A foundation dedicated to finding children illegally adopted and taken abroad during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile launched a new research campaign using artificial intelligence on Friday.
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The program of the Sons and Mothers of Silence (HMS) foundation and the Chilean branch of the South Korean advertising agency Cheil have compiled the photos of four families who claim that their children were stolen and taken abroad during the dictatorship (1973-1990).
Since 2018, the Chilean justice system has been investigating the abduction of thousands of Chilean children, particularly during the 17 years of the Pinochet regime, who were then “sold” abroad.
Sara Diaz, 62, said that after she was born in 1974, she was told her baby had died and the hospital refused to release her body.
Thanks to photos of her and her husband, who died five years ago, a photo created by artificial intelligence is being distributed on social networks along with a message in several languages in the hope that someone will recognize themselves.
“I think this is a great hope, not only for me but for all the people who are looking for our children,” Ms Diaz told AFP.
There are no official figures on the number of Chilean children sent abroad, but estimates suggest that at least 2,021 were adopted in Sweden between 1971 and 1992.
According to the foundation, thousands more were sent to Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United States, Uruguay and Peru.