Huge Rallies in Argentina Mark 50th Anniversary of 1976 Military Coup as Political Divisions Deepen
Tens of thousands flood Buenos Aires’ Plaza de Mayo demanding ‘Never Again,’ while Milei government promotes competing narrative of ‘complete memory’
BUENOS AIRES — March 25, 2026 — Tens of thousands of Argentines flooded the historic Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, March 24, to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1976 military coup that ushered in one of Latin America’s bloodiest dictatorships, in a massive mobilization that underscored both the nation’s enduring commitment to human rights and the deepening political divisions over how to remember that traumatic era.
The rally, stretching from the iconic plaza in front of the presidential palace along the kilometer separating it from the 9 de Julio thoroughfare, drew what journalists and photographers described as one of the largest crowds the capital has seen in years . Similar demonstrations took place in cities and towns across the country, as human rights organizations, political parties, unions, and civil society groups answered the call to commemorate the victims of the military junta that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983 .
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Marchers carried portraits of the disappeared, white balloons bearing photographs of victims with the inscription “We are still looking for you,” and banners reading “Nunca Más” (Never Again) . The Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo — the iconic human rights organizations founded during the dictatorship itself — led the procession, continuing a tradition of protest that began when they first gathered in the square demanding information about their disappeared children nearly five decades ago .
A Half-Century Since the Coup
The civic-military coup of March 24, 1976, overthrew the government of President Isabel Perón and installed a brutal seven-year dictatorship responsible for the forced disappearance of thousands, systematic torture, the theft of babies born in captivity, and the operation of more than 340 clandestine detention centers across the country . The regime, led initially by General Jorge Rafael Videla, launched its reign of terror under the guise of combating left-wing guerrilla groups, but quickly evolved into a campaign of systematic state terrorism targeting political activists, students, teachers, union workers, and anyone perceived as dissident .
Human rights organizations estimate that 30,000 people were disappeared during the dictatorship — a figure that has become a powerful symbol of the regime’s crimes . The National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (CONADEP), established after the return to democracy in 1983, documented thousands of cases of forced disappearance, torture, and murder, and its report served as the basis for the historic Trial of the Juntas in 1985 .
In its final stage, the dictatorship launched the Falklands War in 1982 in a desperate bid to cling to power. The 74-day conflict ended with Argentina’s surrender and claimed the lives of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British servicemen, and three islanders. The military defeat hastened the regime’s collapse and paved the way for the return to democracy in 1983 .
A Day of Political Tension
Tuesday’s commemoration took place against a backdrop of intense political polarization, as President Javier Milei’s libertarian government promoted a competing narrative of the dictatorship era that challenges decades of established human rights consensus .
Hours before the march, the presidential palace released a 75-minute video titled “Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice – Complete,” in which the government calls for what it describes as “complete memory” of the dictatorship era and the years leading up to it . The video highlights testimonies from a woman whose identity was restored after being taken as a baby during the dictatorship and from the son of an Argentine army officer kidnapped and killed by left-wing guerrillas in 1974 .
In a social media post announcing the video, the Casa Rosada wrote: “Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice – Complete. Because only a society that looks at its past freely can learn from it and avoid repeating its tragedies” .
The government’s approach, which it has promoted since Milei took office in 2023, seeks to highlight violence committed by left-wing guerrilla groups before the coup, equating their crimes with those perpetrated by the military regime . Milei and his allies have argued that the left has distorted the history of the dictatorship for decades, overemphasizing state crimes while ignoring guerrilla violence . The president has previously described the dictatorship’s crimes as “excesses” amid a war and has questioned the widely cited figure of 30,000 disappeared, suggesting the number is closer to 9,000 from a preliminary 1984 government report .
UN Experts Warn of ‘Alarming Setbacks’
The political tensions surrounding the anniversary prompted the United Nations to issue a rare warning just days before the commemoration. On March 19, UN human rights experts expressed “serious concern over regressive measures in Argentina that risk undermining four decades of exemplary progress in memorialization, truth, and justice” .
