Dictatorship-era army officers and supporters rally in Argentina in latest sign of political shift

Exmilitary officers who served in Argentinas brutal dictatorship and their families staged a rare rally on Saturday to push for the release of fellow officers imprisoned for human rights abuses committed during the juntas 19761983 rule Saturdays demonstration was seen as a provocation in the country of Nunca Maacutes the slogan that represents Argentinas commitment to never again return to authoritarianismFurther raising tensions the officers gathered in Plaza de Mayo the historic site of protests by women searching for children who had been abducted detained and disappeared by the junta Circling the plaza in silent protest every Thursday for decades the women became known as the Grandmothers of Plaza de MayoTo the army officers critics including dozens of counterprotesters who also flocked to Plaza de Mayo in downtown Buenos Aires on Saturday the brazen rally marked a worrying sign that cracks were starting to appear in Argentinas national consensus about the bloody legacy of the dictatorshipPresident Milei vows to end the armys demonisationIn a dramatic shift from past administrations rightwing President Javier Milei has frequently justified the dictatorships state terrorism as a messy war against leftist guerrillas His vice president Victoria Villarruel is the daughter of an Argentine lieutenant colonel and an ultraconservative lawyer who spent years advocating for armed forces and Argentines killed by leftwing guerillas those she calls the other victims of terrorismThe governments push for a reconsideration of crimes by the dictatorship has enraged human rights groups which see it as an effort to legitimize the militarys systematic extrajudicial killings of civilians The junta is estimated to have killed or disappeared as many as 30000 ArgentinesMilei made another contentious move last week when he appointed Army chief of staff Lt Gen Carlos Alberto Presti to be Argentinas new minister of defenseHis office said this makes Presti the first military official since Argentinas 1983 return to democracy to hold a ministerial title inaugurating a tradition that we hope the political leadership will continue and putting an end to the demonisation of our officersSupporters of the military send a messageThat Argentine society robs the military of respect it deserves was a common complaint among the protesters who gathered Saturday to sing the national anthem and raise banners demanding freedom for imprisoned colleagues We demand the moral vindication of all the veterans said Maria Asuncion Benedit the rally organiser whose late husband an army captain helped lead a brutal 1975 campaign against guerillas in the northern province of TucumanThe Argentine people follow the official narrative Whose narrative is it The enemys the terrorists those who fought against our soldiers she said referring to how the leftwing Peronist governments of the early 2000s made recovering memories of the dictatorship and seeking justice for perpetrators hallmarks of their administrationsIts a militant activist judiciary Benedit said She and others brandished black bandanas a loaded answer to the white kerchiefs embroidered with missing childrens names traditionally worn by the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo Unlike other Latin American countries that offered amnesty to those who committed military crimes after restoring democracy Argentina has tried and sentenced more than a thousand army officials and officers for their participation in state terror many to life in prison Hundreds are still awaiting trialPedro Nieto a dictatorshipera veteran who travelled 36 hours from the northern province of Salta to attend Saturdays rally said he felt he was sending a potent message by calling for the release of his imprisoned colleagues at the symbolic Plaza de Mayo We are proud to have fought and eliminated the terrorists he saidA counterprotest signals wider outrageAlejandro Perez whose uncle was abducted and disappeared by the dictatorship said it terrified him to see veterans like Nieto who participated in the deadly state repression here in front of the government house protected by police protected by fences being able to hold an event to demand the release of the few imprisoned genocidal criminalsPolice cordoned off the exmilitary officers demonstration keeping them at a safe distance from angry counterprotesters who shouted insults and held signs bearing slogans like Never Again and the 30000 are present You feel it in your bones Perez said drenched in rain as he marched among human rights advocates and leftwing organisationsThe duelling demonstrations come a day after the United Nations Committee Against Torture delivered a report in Geneva that raised alarm about the Milei governments dismantling of programmes that had investigated the militarys actions during the dictatorship as well as its budget cuts to several institutions working on issues of memory truth and justiceAddressing the UN torture committee annual meeting earlier this month Alberto Bantildeos Mileis top human rights official disputed the reports findings and insisted that his government was committed to complete unbiased and unobtrusive historical memory Whether you like it or not the defense of human rights became a business and we will not tolerate that he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever