On my trip to Argentina, I was told the story of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo. I plead American on this one because I had NO idea and do not remember ever learning about it in school. And the story stuck with me. I haven't been able to get it out of my head for days, thus this post.
In case you can plead as ignorant as I did, here's the summarized version. During the gnarly Argentinian Dictatorship, the Argentinian government kidnapped pregnant women, or mothers and their very young babies, who were a part of the anti-dictatorship movement and killed them, giving their babies up for adoption to military families.
The Grandmas, being fierce as only Grandmas can be, have been fighting to find their Grandchildren since 1977. Some of these women were killed in the process to find the truth. They are searching for potential lost children and demanding DNA tests to prove their true paternity.
Not surprisingly, some of these children (now in their early 30s) are resisting. They either think they are the biological children of their parents or are protecting their adoptive parents, many of whom have said they saved them from certain death. Some, obviously, just don't want the only family they know to be throw in jail.
One of the big cases going on is against one of the richest women in the country. There's a huge back and forth that the government is against her and that her children were adopted out of love in a time where you didn't question the government. Her children have given DNA samples and been harassed into giving more. No testing have been done since the two sides can not agree on where to do them. Here's the original article: Time Magazine
My question is, who do you think is right? I agree that the people should be punished for stealing these children and the murder of their Mothers. Of course! But are the Grandmothers thinking of the children when they rip apart the only family they know? Is it the best thing to send the only parents they have to jail and shake up their world beyond repair? On there hand, aren't the Grandmothers only trying to mend a world that was originally shaken up by the baby stealers in the first place?
As a Mother, I'm torn. I would hate for my children to have to deal with the pain of such a tremendous revelation. Regardless of the intent, it will sting. At the same time, I would break my heart to not have them know the truth or their family. To die in anonymity, without my own child knowing who carried them with so much love is a thought that just breaks my heart. I think that's what the Grandmothers are trying to undo. I will say, it's hard to stomach letting something so wrong go unpunished!
What do you think? Do we let the past go or do we expose it?
Here are some more interesting articles on the subject: Truth vs Right To Privacy: The Battle of the Abuelas
and
http://www.npr.org
