Goodbye Hebe Bonafini, leader of the Plaza de Mayo Mothers who demanded the truth about the disappeared. Three days of mourning in Argentina

He lost two sons and his young daughter-in-law, overwhelmed by tragedy disappear Argentines, and he devoted his whole life with the pañuelo, the inseparable white handkerchief, on his head to demand justice and truth by challenging the Argentine military dictatorship at the turn of the 1980s. Hebe Bonafinithe iconic leader of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo at the age of 93 in La Plata, leaving the world of human rights in mourning and a deep emptiness, with the “extremely sad” Casa Rosada she called on behalf of the President’s government Alberto Fernandez, Three days of mourning. And a wave of sentiments hit the social networks: not only the children, mothers and grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo but also many Argentines put up a memorial, a tribute and a phrase to remember the hippie. In the first half of October, Hebe was hospitalized for three days at the Italian La Plata Hospital for examinations that did not highlight specific diseases, but then her ailments returned and forced her to return to the clinic.

Strong and combative, she faced the years of dictatorship (1976-1983) i army In power and then, in democracy, governments, not those Ricardo Alfonsinbut that Carlos MenemWho tried to pardon the heads of the councils of the armed forces and, above all, the general Jorge Rafael Videla. Created his extreme fight sometime Frictions Even within the human rights movements, to the point where mothers who had a more moderate stance created another group called Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo line – Fundadora.

Nevertheless, Hebe continued to be an internationally known hero, claiming “truth and justice” and continuing to take to the Plaza de Mayo every Thursday to take part in the ‘RondaLet us recall how the Argentine dictatorship caused many thousands of elect (“symbolically 30,000”), including two of his sons, Jorge Omar and Raul Alfredo. Promoter of many initiatives, including one University of human rights, to celebrate his 94th birthday on December 4th.

talking with I forgetVera Garrache, the most famous of the Plaza de Mayo mothers of Italian descent, said that “while Argentines are now attracted by the opening of the World Cup, we mourn a companion of many battles who died.” He added, “We shared with her the pain of lost children, the struggle for justice, and our struggle to spread the importance of memory among people.” “We have had different positions at times, it is true – he concluded – but we have taken a common path of social justice and for the younger generations to take up the baton from us in the battle for human rights.”