During Argentina's brutal military dictatorship (1976-1983), state security forces abducted citizens at will for interrogation and torture. More than 30,000 of those who vanished into
centros de detención (detention centers) scattered throughout the county were never seen again.
After the military junta's disastrous war with Britain over the Falkland Islands (or Islas Malvinas, according to Argentina), widespread popular discontent ultimately forced the leaders from power and democracy was restored and many prisoners were freed. But for thousands of Argentine families, the terror and anguish has lived on because they were unable to find out what had happened to their missing loved ones. In some cases, records were ill-kept; in others, those in power destroyed the records proving their crimes against the citizenry.
What we do know is truly horrifying. Besides the now familiar techniques of torture like waterboarding and electrical shocks, Argentina's rulers developed new cruelties. They stole the babies of "radical terrorist" mothers born during their incarceration, gave or sold them to powerful families of the economic and military elite, and murdered the mothers.
They disposed of prisoners tortured to death by dumping the bodies from helicopters and airplanes over the Rio de la Plata, the broad estuary flowing past Buenos Aires into the Atlantic Ocean, to ensure that the bodies would disappear at sea. In some cases, they didn't even wait for their victims to die, flinging the still living to certain death below. Some of those were pregnant women and nuns, an especially heinous act in a country whose constitution, in its second sentence, states "The Federal Government supports the Roman Catholic Apostolic religion."
The Church and the State in those days had a mixed relationship. Some Catholic leaders were openly supportive of the dictatorship, believing it was a bulwark against the godless communists they feared might take over the country. Some even went so far as to cooperate with the authorities, informing on suspects and in the case of at least one priest, participating in the kidnappings, torture and murders.
Some bishops and priests were outspoken critics of the regime's violations of human rights during the "Dirty War" and a few even joined in with radicals (a small minority exaggerated to provide rationale for the coup d'etat) in perpetrating their own violent response. All in all, it was a confusing time within the Catholic church in Argentina and the passage of time has done little to clear the muddy waters.
Pope Francis is Argentine born and rose through the ranks to become head of the Jesuits in Argentina during the dictadura (dictatorship). After his election to the papacy, there was a claim that he collaborated with the military junta but it collapsed fairly quickly and he later forgave his accuser.
Now, Francis has agreed to open the files of the Vatican regarding those who were arrested and disappeared. As Maral Shafafy writes in The Bubble,
It is believed that many people turned to the Church and reported disappearances as a last resort for help throughout the dictatorship. These were all compiled in reports and it is now hoped will hold the key to answers as to the fate of many.
With the Fernandez-Kirchner government's fact-finding truth commissions, the painstaking investigations of the
Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo group, and now this aid from the Vatican, the families and friends of Argentina's
desaparecidos may finally get answers about their fates.
7:35 AM PT: You might be interested in this bit of Argentine trivia: although it isn't unusual to still see old Ford Falcon cars continuing to putter down the street, one never sees a green Falcon.
Dark green Falcons were the cars used by state security to arrest and "disappear" people. Seeing one pull up in front of a house caused instant terror to everyone on the block and even today the sight of one would strike fear into those who lived through those evil times.
Any green Falcon that later ended up in private hands was immediately repainted to a different color. If someone was foolish enough to paint one green now, the car would probably be torched in short order. The terrors of the dictatorship are very much remembered and resented here still.