Justice and memory: the actions of the victim's associations of the dictatorship in Argentina (1983-2000)

Between 1976 and 1983, Argentina lived through the bloodiest dictatorship in its history. The most emblematic method of repression by the military juntas in power was the people's enforced disappearance. After the end of the dictatorship, the associations of relatives and missing former detainees were involved in the struggle for the truth, justice and memory linked to democracy's processing of the dictatorial past. This work intends to return to the speeches and the actions of these groups during the Presidential terms of office of both Rail Alfonsin (1983-1989) and Carlos Menem (1989-1999). We will see how the situation evolved, going from a period in which their claims were in the foreground of the public sphere and the Government's agenda to becoming a time of the so-called "national reconciliation" policies while in opposition. We'll see how the main players focussed on keeping up their claims and to what extent the new situation allowed for the emergence of new players. We will examine how this group of actors used legal tools and memorials to continue their work and emphasize the uniqueness of the Argentine case in the construction of a collective memory.