Fernández: “There were not two demons, but State terrorism that took thousands of lives”
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President Alberto Fernández called for “a better Justice”, since “sometimes it becomes corporatized”, as he considered, when honoring the 12 people kidnapped by the last civic-military dictatorship between December 8 and 10, 1977 in the Church of the Holy Cross, in the City of Buenos Aires, among them the founders of Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and two French nuns.
“Here we are standing, demanding that in Argentina there is Justice, a better Justice, and we are going to continue fighting for that,” said Fernández, and considered that “sometimes it becomes corporatized and it is necessary to ask for truth and justice, that it is what judges must guarantee “.
After stating that “today what is central is memory,” the head of state advocated “keeping up the demand to search for truth and justice” and said: “I was always standing in the same place, claiming the same thing” .
At the head of the tribute, the president noted that the Church of Santa Cruz “witnessed the first meetings of the Mothers, who only wanted to know the fate of their children’s lives and ended up dead, disappeared, but are very much alive in memory. all of us, in hearts and souls. “
The president highlighted “the struggles that they undertook, and of all those who are not, those who suffered state terrorism during those years,” and pointed to “those who only speak of remembering the victims of terrorism,” to whom he emphasized that “There were not two demons here, there was State terrorism that took thousands of lives.”
“It was both the pain and those who suffered a dead or disappeared brother, those who suffered exile to survive, and those who internally (suffered) with jails and torture,” the President remarked.
Regarding the request of some present for the release of Milagro Sala, he explained: “I will always be working for those who are unjustly imprisoned; the institutional system does not place the fate of all of them in my hands, but that does not remove the responsibility of ask for them “. And he added: “I speak with Milagro and I know what happens.”
After highlighting that “this is a tribute that Argentina owes to each victim of State terrorism,” in closing Fernández invited everyone to attend the event that will be held in Plaza de Mayo next Friday “to celebrate together the Day of Democracy and Human Rights “.
Fernández spoke about Justice one day after the minister of the area, Martín Soria, met with the ministers of the Supreme Court and expressed his “concern about the institutional gravity to which the Argentine Justice has reached in the last five years “.
Soria also asked the court to establish “maximum terms” for its rulings and particularly expressed to the ministers his concern about the operation of the so-called “judicial table” that “illegally influenced the administration of Justice” during the government of Mauricio Macri a through “pressure” on magistrates.
“Here we are standing, demanding that in Argentina there is Justice, a better Justice, and we are going to continue fighting for that”Alberto Fernandez
Before the president’s words, Vice President Cristina Kirchner had written on her Twitter account: “Relatives and companions of the 12 of the Church of the Holy Cross … My heart with you, always.”
Relatives and companions of the 12 of the Church of the Holy Cross … My heart with you, always.
– Cristina Kirchner (@CFKArgentina) December 8, 2021
Along with the Head of State were the Interior Ministers, Eduardo “Wado” de Pedro; of Defense, Jorge Taiana; and of Culture, Tristán Bauer; the Secretary of Human Rights Horacio Pietragalla; National Senator Oscar Parrilli; the national deputies Eduardo Valdés and Leandro Santoro, and the Treasury Attorney, Carlos Zannini.
Previously, at the event, a video of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo was shown with testimonies from several of them about the ideals of their children’s generation, recorded with the collaboration of the Ministry of Culture of the Nation. In addition, the historical reference of Mothers Founder Line Taty Almeida spoke.
There were also the head of Relatives of the Disappeared and Detained for Political Reasons, Angela “Lita” Paolín de Boitano and Alba Lanzillotto, from the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, and the Mother of Plaza de Mayo Enriqueta Maroni, among other representatives of organizations defending the human rights, who read a document.
In addition, they were distinguished for “their trajectory of struggle and promotion of human rights” Milagro Sala, who participated virtually from Jujuy; Susana Reyes, Franco Mársico and Esteban Mango.
De Pedro expressed the idea of trying “to keep the flame of memory, truth and justice alive” and added: “Once again I want to thank all the relatives, the commission, all the human rights organizations, who continue with the trials, working, militant, lighting the flame of memory in our society “.
For De Pedro, “we must work hard against hate speech” and “deniers” and emphasized “military, remember, solidify this democracy 38 years” after the return of that political system, “20 years of 19 and 20 December “, because” we must continue working for a society that is much more just, more supportive, with a base of Never Again with memory, truth and justice. “
The activity was carried out on the corner of the United States and Urquiza, in front of the Solar de la Memoria de la Iglesia de la Santa Cruz, under the slogan “We tread the streets again to recover the Equal, Free and Sovereign Homeland for which our and our 30,000. Memory, Truth and Justice “, reported the organizers of the meeting.
The “12” were relatives of people disappeared by the civic-military dictatorship and human rights activists who met in that parish in the San Cristóbal neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
Those victims were marked and handed over by the infiltrated repressor Alfredo Astiz, who used the alias “Gustavo Niño” and posed as the brother of a disappeared person.
Among those kidnapped were the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo Azucena Villaflor de De Vincenti, Esther Ballestrino de Careaga and María Eugenia Ponce de Bianco and the French nuns Alice Domon and Léonie Duquet.
