The Mother of the Plaza de Mayo

Initially, the government faced little public opposition, but this started to change as evidence of human rights violations emerged. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo began calling attention to the plight of the desparecidos (disappeared ones). As mothers of one of the disappeared, these women began to gather at the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, in front of the presidential palace. They met (and continue to meet) every Thursday afternoon at three-thirty in the afternoon and march around the plaza. The mothers struggle to find out what has happened to their children, and today are also fighting to discover what had happened to their lost grandchildren. The mothers (madres) are symbolized by a white handkerchief worn on their heads with the names of their children and the date they were abducted.

The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

The Mother’s march every Thursday at 3:30 P.M. at the Plaza de Mayo

The white handkerchief which symbolizes the struggle of the madres. Each handkerchief has written on it the name of their children who disappeared as well as the date of their disappearance.