Blood Trails
As many as 30,000 Argentineans were killed during the country’s ‘dirty war’.
 |
| People lived in fear of their children being snatched by the regime |
“We are going to have to kill 50,000 people, 25,000 subversives, and 20,000 sympathisers, and we will make 5,000 mistakes.”
Those were the chilling words of a general in President Videla’s Argentina in 1976.
The junta’s objective was to eradicate guerrilla activity.
With alleged American backing, thousands of Argentineans ‘disappeared’ – never to be seen again by their families.
But they did not just disappear, they were deliberately erased, in what has become known as Argentina’s ‘dirty war’.
 |
| Argentinean children were given to families that supported Videla |
Nine-thousand cases have been officially recorded between 1976 and 1983, but human right organisations, such as Human Rights Watch, believe that as many as 30,000 Argentineans were killed.
In particularly cruel cases, pregnant ‘subversive’ women were killed once they gave birth, and their babies were given to families who were sympathetic to Videla’s regime.
The women’s distraught mothers had not only lost their daughters, they were never to see their grandchildren.
People & Power travels to Argentina to visit the grandmothers who have never given up hope that they will be one day reunited with their missing grandchildren.
Watch this episode of People & Power here:
Part 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiGWHaksLf8
Part 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDN9ACSCriU
This episode of People & Power aired from 27 May 2007
To contact us click on ‘Send your feedback’ at the top of the page