Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice

[Dim Witty]

Come to La Plaza de Mayo tomorrow to commemorate the 30,000 victims on the anniversary of the March 24, 1976 military coup d’état. Keep memory alive.

 

[Quilombo]

I don't need a calendar reminder because every year, and with increasing loudness the Mileistas engage in dictatorship apologia this time of the month/year.

Take a look at Twitter: Trending in Argentina "It wasn't 30,000" - disgusting people hiding behind screens.

They remind me of holocaust deniers who say it wasn't 6 million/didn't happen, but simultaneously think it was both a good thing and should have been more.

 

[antipodean]

The government announced they will now declassify all documents relating to this era, something which no Argentine government to date has done. Seems this act has caused discomfort in some sectors who seek to politicize memory of the victims of atrocities and violence committed during this era by denying the right to memory to some.

Anyway here is the official video released by the government yesterday which promotes a more inclusive memory of all victims, not just one side or those who suffered at the hands of one kind of leadership. Interesting to note that while condemning the executions and forced disappearances committed by the military of the day, they also acknowledge and condemn the forced disappearances committed by Juan Perón and Isabel Perón in the years prior, as well as the murders and violence committed by left wing terror groups.
There is also a detailed explainer around their take on the 30.000 number and and an excerpt from the interview with ex-Montonero Luis Labraña. (A number which if 30000 or 3000 doesn’t change the fact that serious crimes against humanity were committed).
It makes for an interesting shift in Argentine official dialogue by a democratically elected government.

 

[FrankPintor]

I don't need a calendar reminder because every year, and with increasing loudness the Mileistas engage in dictatorship apologia this time of the month/year.

Take a look at Twitter: Trending in Argentina "It wasn't 30,000" - disgusting people hiding behind screens.

They remind me of holocaust deniers who say it wasn't 6 million/didn't happen, but simultaneously think it was both a good thing and should have been more.

Even worse, the perpetrators went to extreme lengths to disappear the evidence, and the victims, and then claim that it couldn't possibly have been so many.

As we discussed this time last year, the 30,000 figure wasn't actually picked out of the air, no matter how many trolls want to flood the zone, there are serious indications that it may very well have been that many.

Is Milei serious about the declassification of records kept at the intelligence agency SIDE? Hasn't he already fired everyone at the National Archives who might curate them? From the BA Times "The Archivo Nacional de la Memoria is now run by Natalia Oriolo, an expert in cryptocurrencies", that pretty much says it all: just more trolling.

 

[QuilmesSlo]

I think it is fine to question these figures in a serious manner.

 

[Sojourner]

I don't need a calendar reminder because every year, and with increasing loudness the Mileistas engage in dictatorship apologia this time of the month/year.

We can discount or magnify the numbers on either side of the "dirty war" and stipulate the horror of the military repression - it went beyond comprehension.

What we can not stipulate, however, are the murders and terrors committed by the revolutionaries on the Argentine populace through the 60's and 70's, and that is simply because, as the video presents, we don't know them. They are not erased from history, but the memory blurred. I think a curious disconnect occurs where we feel responsible for what "our" military does and demand accounting, but, hey, revolutionaries gotta revolt. No need to look much further.

The revolution happened (my wife lived through it) and it was as widespread as described in the video and the revolutionaries did what they do - playground bombings and all. Recognizing that takes nothing away from the victims of the military and gives a better understanding of a particularly ugly passage in Argentine history. The video was just a start. I would like to know more.
.

 

[cortazar]

Anyone who wants to live in an intellectually free society should support the ability to question narratives, present alternative evidence, and freely express their personal experiences and opinions. In this case, obviously I mean efforts to get an honest account of the dirty war and express feelings of grievance. I also support anyone's ability to openly express positive opinions about either position of a conflict, including admiration and justification of vilified groups.

However, don't forget the source of video posted above, which was produced by people with ideological, political, and economic interests in portraying all things "left" as evil counterforces of good society. This is the same government that recently expressed its very broad interpretation of concepts like "sedition" and "crimes against the republic."

I consider the corrosion of meaning an attack on intellectual thought. The abolition of nuance presents downstream risks to discourse about present and past, including:

• A culture that justifies abuses of the past as necessary responses to greater evil
• A culture that encourages a fear of self-expression and critique.

Notice how many historical situations these apply to! Memory is important.