Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo announced the restitution of grandchild number 131
“We are happy to announce another restitution of identity… We are filled with hope again,” the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo announced on Thursday, December 22. “As if the end of the year were determined to grant wishes, after almost three years, we celebrate the discovery of another grandchild, the 131st. Once again, we confirm that the nearly 300 men and women living with false identities are among us, and we are filled with hope for a 2023 with more restitutions,” the organization stated.
At a press conference, the president of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, Estela de Carlotto, announced that the newly discovered grandson is the son of... Lucía Nadin y Aldo Hugo QuevedoAldo and Lucía, two residents of Mendoza who were members of the PRT-ERP (People's Revolutionary Army), were kidnapped by the dictatorship between September and October 1977, thanks to the testimonies of those who knew them. Testimony from survivors of state terrorism revealed that they were taken to the clandestine detention centers "Club Atlético" and "Banco" in Buenos Aires. Lucía was then transferred between March and April 1978, presumably to the Navy Mechanics School (ESMA), to give birth. "Since then, nothing more has been heard of the couple or the baby," Carlotto said.
The relatives of Lucía and Aldo were the ones who spearheaded a search that ended when the National Genetic Data Bank informed the Federal Court No. 4 that the man who had agreed to undergo DNA analysis was indeed the son of Lucía and Aldo.
“In these 45 years, we have resolved 131 cases. Despite the pandemic, we continue working every day with hope and the conviction that we will find our grandchildren, who could be anywhere in the world,” Estela stated. She added, “In the last four years alone, two of them during the pandemic, we have analyzed more than 3,000 cases involving doubts about their identity, including spontaneous reports, and nearly another 400 cases through the courts.”
“It’s a constant, quiet, patient, and loving task. There’s still a long way to go; time doesn’t stop, and in recent years we’ve had to say goodbye to dear friends who never got to share that long-awaited embrace. The grandchildren we still need to find are around 45 years old; they are men and women with lives already built. We, the Grandmothers, tell them that we only want to add truth to their stories. We await them with love,” Estela concluded.
At ESMA, Campo de Mayo, Pozo de Banfield, and other detention centers used by the dictatorship from 1976 to 1983, clandestine maternity wards operated, complete with waiting lists for married couples awaiting a birth. Some 500 children of the disappeared were appropriated as "spoils of war" by the repressive forces. Some children were given directly to military families, others abandoned in institutions as unidentified, and still others sold. In every case, their identities were erased, and they were deprived of living with their legitimate families, of their rights, and of their freedom.
Nothing and no one stopped the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo from searching for their grandchildren. Detective work alternated with daily visits to juvenile courts, orphanages, and government offices, while they also investigated adoptions from that era. They also received information from the public about their possible grandchildren.
Thus, step by step, with the courage of women and grandmothers, today they can announce a new triumph of truth, justice and memory: the restitution of grandchild number 131.
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