This week’s materials highlighted the impact that large groups of people with a collective voice have had on the political process of different states in Latin America. In Argentina, after years of military dictatorship marked by the use of state terrorism to silence dissent, a small group of mothers took it upon themselves to speak out. 14 women who had their children disappeared during the dirty war met weekly in the Plaza de Mayo, the symbolic center of the country. This seems like an uneven struggle, with a handful of women challenging the legitimacy of an entire authoritarian state, but it saw the government’s response lead to its own undoing.

In response to the protests, some of the movement’s founders were disappeared like their children had been. When bodies washed up on the coast, including those of two French women, the international community began to pay attention to events unfolding in Argentina. This, along with perseverance of the protesters in the Plaza de Mayo (the most publicized space in Argentina) eventually led to increasing negative publicity on the state and eventually forced a series of investigations into past crimes, and legislative changes within the Argentine government.

The “people” of Argentina is a concept that the Madres personified and gave voice to. They took on motherhood as their defining characteristic, which is a basic human characteristic and is a feeling that everyone in the country can feel, regardless of political leanings. The message was clear—that as Argentine citizens they had the right to not be oppressed, and that as mothers they had the right to know what happened to their children. By taking such a basic human concern and bringing it to the political discussion of the time, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo were finally able to introduce a discourse of human rights.

In the unpredictable political climate of Latin America, the government saw it necessary to create a controlled environment in order to maintain power. Its method of keeping order was through the use of violence, yet for years they were able to carry out acts of state terror without any recognition. Because it was also important for the government to keep up a good appearance, the dictatorship mastered the manipulation of the media. Even as the eyes of the world were on Argentina wen they hosted the 1978 World Cup, the state was able to turn the scrutiny to its advantage as Argentina became world champions and the Argentine media generated newfound patriotism that distracted many from the ongoing conflicts in the country. Eventually, the state was forced to change and investigate the dirty wars as “the people” also learned how to use the media to their own peaceful ends.