The experts noted that since the return to democracy in 1983, Argentina had established itself as a “global benchmark in transitional justice” through milestones including the Trial of the Juntas, the prosecution and criminal punishment of over 1,000 perpetrators of crimes against humanity, the National Genetic Data Bank, and the establishment of dozens of sites and policies of memory .
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“Unfortunately, today we are seeing a rapid deterioration of Argentina’s global leadership in this area,” the experts said .
They warned that the government had reduced the role of the state in promoting criminal investigations for crimes against humanity, obstructed access to archives of the dictatorship, and dismantled institutions for memory, the search for disappeared persons, and the promotion of human rights . The experts also expressed alarm about public denials and the glorification of serious human rights violations, as well as stigmatizing discourse against victims and human rights organizations .
“The authorities must refrain from resorting to disinformation and hate speech in relation to these crimes and their victims,” the experts said. “Attempting to rewrite the past with denialist or revisionist narratives constitutes another alarming setback and a violation of human rights” .
Human Rights Leaders Speak from the Stage
At the Plaza de Mayo rally, human rights leaders addressed the massive crowd from a stage erected at one end of the square, reaffirming their commitment to memory, truth, and justice.
Estela de Carlotto, the 95-year-old president of the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, told the crowd that the organization has restored the identity of 140 grandchildren who were taken as babies or born in captivity during the dictatorship . It is estimated that more than 300 remain to be found .
“We have 140 cases resolved, what do you think of that?” Carlotto said from the stage to cheers . “Each restored grandchild is evidence of the atrocities committed by sinister state terrorism: disappearances, murders, theft, the abduction of minors and the falsification of political documents” .
Miriam Lewin, a 68-year-old journalist and survivor of the Navy Mechanics School — one of the main clandestine detention centers — recalled in the days before the anniversary: “We thought that after a few days of torture, people would reappear. But that didn’t happen” .
A Generational Divide?
A study by the University of Buenos Aires Public Opinion Observatory found that 71 percent of Argentines rate the dictatorship’s performance as bad or very bad, and 70 percent support the continued prosecution of those responsible . However, 32 percent interpret the period as “a fight against terrorism in which there may have been excesses” .
Among those aged 16 to 30, an Amnesty International survey found that 56 percent fear the dictatorship’s crimes could be repeated, and 75 percent reject a potential pardon for convicted military officers .
For many at Tuesday’s march, the commemoration was about passing memory to the next generation. Valeria Coronel, a 43-year-old teacher, held the hand of her eight-year-old daughter as she marched. “Memory is passed down from generation to generation so that the struggle continues,” she said. “It’s the legacy I want to leave my daughter” .
The Ongoing Search for Truth
Despite the passage of five decades, Argentina continues to hold trials for dictatorship-era crimes in what is considered one of the longest-running human rights justice processes in the world . Over 1,200 people have been convicted in more than 350 trials for crimes against humanity, though more than 300 cases remain open .
This month, an Argentine forensic team recovered the remains of 12 dictatorship victims buried in mass graves in the city of Córdoba . About a dozen criminal cases against alleged perpetrators are still ongoing .
Yet those seeking the truth about what happened under the dictatorship, an effort long supported by successive governments, now find themselves casting the state not as an ally but as an obstacle . The Milei government has downgraded the Human Rights Secretariat to a sub-secretariat, cut its budget, laid off staff, and stopped funding various rights groups, including the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo .
For Pina de Fiore, 94, whose son, a factory worker at Peugeot, was arrested and disappeared in 1977, the struggle continues. She has attended the weekly marches of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo for over four decades, wearing the Mothers’ trademark white head scarf.
“We haven’t found my son yet,” she said. “This government is not helping”
SOURCES / INPUTS
OHCHR: Argentina: Alarming setbacks in transitional justice on 50th anniversary of coup d’état, warn UN experts
MercoPress: Thousands march in Buenos Aires on 50th anniversary of military coup under “Never Again” banner
Buenos Aires Times: Huge crowd floods Plaza de Mayo to mark 50 years since dictatorship coup
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