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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 1982)
Portland Observer, May 6 1962 Page 3 The mothers of Plaza de Mayo by Joaquin Rivery Granma Around the obelisk in the center o f the Plaza de Mayo, a large group o f women dressed in mourning be gins to walk slowly. In a silent pro cession, they pass by, forming a cir cle, holding high their grief like a banner, racked by the torture o f un certainty, o f doubt, o f not knowing what has happened to their sons and daughters, o f not knowing whether they are dead or alive. A ll the world knows these women as the Mothers o f the Plaza de Mayo, foi they have been meeting there every Thursday afternoon for five years, defying the most incle ment weather, in a permanent dem onstration o f grief and protest. The coup d’etat o f 1976 unleashed on countless Argentine women— mothers, wives, sisters, daughters— (he tragedy o f not knowing the fate o f their ioved one, who disappeared at all hours o f the day or night, as groups o f armed men in plain clothes, driving vehicles with radio equipment (similar to that used by the security forces) and without number plates, detained people in the street, at work, at home, any where. Once those people had been detained nothing else was ever known o f them. They are the "d is appeared.” The Plaza de Mayo, in the center o f Buenos Aires, used to be a focal point for bereaved women in search o f inform ation. They would present themselves individually at the Pink House, the seat o f govern ment. which faces onto the square, to request information on (hose who had been arrested. They would also go to other offices nearby. They would sit down and rest on the benches in the square. Inevitably, they were united by the struggle and the suffering they had in common, and early in 1977 a group o f 12 women began to work together and seek information jo in t ly —in form ation which they have still not received. The movement grew rapidly and the government tried to expel the women from the square when they began (heir silent marches around the obelisk. The police drove them obI o f the square and called them madwomen. But their organization kept growing, until it became an in stitution which had the support o f political parties and other organiza tions devoted to the defense o f hu man rights, both inside and outside Argentina. No one knows how long the movement o f the Mothers o f the Plaza de Mayo will last. One of their founders, Azucena de Vicenti, was arrested and her body appeared later on the street. Erika de Galetti, a leader o f the Mothers, told the magazine of the Latin American As sociation for Human Rights that their children would carry on the struggle if necessary, as long as the government refused them an ans wer. "T h is government,” she said, "w ill never give us an answer. Every day the military repeat that they will not, for any reason, accept any in vestigation into their actions.” In the search for their missing rel atives, these women have resorted to all the courses of action available to them by law. They have requested individual and collective writs o f habeas corpus; they have sent letters to agencies all over the world, in cluding the United Nations; they have visited the Pink House, the M inistry o f the Interior; they have been everywhere and done every thing. They have drawn up dossiers on 1600 cases o f disappearance. These are legal cases. But, as Erika de Gal- etti said, "W e think the number o f the disappeared is closer to 30,000. There arc many people who have not denounced a missing relative for fear o f the repercussions or because they live in distant villages and don't know what steps to take, or even that they can take steps. Besides this, there are cases o f entire fam ilies who have disappeared, cases where there’s nobody left to make a request for inform ation." Erika de G aletti points out that the disappearance of a person is not a single crime, but several. " I t de prives us o f what you could call (he rights to the corpse. A disappeared person is in a lim bo between the reality o f life and the unreality o f death. They arc not men, they arc ghosts. I t ’ s a terrible tragedy. Grandparents have to take on the role o f parents, couples who no longer know if they’re still a couple, children who don’ t know if they’ re orphans or no,.” The repression after the 1976 coup was so harsh that the m ilitary regime has stated repeatedly that it is not willing to permit any investi gation into the events immediately following the coup. They have even managed to introduce a clause into the future statute on political parties in which investigation into this problem in the future is expressly forbidden. Nonetheless, pressure inside A r gentina and from international soli darity has been so great that in late March an o fficial statement was is sued to the effect that information would be given in private to relatives —no, p u b licly—and with the p ro viso that in many cases it was now impossible to do anything. Not long afterwards, a group o f human rights organizations (the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights, the Center for Legal and So cial Studies, the Committee o f Rela tives o f P olitical Detainees and Missing Persons, the Justice and Peace Service, the Mothers o f the Plaza de Mayo and the Argentine League for the Rights o f Man) made public the name o f a general, Eze- quicl Verplaetsen, who had played a direct par, in the arrest o f Georgina Simmerman, and charged that the army High Command had not au thorized the general to make any statement on this matter when he Free Y o u rs e lf fro m h o u s e h o ld c h o re