I'm sure there are people today that have never heard of Argentina's Dirty War, perhaps there are even some Argentine's today that don't really know who the Disappeared are. They just know what they might have seen- a group of aging grandmothers placing themselves in front of the Casa Rosada (the presidential palace) demanding that the government answer the one question they've been trying to get answered for over three decades: where is my grandchild?
The military war machine of the 70s launched a sweeping campaign to 'disappear' anyone who spoke in opposition against the standing government. While many of those people were killed, the question remained for many, what happened to the children born to the women held in captivity?
The Washington Post provided a bit of insight into this today with a story highlighting the plight of Alejandro Rei. The dedication of the group of aging grandmothers helped bring to light that Alejandro Rei, a well-adjusted man in his 30s, was not in fact the son of the parents he'd known all his life- Victor and Alicia Rei- but rather that of Liliana Fontana, one of the disappeared who was never seen again.
The Post story does an amazing job of tracing the life of Alejandro Rei, who's own stand-in father, Victor, confessed the truth to him after decades of secrecy. Alejandro knew the police and the grandmothers were closing in on him and he wanted to appeal to Alejandro's heart strings to help him evade prosecution. But more importantly, the article raises to light some more pressing- and not so obvious- questions. Do these children want to be found? Is it in their best interest to have the truth revealed? Who does the truth hunt actually benefit?
Alejandro Rei struggled with the news that he was adopted and that his mother was a disappeared (and probably tortured and killed). He had a wonderful childhood full of happy memories and all the opportunities of a well-to-do child. He loved his parents and thought fondly of them. His initial reaction was to protect his father but was then launched into an emotional turmoil, as can only be imagined after learning ones life was a complete lie. In the end, Alejandro helped put the father he knew in jail, disowned his mother Alicia and reconnected with his biological family. But at what emotional cost to him?
He was lucky to have enjoyed such a good upbringing and even luckier to have reconnected well with his family. But after thirty years of being disappeared, one has to question whether the truth is always a good thing. What are your thoughts? Alejandro's story brought happiness and closure to his long lost family, but will this always be the case? And is the emotional cost worth bearing for the truth?
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Online Source: Washington Post
I have always been astounded by many people's failure in understanding the difference between cause and effect.
ReplyDeleteWhat's worse is when someone looks for an argument based on the effect as to even justify the fact that it was the abduction of these children what caused the whole pain in the first place. This, like many of your articles is what is called diversion and deviation from damning the cause.
It's not like if those mothers willfully and voluntarily gave their children away.
Perhaps they shouldn't look for their children, they'll cause them more suffering or better yet, they should whip themselves every night, because the pain these regimes caused them is not enough punishment for them.
Hi Boehmaya- I apologize for my late response but I wanted to comment on what you wrote. I by no means think that the mothers or grandmothers should give up their search; I applaud them for their efforts and dedication to finding the children. But I think this story made me look at the situation from an angle I hadn't yet examined. I think it's easy to assume reunification is the happy ending everyone has been searching for when (at least in this case) finding out the truth caused a lot of pain for the 'found' child. The reality is that the story doesn't end with a happy reunion but is just one small step in a long and sometimes painful path towards healing.
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