Hebe de Bonafini has passed away at the age of 93. Human rights struggle icon

Last Sunday at the age of 93 Hebe de Bonafini, president and founder of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Association, passed away with the white handkerchief, central protagonist of the first demonstrations for the 30,000 desaparecidos prisoners kidnapped during the military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983, maintaining the commitment of the fight until the end of his days. 

Hebe María Pastor de Bonafini began her work as president of the Mothers Association of Plaza de Mayo in 1979, after the kidnapping and disappearance of her own children, in which she stood out for the fight for human rights, against impunity of those guilty of crimes against humanity, together with the vindication of the revolutionary militancy of the detainees, the disappeared and the murdered.

She has always said she was a normal housewife, until the dictatorship took away her two children, which transformed her into a great fighter.

Argentine President Alberto Fernández decreed three days of national mourning in the "memory" of Hebe, an international symbol of the fight for Human Rights, the search for truth and justice, which has made it possible to trace the identity of over 100 children taken from young mothers, victims of incarceration, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial executions during the seven years of dictatorship in Argentina.

Bonafini had become an icon of the global left, whose leaders mourn her passing today, but also for her expressions of praise addressed to controversial figures in Latin American history such as Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and Hugo Chávez.

Messages expressing condolences for the death of the Argentine activist arrive from all sides, including from the bishops of the Argentine Bishops' Conference (CEA).

Pope Francis also recalls "the audacity and courage, in moments when silence prevailed, which contributed to keeping the search for truth and memory alive".

On Thursday 24 November in the Plaza de Mayo, in the place where the traditional meeting of the disappeared, Hebe's ashes will be scattered, as per her wishes.

It will be a day of great commemoration and mobilization in the streets.

We met Leonardo Castillo, political head of the Télam Agency, Argentina.

courtesy interviewed

Leonardo Castillo, chief political journalist of the Télam Agency

Argentine President Alberto Fernández decreed three days of national mourning in the "memory" of Hebe de Bonafini, President of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, who passed away last Sunday at the age of 93.

What profile can you give us about yourself?

Hebe has accompanied the existence of us over forty, and more than three generations of Argentines.

She was fundamental to our civic education.

You fought for memory, truth, justice and to denounce the dictatorship.

Her integration into the human rights movement faced the genocidal dictatorship.

Her imprint has left a mark on our generations.

We have lost a political and social reference of enormous importance.

Hebe suffered greatly for the disappearance of her two sons in 1977. It was then that she joined the struggle of the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, where she emerged as a point of reference, later becoming the leader of the group.

Since then you have represented a fundamental figure for the human rights movement and for all those who were formed in the fervor of what was the democracy established in December 1983.

Today is the 45th anniversary of the Mothers' Association.

What has this woman represented for the Argentine people for decades?

A great voice that made itself heard and marked the feelings of almost all Argentines, with its contradictions, with its defects, but above all with its merits and its enormous coherence.

She has never stopped claiming what was the memory, truth and justice of the desaparecidos.

She always said, "We don't care that they understand our pain, we care that they understand our struggle."

It is precisely this phrase that has guided her throughout her political career.

She has always said she was a normal housewife, until the dictatorship took away her two children, transforming her into a great, tireless fighter, who she left us today, at 93 years old.

De Bonafini was an international symbol of the fight for Human Rights, the search for truth and justice for the 30,000 disappeared during the last military dictatorship in Argentina.

What will it be like today to live without her?

Argentine society is certainly losing a great point of reference, which leaves a very deep imprint on the recent history of our society.

The truth is that it will be a great unknown.

I remember that many, when they were in doubt about taking sides, waited for Hebe to speak and then take sides.

I think we have lost a figure who made history, who left a trace.

This Thursday in the Plaza de Mayo, like every Thursday at 3 in the afternoon, in the place where the traditional appointment of the disappeared, they will scatter the ashes by Hebe's will.

It will be a day of great commemoration and there will certainly be many people, according to the Argentine tradition of mobilizing in the streets.

Has the Argentine people reconciled after experiencing the atrocities of the military dictatorship?

I think that reconciliation must always follow the path of truth and justice.

There can be no reconciliation without truth and without justice.

It seems to me that the struggle of the human rights organization in Argentina is first about the truth, then about justice, and then about carrying forward the memory.

Without the truth, it seems to me difficult to find a way of reconciliation.

In Argentina there was a sector linked to the illegal repression that asked for reconciliation, but without giving information on the fate of missing children and young people.

It was the struggle of the organizations in Argentina that shed light on the truth.

Hebe, she was friends with Maradona, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Cristina Kirchner.

This created many contrasts with the other part of the world which saw a left hostile to democracy.

What do you think?

What you say is true, but Hebe also had relationships with cultural figures: like the singers Sting and Bono of U2.

Beyond the political ties that she did not deny, she also had relations with the then President of the Italian Republic Sandro Pertini, especially during the years of the dictatorship.

Pertini was the first European politician to take an interest in the struggle of mothers.

He welcomed them to Italy when they went to seek support in Rome.

It is also true that Hebe identified with Fidel Castro, with Chávez, with many figures of the left.

It seems to me that the struggle at a certain point also transcends ideological barriers.

Pope Francis was a fundamental point in the personal history of Bonafini who, after several meetings, said he had discovered the faith.

What opinion does he have about it?

In the last years of her life, Hebe became very close to Pope Francis.

She ended up being a great friend of the Holy Father, so much so that she considered that relationship as a tool to rediscover her relationship with God and to be able to speak, through God, with her children.

In Argentina they say that Bergoglio is one thing and Pope Francis is another.

You are closer to Pope Francis than to Bergoglio.

Thanks to this link with the Pontiff, Hebe supported the group "Priests in the option for the poor" in Argentina, linked to social issues, approaching the Gospel and that option for the poor which are present throughout our continent.

She was a human rights icon, emblematic and controversial.

She has always been consistent in the struggle to claim truth, justice and memory.