Huge crowd floods Plaza de Mayo to mark 50 years since dictatorship coup

A huge crowd descended on the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires on Tuesday to mark 50 years since the March 24, 1976 coup d'état that brought Argentina's military dictatorship to power.

Gathering the traditional slogan “Nunca más” ("Never again:), the massive mobilisation stretched along the kilometre separating the Plaza de Mayo from Avenida 9 de Julio thoroughfare and swamped the surrounding area.

The streets leading into the capital's famous square, situated in front of the Casa Rosada, the seat of Argentina's government, were flooded with demonstrators, each of whom marched to commemorate the victims of the military junta that ruled the nation from 1976 to 1983.

Journalists and photographers said it was likely one of the biggest rallies the capital has seen in years, with tens of thousands of people in attendance. Police were expected to issue a more accurate estimate later in the day. 

Other rallies took place in cities and towns across the nation, as people answered a call from human rights groups, political parties, unions, campaign and civil society groups to mark the occasion.

Many marched with images of the disappeared, the victims of the dictatorship, on their bodies or carried signs. 

The main event, featuring speeches from a stage at one end of the square, was led by rights groups including the Madres de Plaza de Mayo and Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, continuing a tradition that began during the dictatorship, when they started gathering in the square to demand information on the whereabouts of their abducted children.

The Abuelas has recovered the identities of 140 grandchildren taken from their families as infants or born in captivity. It is estimated that more than 300 remain to be found.

“We have 140 cases resolved, what do you think of that?” Estela Barnes de Carlotto, the 95-year-old president of the association, said from the stage to cheers.

“Each restored grandchild is evidence of the atrocities committed by sinister state terrorism: disappearances, murders, theft, the abduction of minors and the falsification of political documents,” added the activist, whose grandson was the 114th to be found.

The 1976 civil-military coup overthrew Isabel Perón and installed a dictatorship that ruled until 1983, carrying out disappearances, torture and the theft of babies, forcing thousands into exile.

Valeria Coronel, a 43-year-old teacher, was holding her eight-year-old daughter's hand as they joined the rally.

"Memory gets passed down from generation to generation so that the struggle continues," she said. "That's the legacy I want to leave her."

Some people released white balloons into the sky while others bore banners with slogans including "They didn't defeat us."

Others carried photographs of relatives who never emerged from detention, with some carrying placards saying "We are still looking for you."

Memory and political dispute

President Milei's government disputes claims by rights groups that around 30,000 people died or disappeared under Argentina's dictatorship, one of Latin America's bloodiest, which ended in 1983.

The government estimates the number of disappeared at officially fewer than 9,000, maintaining that there were excesses committed on both sides in the dictatorship years, and playing down the role of military violence.

On Tuesday, the presidential office released a video denouncing a "biased and revanchist perspective" as a prism through which history of that time has been studied, claiming that its political opponents has used it as an "instrument of manipulation."

The military regime brutally clamped down on resistance from dissidents including a left-wing guerrilla movement, students and labour activists, detaining thousands in camps such as Buenos Aires' infamous ESMA Navy Mechanics School.

Officials last week published almost 500 pages of intelligence documents dating from 1973-1983, including the seven-year period of the military dictatorship. 

The documents range from shopping lists to surveillance records of universities, unions, businesses and political organisations.

Some documents called for "strategic psycho-sociological intelligence," and ordered the monitoring of news media.

"The publication of historical archives strengthens institutional credibility, helps debunk conspiracy theories and demonstrates a commitment to the truth," according to a guide published with the documents. 

– TIMES/AFP/NA/PERFIL