GNV News, March 27, 2026

On March 24, 2026, Argentina marked the 50th anniversary of the coup that led to the rise of the military dictatorship under Jorge Rafael Videla. Tens of thousands of people gathered around Plaza de Mayo, the famous square in Buenos Aires, and held demonstrations under the slogan “Never Again.” Assemblies were held not only in the capital but across the country, and the total scale reached hundreds of thousands of participants.

Argentina has a history of being ruled by a military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983. Under the repression of the pro-democracy movement known as the “Dirty War,” the regime detained, tortured, and killed citizens it regarded as dissidents, and even abducted infants. Around 30,000 people, including leftist guerrillas, labor activists, students, journalists, and lawyers, disappeared. Because business elites and multinational corporations were also involved in the authorities’ inhumane acts, the regime is referred to as a civil–military dictatorship.

Many people are still fighting today to achieve justice for these state crimes. For example, the “Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo” are known as an organization of women searching for their abducted children. But their activities are now under threat. The current government of Javier Milei in Argentina is known as a far-right administration and tends to downplay the actions of the past military dictatorship. According to reports, there are moves to cut off public funding for such activities and to consider granting amnesty to military personnel who committed inhumane acts.

Learn more about politics in Latin America → “Challenges Facing Politics and Society in Latin America”

Learn more about transitional justice, the process of recovering from human rights violations caused by conflict and other abuses → “The Course of Justice After Conflict: Nepal”

Since 1978, the “Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo” have held a 30-minute march every Thursday in the Plaza de Mayo: 2014 (Photo: Alessandro Grussu / Flickr [CC BY-NC-SA 2.0])