ESMA and Madres

On Monday, we had a chance to tour the ESMA (Escuela Militar de la Armada), which was the most infamous of the clandestine centers where young people suspected of 'subversion' were brought after being kidnapped during the dictatorship (1976-83). Out of the estimated 30,000 who disappeared during that period, 5,000 were brought to the ESMA--and of those, only 200 survived. Most were drugged and thrown out of airplanes into the Rio de la Plata--if they were 'lucky' enough to survive their torture. The ESMA now stands vacant as a memorial to the atrocities that happened there; it also serves as an active crime scene with evidence for the upcoming trials for officials who are suspected of devising and ordering the abuse and killing of young people there.

Later that afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet several of the Mothers personally, and to hear their stories. It was powerful to hear them talk about their children--their lives, their jobs, their loves, their dreams. After they had shared their stories, Kate pointed out that many of their children were killed for doing precisely the kind of work that we have come here to do; working with those on the margins of society and walking in solidarity with them. This probably seemed just as right and just to those young people then as it does to me now; it's scary to think that following their hearts could have led them to such a terrible end.