Buenos Aires, Argentina – The president of France, François Hollande, made a homage to the victims of the last military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983), accompanied by the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo.
“I want to express France’s emotion and solidarity to the victims of the dictatorship, oppression and barbarity,” the president said in the Parque de la Memoria in Buenos Aires. The park is dedicated to the deaths and disappearances of the military regime.
The Grandmothers and Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo are an international symbol in the fight for human rights, with the goal of finding their missing relatives. Hollande recognized the fight of “these women who have search for their children and grandchildren for so many years.”
The president also recognized that his country took part in the dictatorship, as there are 22 French citizens who went missing, even though he said that solidarity overcomes nationalities.
After throwing flowers in the Río de la Plata, as part of the homage, the president commented that the “barbarity” still has not ended. He said that it now takes the form of terrorism and referred to the recent attacks in his country.
“Today, in other parts of the world men, women and children are still being killed because of their ideas and struggles that they carry out in the name of humanity,” Hollande said.