks!
This is the correct link : http://www.memoriaabierta.org.ar/
Hay que decir toda la verdad que incluye las víctimas de la guerrilla que son muchísimos y de ellos nadie se acuerda ,yo si me acuerdo de que salíamos a la calle y un comando guerrillero o un atentado podía matarnos,por que no dicen todos estos que andan manifestando que muchos de esos familiares eran asesinos y puede y debe ser que otros colaboraban y otros nada tendrían que ver,pero la mayoría eran asesinos que programaban a quien y como iban a matar.
Van a descansar en paz todos los muertos cuando se diga TODA LA VERDAD ESA SERÁ LA VERDADERA MEMORIA
No eran arrestados, eran tomados, sacados de sus casas, de la calle, de las universidades. Sin razón, a veces por tener el pelo largo, a veces por pensar de forma diferente. Eran torturados, humillados, violadas. Terrible. Rectores de universidades, científicos, intelectuales, músicos, artistas en general tuvieron que exiliarse. Nunca más.
Estoy de acuerdo con Chocho y Susana PERO, según varios estudios, los guerrillas cometían 1.200 crímenes violentos. El estado pudo haberlos llevado a juicio, pero como dice Pimar, el estado luchaba contra terror con más terror, incluyendo tomando 500 bebés de sus mamás. Es una cosa distinta cuando un gobierno mata su propia gente en una manera tan brutal.
Oh, and Katti: I like your photos a lot more than mine! But at least I have some new ones for my college presentations…
Thnx glad you like them 🙂
Cuando los tuvieron presos sin hacer desaparecer a nadie ,gano Campora las elecciones soltó a todos los presos políticos y a los criminales comunes y estos salieron a matar a diestra y siniestra!!!!!!años 1973,1974,y1975.
Ahora esta muriendo mucha gente inocente por la inseguridad y el gobierno no hace nada de nadarpor impedirlo y ya no hay nadie que pare la violencia desatada contra los ciudadanos y entre hermanos también ,a nadie le importa salvo a los damnificados.
Quien va a pagar con todas estas muertes,son delitos de lesa humanidad dejar morir impunemente a tanta gente inocente que trabaja,a veces ancianos,jóvenes y niños que no tendrán ya la oportunidad de tener una vida por vivir
Videla was president only up to 1981, he was succeeded by Viola in 1981 and then by Galtieri, who was president during the Malvinas war in 1982. The last military president before the democratic elections in 1983 was Bignone.
Thanks for correcting me! Although I have read several (fiction) books about desaparecidos and their (stolen/adopted) babies, I am far from an expert. It is obviously a sensitive subject, and there are probably a lot of different ways to look at it. Just like there are a lot of ‘delicate’ situations during the wars in Belgium/Europe which are hard to understand unless you have lived through them.
But what I (and several of my fellow student who shot the march) don’t get is, if this is the day that the decaparecidos are remembered, then why was everybody so happy and cheerful, singing and dancing?
Por que ya vive el gran pueblo argentino en democracia! Kirchnerista o antikirchnerista, uno puede dormir seguro que no hubiere aldabonazo a medianoche por unos desalmados en Ford Falcon.