EVERY March 24, hundreds of thousands of Argentinians flood the streets of Buenos Aires and other cities to commemorate those who were killed, tortured or simply disappeared during the military dictatorship that took power on that date in 1976. 

This year the marches and demonstrations had particular significance because they took place just after President Javier Milei’s first chaotic 100 days in office following his shock election victory in November of last year. 

Until now, it has been widely accepted that during a dictatorship that lasted until 1983, some 30,000 people were taken from their homes, workplaces or from on the streets and were never seen again.  

They were put in clandestine detention centres where they were interrogated, tortured and in most cases, killed. Some were put in aeroplanes, flown out to sea and dumped into the ocean. 

Women who gave birth while in captivity had their babies taken from them for adoption by military families before being murdered. The military’s justification for these appalling acts was that they were fighting a war against those who they considered to be “subversives” intent on overthrowing the state. 

These included not only militant members of various Peronist organisations but also thousands of trade union activists, some of whom were arrested and disappeared on the recommendation of their employers.

Following the return of civilian rule, the leaders of the coup and other perpetrators of these crimes against humanity were tried and imprisoned, though many of them have been permitted to remain under house arrest rather than go to jail. 

In February, there was outrage when footage emerged of ex-army officer Jorge Olivera celebrating his golden wedding with 50 guests at a lavish party. He had been convicted on more than 200 charges, including torture and murder, in 2013. 

However, since Milei’s election, the consensus that the sentences being served by those guilty of the atrocities are more than justified is being challenged by his government who say that they have been wronged. 

Among others, his Vice-President Victoria Villaruel who is a daughter, granddaughter and niece of military officials who participated in the repression, claims that they were only doing their duty in the face of attacks by left-wing guerillas and terrorists and that the figure of 30,000 disappeared is a gross exaggeration. 

In December, wives and family members of convicted military personnel published a letter demanding that the government fulfil a campaign promise to help those victims of what they call “judicial terrorism.” Their most prominent advocate is Cecilia Pando who attended Olivera’s celebrations. She is married to a jailed army officer and refers to him and his colleagues as being political prisoners whose only crime was doing their duty. To coincide with March 24 this year, the government released a video claiming that the 30,000 was a made-up figure, without offering any evidence to support the claim. Vice-President Villaruel released her own video with the hashtag #Nofueron30000 (there weren’t 30,000). 

On the streets of Buenos Aires, the response to Milei was emphatic. An estimated 400,000 people turned out under the enduring slogan of Nunca Mas (Never Again) to remember the victims of the dictatorship and demand that all those responsible be held to account. 

And while there have always been trade unions represented on the march, this was the first time that the CGT (General Workers Confederation) had participated in the event on an institutional basis. 

Also represented were Argentina’s two other national confederations, the CTA-T and the CTA-A. They were present, not only to support the claims of the human rights organisations such as the fabled “Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo” but also to demonstrate their resistance to Milei’s ultraneoliberal policies that threaten to return Argentina to the 1930s.

During Milei’s 100 days in office, the annual inflation rate has reached 276 per cent, the highest in the world. The official poverty rate is 60 per cent in a country that has an abundance of the most fertile land that could and should feed its population several times over. 

Ten million people depend on communal food kitchens and their volunteers for survival but now all government support for these programmes will be ended. Federal subsidies for transport, health, education and utilities have been scrapped, leaving residents to face increases of up to 200 per cent in their energy bills. 

Thirteen government ministries have been closed and upwards of 50,000 public-sector workers have been served notice. The state-owned press agency TELAM, established in 1945, has been closed and funding for CONICET, the most prestigious scientific research organisation in Latin America has been withdrawn, prompting howls of protest from eminent researchers. None of this concerns Milei who has described the state as a “criminal organisation.”

In foreign affairs, the self-styled libertarian Milei has no qualms about placing Argentina firmly under the thumb of US imperialist interests. In the week prior to the 24th, CIA director William Burns arrived in an aerial cavalcade to issue an instruction for Argentina not to have anything to do with China, which, if obeyed, would have severe economic consequences for the republic. 

Milei has also announced his intention to move the Argentinian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem following an embarrassing visit to the apartheid state where he was filmed shedding tears at the wailing wall. As well as demonstrating utter contempt for the fate of the beleaguered Palestinians in Gaza, he has been warned that his proposal could severely undermine Argentina’s moral and legal authority in their claim to sovereignty over the disputed Malvinas/Falkland islands.    

Surveys have shown that around 67 per cent of the Argentinian population are financially worse off under Milei but his popularity endures. 

Backed up by a pliant media and a barrage of social media messages aimed at younger voters, many are prepared to believe, or want to believe, his message that a period of hardship is necessary to cure Argentina’s long-standing ills. 

How long this honeymoon will last remains to be seen but, according to a veteran trade union leader who was incarcerated during the dictatorship, we should not read too much into the massive turnout on March 24. Notwithstanding the losses incurred in the public sector, the situation has not yet reached the critical mass of 2002 when an explosion of popular protest brought down the government, though things could change very quickly.