The president of mothers of the May place, organization demanding the truth about the crimes of the military dictatorship, died at the age of 93 years, Sunday November 20.
By Flora Knee ()
Hebe Pastor de Bonafini was born twice. On December 4, 1928, first, in a popular district of Ensenada, 60 kilometers south of Buenos Aires. Then in 1977, when his two sons, students and communist activists, disappeared; First Jorge, the eldest son, in February, then Raul, in December. Where are they ? Without news, unanswered by the authorities -Argentina has been in the hands of a military junta since 1976 -Hebe de Bonafini, of his name of wife, joined, that year, other women who come together on the Place de Mai, in front of the presidential palace, in Buenos Aires, in order to claim the truth about the fate of their children. A spontaneous commitment, which will mark his life as much as that of Argentina, even in his most controversial face.
“Our children [missing] gave birth to us”, does not hesitate to summarize the one who, until her death, on November 20, 2022, at the age of 93, presided over the mothers of the place May. The association struggles, among other things, to obtain justice after the death (or disappearance) of 30,000 people during the dictatorship, according to human rights organizations.
“Hebe de Bonafini leaves an immense heritage. She embodied the fight of mothers in the May place, which represent the first and the deepest attack on the dictatorship. We can say that she participated in the fall of The junta “, estimates Ulises Gorini, author of a photographic biography (Los Caminos de la Vida, 2022, not translated) on that which the Argentines call” Hebe “. Its public image is inseparable from its white scarf tied on the head, symbolizing the layers of torn children, symbol quickly endorsed by the mothers of the May place after their first gathering, April 30, 1977.
” I never stopped “
“The mothers come together at the most cruel and repressive moment of the dictatorship. Hebe de Bonafini is an icon. His courage, his strength of character lead her to be chosen as president by her comrades”, at the time of formalization From the association, in 1979, described Marianela Scocco, historian at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET). “She makes her pain a struggle,” continues the academic specialist in the association. It was Hebe de Bonafini who, during the 1978 World Cup, organized and won by Argentina, and with other mothers, stretched out the gaze of foreign cameras towards the regime’s abuses. His struggle and his figure go beyond the borders of his country. As early as 1979, she undertook trips to Europe and the United States.
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