Social Issues

Milei’s government denies that 30,000 people disappeared during Argentina’s dictatorship

Buenos Aires, March 24 (EFE).- The government of Javier Milei released a video on Sunday, the Day of Remembrance of Argentina’s last military dictatorship (1976-1983), denying the widely accepted figure of 30,000 victims of forced disappearance during the dictatorship.

On the 48th anniversary of the last coup d’état, the Casa Rosada – headquarters of the executive power – broadcast a short documentary in which a former guerrilla member claimed to have “invented” the figure while in exile in the Netherlands, describing it as “a profitable business.”

“We went to see the wife of the Prime Minister and some legislators to ask for money for the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who wanted to build a place to receive their children,” said Luis Labraña, who belonged to several guerrilla organizations such as the Montoneros.

In his version, the estimate at the time was that there were 4,000 missing persons, and when the mothers presented this figure, they were told that they could not talk about genocide and asked to come back when they had more, so he suggested increasing the number to 30,000.

This figure became a social consensus after the return of democracy and was supported by different political sectors and all the human rights organizations in the country, including the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

Later in the day during the memorial, the leader of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Estela de Carlotto, denounced the “provocations” of Argentine President Javier Milei and Vice President Victoria Villarruel.

“The constant provocations of the government of Milei and Villarruel violate all the international treaties with constitutional rank, and we continue to demand a law against officials who deny the crimes and their victims,” De Carlotto said from a stage in the Plaza de Mayo.

After the Act of Remembrance, Villarruel, who has been one of the main promoters of the debate on the number of disappeared, criticized De Carlotto on social media.

“Carlotto, no one voted for you, they voted for Javier Milei. Respect the Argentine people who also rejected you. It was not 30,000,” Villarruel wrote. EFE

aam/ics

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