On Thursday we found this little park near el cementario de Recoleta, where Evita (amongst others) now resides. We thought the park had something to do with her legacy. Rather, it contains cartoons about those who were detained and disappeared by the military junta in the 1970s and 80s. I'm not sure why it rings such a bell with me, but I wanted to post these up. Almost every country down here, but notably Argentina and Chile, has this dirty stain in its recent history, and if you go onto Wikipedia and search detained disappeared you will see just how many countries in the world operated this as a policy of state terrorism. You will also notice Northern Ireland on this list (though obviously a little different). Not all the boards are about family members who were simply never seen again; where a mother was pregnant, often her child, when born, was given away to childless couples on the side of the junta. Some of the boards are cousins, aunts, uncles, trying to reconnect with people, now in their 30s, who may not know their real parents are not who they think.
For those interested, the film La Historia Oficial is an excellent telling of the aftermath of the Dirty War, and how some people can wilfully, unconsciously, turn a blind eye to the cruelty taking place on their doorstep.
No comments:
Post a Comment