Argentina Marks 50th Anniversary of Military Coup

Argentinians Mark 50th Anniversary of Military Coup ARGENTINA Argentina Tens of thousands of people marched in cities across Argentina this week to mark 50 years since the 1976 military coup that ushered in one of Latin America’s bloodiest dictatorships, the Associated Press reported. Demonstrations took place Tuesday in a number of cities, with the largest in Buenos Aires, as political tensions rise due to libertarian President Javier Milei’s efforts to challenge long-standing narratives about the junta that ruled the country from 1976 to 1983. The anniversary coincided with the publication of nearly 500 pages of intelligence documents from 1973 to 1983, including records of surveillance on universities, unions and political organizations, the Buenos Aires Times reported. Human rights organizations say around 30,000 people were disappeared during the junta’s campaign against dissidents, including left-wing guerrillas, labor activists and students. A truth commission and rights groups attribute most of the violence to state security forces, which carried out disappearances, torture and the theft of babies. The Abuelas (grandmothers) de Plaza de Mayo, one of the groups leading the demonstrations, say they have identified around 140 children taken from their families, out of an estimated 500 babies born in captivity and illegally adopted. More than 300 are still believed to be missing. However, Milei’s government has rejected the human rights organizations’ tally of the victims, putting the number of disappeared at fewer than 9,000 and arguing that the victims of attacks by left-wing guerrilla groups active at the time should also be commemorated. On Tuesday, the presidency released a video criticizing what it called a “biased and revanchist perspective” of the period. Meanwhile, critics have accused the libertarian president of undermining human rights efforts and recovering victims’ remains. As part of his austerity plan, Milei’s administration has downgraded the Human Rights Secretariat by cutting its budget and dismissing staff involved in archive analysis. Efforts to locate victims’ remains have long been hindered by the military’s refusal to provide information, activists say.