Heavy participation in the March of Silence. They demand justice and remember the nearly two hundred prisoners who disappeared during the civil-military dictatorship. Since the democratic reform in 1985, mothers and relatives have condemned the silence and denial of military commanders regarding the disappearances.
The slogan “Never Again State Terrorism” ran through the streets of Montevideo this Saturday for a month ahead of the 50th anniversary of the civil-military coup. Thousands of Uruguayans march to demand the truth and justice for prisoners who disappeared during the last dictatorship (1973–1985). As every year since 1996, the March of Silence was called by the mothers and relatives of the victims and led by the question they have been repeating for half a century: Where are they?
Images circulated via social networks and local media showed thousands of people marching not only through the streets of Montevideo but also around 60 other cities in the country with the same slogan “Where will they be? Never again state terrorism”. The tribute was organized by the Movement of Mothers and Relatives of Missing Detainees of Uruguay (Famidesa), in collaboration with unions and other civil society organizations. The movement celebrated memory, truth and justice with photographs of the disappeared in their arms, white handkerchiefs. Relatives continued to criticize the inadequate administration of justice to trace the whereabouts of the missing and demanded that the armed forces shoulder their responsibility.
