The offspring of military officials convicted of crimes against humanity and genocide during Argentina’s dictatorship have urged voters not to back the far-right candidate Javier Milei in the imminent election, warning that the country’s very democracy is in danger.
In an open letter published ahead of the 19 November run-off between Milei and his centrist rival, Sergio Massa, the Historias Desobedientes (Disobedient Stories) collective voiced “great concern” that the rightwing radical and his running mate Victoria Villarruel had a chance of winning power.
To the outrage of victims of Argentina’s 1976-83 regime, Milei and Villarruel have made challenging the decades-long consensus over the dictatorship and questioning the number of victims a major part of their campaign.
“Milei and his vice-presidential candidate have spoken out against democracy on numerous occasions, denying the number of disappearances, calling crimes against humanity ‘excesses,’ and accusing the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo—irrefutable pillars of our democracy—of being liars,” the group wrote in reference to the veteran campaigners who have spent years demanding answers about the deaths and disappearances of their loved ones.
An estimated 30,000 regime opponents were killed or disappeared during the dictatorship—nearly all of them unarmed civilians.
The letter by Disobedient Stories—which was created by the children of members of the dictatorship appalled by their parents’ crimes—claimed Milei’s plan for government was even more dangerous than the “blatant denialism” of his campaign.
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