The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo have managed to identify “grandson 138” who disappeared during the Argentine military dictatorship. The Grandmothers continue the search for children illegally appropriated between 1976 and 1983, facing the historical denialism of the country’s president, Javier Milei.
“We close the year with the happiness of a new meeting: welcome grandson 138. The truth always comes to light,” said this Friday the president of the human rights organization, Estela de Carlotto, at a press conference at Espacio Memoria. and Human Rights—former Navy Mechanics School (ESMA), one of the largest centers for illegal detention and torture during the dictatorship.
“Grandson 138” learned this Thursday that he was born in December 1976 and is the son of Marta Enriqueta Pourtalé and Juan Carlos Villamayor, a missing couple who were active in the Montoneros guerrilla organization. On December 10, 1976, they were kidnapped from their home in Buenos Aires, in an operation carried out by people dressed in civilian clothes, as explained by the association.
Abuelas estimates that Pourtalé was eight and a half months pregnant at that time, so the birth of “grandson 138” took place at ESMA, to later “steal her son and replace her identity.”
“The couple was seen in the ESMA clandestine detention center, where the birth of grandson 138 may have occurred. To date, more than 30 births have been recorded in this Clandestine Center. His parents were planning to name the baby they were expecting Soledad or Manuel,” De Carlotto said.
Marta Pourtalé was born on May 5, 1946 in Azul, province of Buenos Aires, and Juan Carlos Villamayor was born on April 28, 1955 and was a native of Buenos Aires, she says. elDiarioAR. Marta was older than Juan Carlos and when they met she already had a son, Diego Antonio, with a previous partner. When Juan Carlos turned 21, he gave Diego his last name. They called her “La Negra” or “María” and they also knew him as “Ricardo” or “El Negro”.
The newly found ‘grandson’ assures that “he did not expect to receive this news”, that he is “moved” and that he has already begun to think about his new family to find a way to “make them feel better.” He is now a lawyer, as is his brother Diego, who lives in Spain and has already contacted him, sending him a thank-you audio to welcome him.
Carlotto, 94, took advantage of his speech to criticize the adjustment of the State carried out by Javier Milei’s government. The representative of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Línea Fundadora accused the Executive of “denying” human rights violations during the dictatorship.
“This restitution is, once again, an example of the consequences of state terrorism in the present and, also, of the need to give centrality to human rights policies so that crimes against humanity cease,” said Carlotto.
“The Human Rights Secretariat has accompanied our fight in search of the answers that the perpetrators have never wanted to give us. “This State agency is going through one of the most brutal adjustments with the reduction of its personnel based on a dismantling plan,” said Carlotto.
“From Abuelas we ask that the work of the National Human Rights Secretariat be sustained, an essential tool for the defense of these fundamental rights,” he asked. The institution assures that it will continue working to find the 300 missing grandchildren.
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