I’m still looking for you – Argentina’s ongoing struggle for truth and memory
BySarah Pabst
Between 1976 and 1983, Argentina’s military dictatorship carried out a systematic campaign of state terrorism that left an estimated 30,000 people disappeared.
The sky van used for the death flights displayed in the Ex-Esma, former naval school, clandestine torture and detention center, on Thursday, October 17, 2024.
Taty Almeida, founding member of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, the Mothers of the May Place, sits for a portrait in her home on Thursday, September 19, 2024. Her son, Alejandro Almeida was abducted on June 17, 1975, months before the dictatorship officially started.
Taty Almeida’s collection of documents, small letters, and cards written by her disappeared son, on Thursday, October 17, 2024. Her son, Alejandro Almeida was abducted on June 17, 1975, months before the dictatorship officially started.
The EAAF, Argentine Anthropological Forensics Team, searches for victims of the death flights, a woman and a man, no-name graves in the cemetery of Magdalena, La Plata, Argentina, on Wednesday, October 15, 2024. In order to find them, they have to dig as deep as one or two different layers of burials.
A visitor walks alongside the walls stating the years, names, and ages of the disappeared in the Parque de la Memoria, Memory Park, in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.
Gala Maruscak organizes and identifies bones that were found in the Magdalena cemetery, close to the Rio de la Plata River and victims of the death flights, lie on tables in the EAAF, the Argentine Anthropological Forensics Group, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Thursday, September 26, 2024. The forensics identify people that have been killed and buried in mass graves and unnamed graves during the Argentine dictatorship. An estimate of 30000 people were abducted and disappeared during the military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983).
Families wait for the verdict while holding signs with the faces of the disappeared during the trial for Puente 12, a clandestine detention center in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday, September 27, 2024. An estimate of 30000 people were abducted and disappeared during the military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983).
Faces of the disappeared are painted on the windows in the Ex-ESMA, former naval school, clandestine detention and torture center during the Argentina dictatorship, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Thursday, September 26, 2024. An estimate of 30000 people were abducted and disappeared during the military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983).
The Capuchita, the attic of the ESMA, former naval school, clandestine detention and torture center during the Argentina dictatorship, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Thursday, September 26, 2024. Capuchita got its name because of the hoods the prisoners had to wear the whole time. An estimate of 30000 people were abducted and disappeared during the military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983).
Between 1976 and 1983, Argentina’s military dictatorship carried out a systematic campaign of state terrorism that left an estimated 30,000 people missing. One of the regime’s most notorious practices was the death flights, in which prisoners were drugged and thrown alive into the sea or rivers. These flights became a symbol of the dictatorship’s brutality and deliberate effort to erase all traces of its victims.
Decades later, the search for memory, truth, and justice continues. The families of the disappeared bring the faces of their loved ones to public spaces and courtrooms, demanding accountability. Trials such as Puente 12, which investigates clandestine detention centers, offer opportunities for justice to be served, but they also highlight the persistence of impunity when those responsible are acquitted.
This project documents the ongoing efforts to confront the legacy of the dictatorship: the families’ struggle to obtain answers, the judicial process that seeks to establish responsibility, and the role of collective memory in keeping alive the history of the death flights in Argentine democracy. It is a record of how a society continues to grapple with the crimes of its past and the lasting impact on generations still waiting for the truth.
