Truth and Justice Day: March 24
Truth and Justice Day is a public holiday in Argentina.
In Argentina, March 24 is celebrated as National Memorial Day for Truth and Justice. This day was established to commemorate the victims of the National Reorganization Process that started in 1976 with a coup. This military dictatorship, known in Argentina as the Última Dictadura, or Last Dictatorship, lasted until 1983.
History of Truth and Justice Day in Argentina
Juan Domingo Peron was a popular Argentine leader, acting as President of Argentina on three occasions. However, he had to flee into exile due to pressure and persecution by Argentina’s military, one that had always found a way to interfere with politics. Peron was democratically elected President for the third time in 1973, but died shortly in July 1974. His vice-president was his wife, Isabel Martinez de Peron, but she was weak and an ineffective ruler.
Violence escalated in Argentina, and on March 24, 1974, Isabel was overthrown and replaced by a military junta, naming Lieutenant General Jorge Rafael Videla leader. The junta began what was called the National Reorganization Process to put the chaotic socio-political situation in Argentina in order and under control.
The process was violent and repressive. Forced disappearances and illegal arrests were common. Armed soldiers would rob houses and beat the owners. Spies infiltrated into universities to suppress anti-government ideas. Official investigations found that up to 9,000 people had disappeared under what was called the Dirty War. However, the number is theorized to be as large as 30,000 as documents were destroyed by the military and cases were not reported.
Only in 1983, after elections were held under public pressure, was democracy restored and a new President, Raúl Alfonsin, elected. Even today, families in Argentina still live without knowing what happened to their relatives that disappeared during the National Reorganization Process, and some former military members are still to face justice for their crimes.
Argentina’s Truth and Justice Day Traditions, Customs and Activities
On this day in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, thousands of people gather in peaceful marches to ask for justice for their missing loved ones. They carry pictures of the disappeared, and emotional displays of sadness and anger erupt in tears as the crowd gathers. A group of women, called the Mothers of the Square of May, has mobilized the families of disappeared persons, leading and organizing the day’s events in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires and near the illegal detention centers of the dictatorial regime around the country.
This is a non-working day in Argentina. The Government proposed the date be movable to a closer Friday or Monday in order to make the weekend longer, but many human rights organizations opposed this option. They wanted the specific date to be remembered for the painful memories that scar the Argentinean memory and not to be an opportunity for vacations and profit from tourists companies.
Other interesting posts:
- Argentina Independence Day
- Flag Day Observed in Argentina
- Argentina Festively Celebrates Its National Day
- Argentina’s Day of the War Veterans and the Fallen in the Malvinas War
- Argentina remembers the Death of San Martin
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