"We Support the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo for the Nobel Peace Prize."
During a training session at the World Cup last week, the Argentine national football team paid tribute to the women’s activist organization Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, who have just been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Members of Abuelas, including its president, Estela de Carlotto, are in South Africa this week to meet with world leaders, including Nelson Mandela.
Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo is dedicated to pursuing justice on behalf of Argentina’s desaparecidos—the activists, many of them students, who were kidnapped, imprisoned and disappeared by Jorge Rafael Videla’s military dictatorship during Argentina’s Dirty War of 1976-1983. The Abuelas are especially committed to identifying children who were born to imprisoned mothers and illegally adopted by families friendly to the right-wing regime. Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, the manager of Argentina’s World Cup team, chose the very visible media platform to express national pride in the Abuelas’ struggle for justice. Tellingly, it received little coverage in Argentina, where one of the country’s biggest media moguls, Ernestina Herrerra de Noble, has been accused of having adopted two stolen children. (NB: some links in Spanish.)
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That is courageous and admirable of Maradona and his team. The Argentine government may try to keep the action quiet, but the internet wins every time.
to mischiefmarger: “The Argentine government may try to keep the action quiet, but the internet wins every time”
you are very very wrong.
the truth is that the argentine government supports the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo. (and viceversa)
beckysharper said. “Tellingly, it received little coverage in Argentina, where one of the country’s biggest media moguls, Ernestina Herrerra de Noble….” that’s why it received little coverage, because this media mogul controlled most of the press and is against the government (specially since the media reform project: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2166/32/)
In this case, the Argentine government’s not the problem. Both President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her husband, past president Nestor Kirchner, were both human rights lawyers who worked hard to prosecute abuses from the Dirty War while in office.
President Fernandez de Kirchner is actually locked in a pretty nasty vendetta with Ernestina Herrera de Noble’s family, who own the Grupo Clarin media conglomeration. Clarin has gone after the Kirchners relentlessly, especially on questions about their finances and corruption, to the point where Fernandez de Kirchner wanted anti-monopoly legislation to break up their media empire.
And this is just one of the reasons why I love Maradona and all his crazy ways.
More seriously this is a very important cause and I’m glad that the Argentine team showed their support.
Ah, I see. Thanks for the correction, ce and BeckyS.
[...] Some teams at the World Cup are using that oh-so-visible platform to make a statement. [...]
Wow. I think it’s amazing that everyone knows so much about the history of my country and the “Madres”. I hope they do get the Nobel Peace Prize.
Thank you.
Along those lines the Barcelona Soccer team(FC Barcelona), Has UNESCO on the front of their Jerseys and the Club makes a large Contribution to UNESCO every year. Most clubs sell that space on their jerseys for advertising.
[...] next to no media coverage either in their native Argentina or around the world, but the team has fully embraced the courageous group of grandmothers known as Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo. This organization is [...]
[...] of the players holding a banner at a practice session last week in support of las Abuelas [via Harpyness]. Argentina’s next match is against Germany on July 3rd. Root for las [...]
[...] a training session in South Africa, the entire Argentine team unfurled a banner that read, “We Support the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo for the Nobel Peace [...]
The argentine ‘presidents’ support the Abuelas because it’s politically correct.
During the dirty war the Kirchners became rich selling properties of the disappeared.
Typical corrupt bloodsucking lawyers.
Still they have some good policies…
and the alternatives seem even worse.
[...] Overall, I am content with the outcome of the World Cup. The better teams advanced, the best team won, the overtly defensive and boring teams got eliminated early (England, Greece and Italy) and South Africa served as a splendid host. There was some drama (The French team implosion, USA’s run, Maradona), some amazing goals (see below), and even some activism. [...]
[...] Activism at the World Cup Posted by BeckySharper in Thoughts, Activism, Politics on Jun 21, 2010, 7:37pm | 13 comments [...]