Taty Almeida, one of the leading figures of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo movement in Argentina, died Sunday in Buenos Aires at the age of 95. The announcement was made by the organization, which for nearly half a century has been demanding truth and justice for the thousands of people who disappeared under the Argentine military dictatorship. Hospitalized for several weeks, she had become one of the most prominent symbols of the human rights movement in the country.
Born in 1930 as Lidia Stella Mercedes Miy Uranga, Taty Almeida became involved in the struggle after the disappearance of her son, Alejandro. A medical student and left-wing activist, he vanished in the years leading up to the dictatorship established in 1976. Like thousands of other Argentinians, he was never found. This ordeal profoundly transformed the teacher's life, and in 1979 she joined the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo.
An essential voice in Argentine history
Recognizable by her white headscarf, which became the emblem of the movement, Taty Almeida participated for decades in mobilizations, demonstrations, and trials related to crimes committed under the dictatorship. Alongside the other Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, she helped keep the issue of enforced disappearances and the responsibility of former military leaders in the public debate.
In recent years, she had also opposed several positions taken by Argentine President Javier Milei regarding memory policies and the crimes of the dictatorship. Her death comes a few months after the commemorations of the fiftieth anniversary of the 1976 coup, during which she had spoken out. With her passing, Argentina loses one of the last representatives of the generation that for decades championed the quest for justice for the approximately 30,000 disappeared persons claimed by human rights organizations.
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