MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Human rights organizations to make statement at Plaza de Mayo

Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo will speak against the 1976-83 dictatorship and Milei's current administration alike

Leftwing and human rights organizations in Argentina will stage an event at Buenos Aires' Plaza de Mayo marking the 49th anniversary of the military uprising against the democratic government of President María Estela Martínez de Perón (Isabelita).

The National Memory for Truth and Justice Holiday honors created in 2002 honors the dictatorship's victims and recalls the Military Junta's inability to run the country, eventually ordering the landing on the Falklands/Malvinas Islands to seek a common enemy to create some cohesion behind the illegitimate government.

The date is also a tribute to the 30,000 people who disappeared during the dictatorship amid kidnappings, torture, and child appropriations under the Condor Plan. This year’s mobilization will feature strong criticism of President Javier Milei and Vice-President Victoria Villarruel who are accused of having a “denialist” stance regarding the genocide perpetrated during the horror years, in addition to anti-people economic policies and slashing of democratic rights.

Starting at 4 pm Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Elia Espen and Taty Almeida, Grandmother Estela de Carlotto, and 1980 Nobel Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel are scheduled to read out a document marking the occasion while opposition groups will rally under slogans defending democracy and condemning Milei’s administration, also protesting against this month's police repression and arbitrary detentions during the retirees' protests. According to Buenos Aires outlets, Fabián Grillo, the father of photojournalist Pablo Grillo who was shot during a retirees' demonstration earlier this month, might also be invited over to the stage. Grillo is still hospitalized and his future is in doubt given the shot he took in his head.

However, some leftist organizations will hold separate marches and speeches, criticizing Milei's economic and security measures, it was announced.