Two Grandmothers, Two Very Different Stories

By Cynthia White

Mirta Acuna de Baravalle and Elsa Pavon. Photo courtesy of SDOP

It is alleged that between 1976 and 1983 the Argentine Republic government was responsible for the disappearance of over 400 children, in what has become known as the “Dirty War.”  In 1977 the mothers of the disappeared began protesting at Plaza de Mayo.  They have been there every Thursday since to keep in the public eye that the majority of neither their children nor grandchildren have been returned.  Long ago they faced the sad reality that their children were more than likely dead.  It was their grandchildren they were fighting to get back and continue to fight for their return.

They began their struggle with the claim for 13 children’s restitution.  In the years since they began, 87 of the disappeared children, including four found by governmental commissions and two located by the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, have been returned to their families.

Elsa Pavon’s daughter Paula, and son-in-law, Claudio, disappeared May 18, 1978. Nine years later her granddaughter was finally returned to her.  Ms. Pavon received information from a neighbor that a child in a neighboring community looked exactly like the Pavon family and was the age that her granddaughter would be.  After extensive investigations and legal battles the child was determined to be her long-searched-for granddaughter.  Needless to say, the child did not remember the Pavon as family.  However, upon walking into her grandmother’s house she went straight to the chair that she and her mother used to sit in all the time.  Ms. Pavon knew she had her granddaughter back!

CREAS presented to Cynthia White, the director of SDOP a piece with the CREAS logo hand painted by Elsa Pavon. Photo courtesy of SDOP

For Ms. Mirta Acuna de Baravalle the sadness remains. The search continues for her daughter Ana Maria and son-in-law Julio Cesar Galizzi August 27, 1976. Both mothers remember the exact day their children disappeared. There is no doubt for her that her grandchild is alive.  She will never stop looking for her or him.

When the group first organized there were many mothers in the park, now sometimes only six or seven may show up.  Many are in the seventies and eighties, many have died; those remaining are faithful in their commitment to bring their grandchildren home.

On a recent trip to Buenos Aires to visit with CREAS, SDOP partner Clara Nunez and I had the pleasure of meeting both of these women.  Their stories are heart wrenching!  At the same time they are stories of courage, hope, determination and everlasting love.