The Wall Street Journal in an article credited to Matt Moffett, tells the story of how the respected human rights group, Mothers of Plaza de Mayo and close ally of Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner are embroiled in a controversy over misused funds.
Under the heading of “Corruption in Argentina: the mother of all scandals?”, The Economist edition of this week has an article on the controversy surrounding the once-revered human rights group Mothers of Plaza de Mayo.
The head of Argentina’s Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo organization, Hebe de Bonafini, minimized on Thursday the recent series of judicial raids performed on the organization’s headquarters and assured that “she has nothing to hide.”
A major scandal has unfolded in Argentina involving one of the cherished and exploited banners of the two Kirchner administrations (Nestor and Cristina, 2003/2011): human rights policy and the organization of Mothers of Plaza de Mayo.
United Nation Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged that the lessons learned from Argentina’s turn from dictatorship to democracy be applied widely, particularly in North Africa and the Middle East, and he called on Syria to allow humanitarian aid into areas affected by ongoing violence.
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner said that the restructuring of Argentina’s debt allowed the resumption of relations with Italy, and in human rights, art and culture Argentina was back in the world map with ‘a bang’.
The cases of abuse, ill treatment, torture and alleged homicides committed against Argentines conscripts by their officers, some of them still on active service, during the 1982 Malvinas war were declared prescribed.
The administration of Uruguayan president Jose Mujica suffered a major setback over the weekend and could experience a further showdown on Thursday when members of the ruling coalition vote in Parliament the annulment of an Amnesty or Crimes expiration law which impedes the investigation of human rights violations committed during the country’s military dictatorship (1973/1985).
An effort to declassify US documents on Argentina’s dictatorship failed Friday in the US Congress, disappointing rights activists in the Argentine capital who believe the secret files could help them identify young people stolen as babies by the military junta.
Uruguayan Vice-president Danilo Astori acknowledged that overturning the “Expired Crimes” or amnesty bill for human rights violators during the military dictatorship (1973/1985) could cost the ruling coalition ‘dearly’ and said he voted following ‘party discipline’.