The Cervantes Institute in Madrid pays tribute to the 307 Spaniards who disappeared during the Argentine dictatorship

The Diplomat The Cervantes Institute held a tribute this Thursday, April 16, to the 307 Spaniards who disappeared during the Argentine dictatorship of 1976-1983. In addition to the victims' families, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, attended. The tribute was presented at the Cervantes Institute headquarters in Madrid by presenter Xabier Fortes and included welcoming remarks from the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, who recalled the moment he experienced the coup d'état in Argentina. “The dialogue of memory was radical, and my commitment to Federico García Lorca was also my commitment to all the victims in Argentina, whom we feel as if they were our own,” he stated. For his part, José Manuel Albares recalled that even today “many families are still waiting for answers, and for the sake of memory itself and the most basic humanity, it is essential to continue the search.” He reiterated the Spanish government’s “commitment” to defending human rights and promoting international support for the victims. “We have a permanent obligation to protect fundamental rights and guarantee democratic coexistence so that atrocities like this are never repeated,” he added. On March 24, the government approved an institutional declaration on the occasion of the National Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice in the Argentine Republic, in homage to the victims of the military dictatorship and, in particular, to the 307 Spanish citizens who disappeared or were murdered during that period. The initiative was promoted by the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, in collaboration with the Ministries of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, and Foreign Affairs. “These are the values that guide our foreign policy, and that is why we lead an internationally committed response that is always peaceful and based on dialogue, a position founded on the cessation of violence and full respect for the Charter of the United Nations. In any scenario and before anyone, no matter how powerful they may be,” Albares added. During the event, the names of the 307 Spanish citizens who disappeared during the period of the Argentine dictatorship, imposed in 1976 by the Armed Forces led by Jorge Rafael Videla, were projected on a screen. A Declaration of Recognition and Reparation was also presented to the Commission of Spaniards Disappeared in Argentina by Ángel Víctor Torres. “Videla’s bloody dictatorship cut short the lives of women and men who were loyal to democracy, and that was their only crime. In Argentina, a well-oiled machine of state terror was set in motion, and it was an act of utter cowardice,” recalled Torres, who affirmed that one of the “most rewarding” tasks of her position is being able to return loved ones to their families. “Calling them and saying that we have finally found their relatives after many years, holding back the emotion in our throats, is incomparable: justice and reparation are true democratic medicine,” he added. Tomás Labrador, a member of the H.I.J.O.S. Rosario organization, who lost several family members to the Argentine dictatorship, also participated in this tribute. “One lesson this has taught us is that we have always sought justice, never revenge, and also that the perpetrators cannot think they have impunity,” he warned. There was also a debate between the Human Rights Prosecutor, Dolores Delgado; The founder of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, Luis Fondebrider, and Lila Parrondo, from the Network for the Right to Identity association, were present. During the meeting, Fondebrider reported that, to date, 1,600 bodies have been located, of which 800 have been returned to their families. In the case of the Spanish, of the 307 disappeared, 32 bodies have been identified and located by their families, but more than 270 remain missing. For his part, actor Juan Diego Botto (whose father disappeared during the Argentine dictatorship) championed remembrance, because “every day without progress is ground lost.” “Sometimes engaging in this struggle is uncomfortable, but we must educate our children and all generations about the horror of it all,” he warned.

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