Buenos Aires. The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo called for resistance and opposition to the adjustment policies of elected Argentine President Javier Milei on Thursday during one of their traditional marches in the center of Buenos Aires, which was also attended by trade unionists and social organizations.
The 2,380th was symbolic. March of the humanitarian organization around the pyramid of Plaza de Mayo the first organized protest against the far-right economist, who announced a drastic cut in public spending with the closure of ministries and the privatization of public companies. including after his victory in the runoff election on Sunday.
Added to this is the fear of human rights organizations of a regression in politics, which during the last military dictatorship (1976-1983) made it possible to convict oppressors of crimes against humanity.
The mothers wore the white scarves that mark their hair and held a sign that read “No to paying foreign debt.” Older people, some of them in wheelchairs.
“Alert, vigilant, vigilant that all the ideals of the disappeared remain alive,” they shouted during the tour, which was also attended by union members, political leaders and workers’ organizations of the national economy.
The mothers of Plaza de Mayo made their first march in 1977, in the midst of the dictatorship, to ask for the whereabouts of their missing children. After the return of democracy, the organization split and a group of them led by Hebe de Bonafini took more radical left-wing political positions with slogans that went beyond calling for remembrance, truth and justice for the events that took place during the military regime.
Carmen Arias, a reference for the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, said that in the face of “such a threatening situation that is spreading among us,” a speech that Bonafini, who died a year ago, gave in 2017 when the country was governed The president became valid. The conservative Mauricio Macri (2015-2019), who sealed an electoral alliance with Milei for the runoff election last Sunday.
“Hebe said: ‘It is true that we must resist, but we must resist by fighting. You have to fight all the time. We cannot remain silent, bitter or crying,” Arias read. “’Resistance and struggle are rights of the people that we will not give up, because this place is that: resistance and struggle.’”
Milei, an ultra-liberal economist, this week announced a shrinking of the nation-state with the dissolution of ministries and privatizations, including public media and the state oil company YPF. He also announced that he would stop public works and take over management of private companies based on the Chilean model.
During the campaign, Milei also questioned the number of missing people – according to human rights organizations there were 30,000 – and reimagined the so-called “two demon theory”, stating: “We are against a one-eyed view of history; For us, there was a war in the 1970s.” After his victory in the runoff, he said no more about the matter.
“We mothers are convinced that there are many of us who want a free and sovereign homeland. This is a contingency. We have already experienced a moment in the life of the country. They come for everything, they even want to suck our blood.’ Hebe said this in 2017. He was encouraged to resist,” Arias commented. “We will do it now and again every time they try to corner people. Failed. See you next Thursday”.