s Get the Velvet Touch We are a professional maid service, fully bonded and specializing in cleaning, laundry and cooking on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis. 2201 N. K illin g sw o rth *283-0090 was summoned by a judge to clarify the case. A particularly distressing aspect o f the tragedy is the disappearance o f a large number o f children. Many women were arrested together with their children, or during pregnancy, when the repression was at its height, and the children were not re leased. There are 89 fully document ed cases o f infants who disappeared along with their mothers or were born in prison. This has led to the birth o f a movement, more or less parallel with the Mothers, called the Association of Grandmothers o f the Plaza de Mayo. Though the groups are very sim ilar, the latter is the more moving, since the victims are innocent children. The government has asserted that the children were handed back to their grandparents, other relatives or “ appropriate” in stitutions, but they have not ap peared . The tragedy o f the disappeared is the crudest human drama in Argen tina today. But there are few hopes that the problem w ill be resolved, in the near future. While it is unre solved, however, the Mothers and Grandmothers o f the Plaza de Mayo, though torn by grief and un certainty, continue their struggle, marching behind the slogan that has now become known worldwide: "In the name of freedom, in the name of life , in the name o f peace, we w ill find them!” This week's Street Beet question is, "D o you think that voting is im portan»?"- Street Beat Saundra Evans, House mom— Yes. I figure one more vote would help. I am a citizen. People that don’ t vote are stupid. They could change things if they voted.” Stefan Jones, student—"Yes. Ex press your feelings about every thing. It does a little good i f it doesn't do a whole lot. Every little bit helps.” Carolyn Carpenter, homemaker — "Y e s. 1 want to be involved in w hat’ s happening in my commu nity. I want to know what’ s going on and make choices instead o f hav ing someone else make choices for me. Touring the sun spots The fourth annual Solar Homes Tours is scheduled for Sunday, May 16, from 1-5 p.m. This self-guided tour is sponsored by the OMSI En ergy Center and the Columbia Solar Energy Association, and offers six d iffe re n t tour routes to choose from, West Portland, Tigard/Lake Oswego, Oregon C ity, H illsboro, Greenhouses/Sunspaces, and Gre- sham/Sandy. Cost is $5 per car load and most tours include passive and active solar home designs, solar hot water systems, greenhouses and sun- spaces. Owners, designers, and/or installers will be on hand at each of the homes to answer any questions you may have about design, installa tion, or cost. Only low-cost, high p e rfo rm a n ce , O re g o n -su ita b le homes were chosen for the tours. Tickets for the pubic tours. May 16, are available at OMSI (222- 2828), The OSU Energy Extcntion Service in H illsb o ro (648-8632), Hillsboro Payless Drug Store (640- 2795), Sunworks (245-5650), Energy Saving Center (248-4636) and Ur- ba.isun (620-5012). For more in fo r mation, call Bob Glascock at OMSI, 222-2828, Ex,. 87 or evenings call Bill Burgnoli at 668-7338. Bernard Rickman, out o f work— “ Yes. I feel that it is about the only way at all that I get a say in what is going on. I f I d on ’ t vote, I can’ t complain.” Bobbie Smith, telephone operator— “ Yes. I t ’s my right. I f people don’t vote and things don’t go their way they want they should keep their mouths shut.” by Harris Lavon McRae and Richard Brown R obert H a tto n , unem ployed— “ I ’ m a citizen. I vote for my coun try —it keeps it straight, and helps keep the wrong person from getting into office.” Fantastic Furniture Sale at Discount Prices at Lloyd's Interiors Actnom Labor relations subject of seminar "Employer-Employee Relation:” w ill be the subject o f a small busi ness management seminar Thurs day, May 13, at 7 am, in the Town and Gown Room on the Mt. Hood Com m unity College Gresham campus. The seminar, sponsored by the college and the Gresham Area Chamber o f Commerce, will discuss the employment process, the pro ductive employee, and the termina tion o f employment. "Since a business is only as good as its employees, it is important for the business owner or manager to know how to hire, evaluate, and ter minate employees,’ ’ said Dave Polito, MHCC small business pro gram instructor. The seminar leader w ill be Michele Cotner, compensation and benefits manager for the First Inter state Bank o f Oregon. She is a grad uate o f the University o f Washing ton school o f business administra tion and graduate school o f public affairs. Ms. Corner’ s experience al so includes employee relations in the public sector as well as consulting work. This seminar is one o f a scries de signed lor the owners and managers o f small businesses. The June 9 seminar topic w ill be computers in small businesses. For further information or to reg ister for the small business manage ment seminar, contact the M t. Hood C om m unity College May- wood Park Center at 256-3430 or the Gresham Area Chamber o f Commerce at 665-1131. Additional atn n u « u fi and bada, $14 per set. A d ditio nal $10 o f f on purchase o f tw o chairs when you present this ad. The original G old Medal director’ s chair, w ith the price that made it famous and the qualities that made it a star, is back. By popular demand. In natural varnish or white enameled hardwoods, w ith 16 colors o f canvas seats and backs. Take one: $39 Take two: $69 Ready? A ction! ^Shest Q LLOYD'S INTERIORS 1714 Northeast Broadway, Portland, Oregon 97232. 284-1185. 5°'o discount fo r cash.