Lessons of Authoritarianism and Democratic Resilience in Latin America: "Memoria" as Resistance: Comparative Human Rights Education in Chile and Argentina

During the Cold War, human rights organizations in Latin America have calculated there were close to 100,000 missing persons due to state-led violence, including the kidnapping of children. In Argentina alone, 30,000 persons were forcibly disappeared, and 500 children were taken from women in detention and placed with families favorable to the military regime. During this time, Chilean Dictator, Augusto Pinochet, launched Operation Condor, a secret, multi-lateral counter-intelligence program that came to include military governments in Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador. Their collaborations led to hundreds of international kidnappings, torture, and assassinations of civilians, human rights activists and political refugees within the region, U.S., and Europe. Yet, through a combination of domestic resistance and mobilization by activists and international pressure, countries like Chile and Argentina transitioned to not only thriving democracies, but global leaders in human rights education.

Join us to learn from Chilean activist and Manager of Archives at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Chile, Juan Carlos Vega Briones and the former Executive Director of the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory of Argentina, Mayki Gorosito.

Event presentations are in Spanish with English translation.


Co-sponsors:
Donia Human Rights Center, Center for Emerging Democracies, University of Michigan Global Engagement, Office of the Provost.

Accommodation: If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
Email: -- lacs.office@umich.edu