Madres de Plaza de Mayo

An Argentine human-rights organization founded in 1977 by mothers seeking information about children forcibly disappeared during the 1976–1983 military dictatorship.

Dirty War: The period of state repression and political violence in Argentina, especially under military rule from 1976 to 1983. The disappearances that prompted the mothers’ organizing occurred during this campaign of state terror.
Thursday march of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo: A weekly demonstration in which members walk around the May Pyramid in Buenos Aires’s Plaza de Mayo. The repeated march kept demands for the disappeared visible despite censorship and intimidation.
Hebe de Bonafini: An Argentine human-rights activist who led the Association of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo for decades. Her leadership made her one of the organization’s most prominent and controversial public figures.
National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons: An Argentine commission established in 1983 to investigate disappearances during the military dictatorship. The mothers’ persistent demands formed part of the pressure for official investigation.
Argentine coup d'état of 1976: The military coup that overthrew Isabel Perón and began Argentina’s last dictatorship. The new regime created the conditions in which thousands of people were abducted and disappeared.
White headscarf: A white cloth covering worn by the Madres de Plaza de Mayo as a sign of identity and remembrance. The headscarves made the demonstrators recognizable and linked their protest to motherhood.
Esther Ballestrino: A Paraguayan-born activist and founding member of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo who was disappeared in 1977. Her organizing helped establish the group before she was abducted by the dictatorship.
Nunca Más: The 1984 report of Argentina’s National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons, documenting state repression and disappearances. It recorded evidence central to the public reckoning the mothers had demanded.
Forced disappearance: The secret abduction or detention of a person by state agents, followed by denial or concealment of their fate. The mothers organized around a shared demand for answers about people taken by state forces.
May Pyramid: A monument in Plaza de Mayo commemorating Argentina’s May Revolution of 1810. The mothers’ weekly marches circle this monument.

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