- Title: ARGENTINA: COMMEMORATIONS MARK 25TH ANNIVERSAY OF 1976 COUP.
- Date: 25th March 2001
- Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (MARCH 24, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: VIEW OF CONGRESSIONAL BUILDING WHERE MARCH BEGAN 0.06 2. LV/GV/MV: VARIOUS OF MARCHERS/ DRUMMERS (5 SHOTS) 0.27 3. MV/CU/GV: VARIOUS OF "MOTHERS OF THE PLAZA DE MAYO"/ MOTHER WEEPING/ VIEW OF MARCHERS (3 SHOTS) 0.45 4. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINE NOBEL LAUREATE, ADOLFO PEREZ ESQUIVEL, SAYING: "Enough of the oppression, which at first was terrorism of the state, and, currently, is economic terrorism." 0.53 5. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GRANDMOTHER OF THE PLAZA DE MAYO, MEMBER, ROSA ROISEMBLIT, SAYING: "The most important thing is to remember, because a people who forgets runs the risk of having things repeat themselves." 1.03 6. GV/MV/CU: VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS ARRIVING AT THE 'PLAZA DE MAYO'/ VIEW OF POSTERS BEARING PHOTOGRAPHS OF DISAPPEARED (4 SHOTS) 1.27 7. LAS/MV: POLICE HELICOPTER FLYING OVER GATHERING/ VARIOUS OF MARCHERS (2 SHOTS) 1.37 8. MV: MOTHERS OF THE PLAZA DE MAYO GROUP ARRIVING 1.43 9. MV: (SOUNDBITE)(Spanish) MOTHER OF PLAZA DE MAYO CO-FOUNDER, TATI ALMEIDA, SAYING: "We the mothers, the madwomen of the Plaza de Mayo have demonstrated that they have not defeated us. We will continue demanding: memory, truth, justice and, of course, always present our 30,000 detained/disappeared." 1.58 10. MV: VARIOUS OF CELEBRATIONS 2.05 11. MV: VARIOUS OF WOMAN TRANSLATING INTO SIGN LANGUAGE MESSAGE BEING RECEIVED VIA TELEPHONE FROM MEXICO'S ZAPATISTA REBEL LEADER, SUBCOMMANDER MARCOS. 2.10 12. GV/MV/MV/PAN: VARIOUS OF MOTHERS OF DISAPPEARED AND MEMBERS OF LABOUR MOVEMENTS - EVENTS ORGANISERS ON STAGE (4 SHOTS) 2.29 13. GV/PAN: VIEW OF CELEBRATIONS ACROSS FROM PRESIDENTIAL MANSION AT PLAZA DE MAYO 2.37 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 9th April 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
- Country: Argentina
- Reuters ID: LVAAWO0O2AYZWGWIQLKV1W1S0V6E
- Story Text: Trade unions, civil rights groups and bereaved
relatives of thousands who died, or disappeared, under
military rule have marched in Argentina's capital to remember
the 1976 coup that plunged the country into seven years of
terror and repression.
On the 25th anniversary of the military coup that
overthrew Isabel Peron -- the third wife of the revered former
President Juan Peron -- marchers rallied around the capital's
Plaza de Mayo on Saturday (March 24), to pay their respects to
the estimated 15,000 to 30,000 people who were killed, or
disappeared, during the junta's reign.
The maternal sentinels -- a group called the Mothers and
Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo -- are now seen as an emblem
of protest against the illegal imprisonment, torture and
murder that characterised what is known in Argentina as the
"Dirty War."
"Enough of the oppression, which at first was terrorism of
the state, and, currently, is economic terrorism," said
Argentine Nobel peace laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel,
referring to the economic turmoil the South American nation is
currently living.
Exhibits, concerts and demonstrations were staged on
Friday
(March 23) and Saturday throughout Buenos Aires in a memorial
under the slogan "state terrorism -- never again."
Grandmother of the Plaza de Mayo association member, Rosa
Roisemblit said "The most important thing is to remember,
because a people who forgets runs the risk of having things
repeat themselves," she said.
Many of those who marched said they believed that more
than remembrance is needed to avoid a repetition of the past
and that those responsible should be held to account.
"We the mothers, the madwomen of the Plaza de Mayo have
demonstrated that they have not defeated us. We will continue
demanding: memory, truth, justice and, of course, always
present our 30,000 detained/disappeared," said Mothers of the
Plaza de Mayo co-founder, Tati Almeida.
President Fernando de la Rua pledged on Saturday that
Argentina's bloody past would not be repeated.
Argentina's ruling junta, facing economic catastrophe,
finally handed over power to a democratically elected
government in 1983 after the country was defeated by Britain
in a brief but bloody conflict over the Falkland Islands.
The South American nation convicted a number of
high-ranking military officials after the dictatorship
crumbled, but they were later pardoned. Some are now under
house arrest, but hundreds of officials were given legal
protection by broad amnesty laws.
Human rights organisations and victims of the violence
still call regularly for new trials and a judge recently ruled
that immunity laws should be overturned in one case. But
whether other such decisions will follow is unclear.
(cr/lh)
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