30 Años Después

As we noted three weeks ago, we were fast coming up on the 30-year anniversary of the military coup that began the Dirty War and, by many counts, left 30,000 dead (recently declassified documents show at least 22,000 dead and 'disappeared'). Well, the day has arrived: last night thousands of people joined a Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo-led vigil in...the Plaza de Mayo (AP photo above).

Today has been declared a national holiday and President Penguin will appear at the military college (at noon), foreign minister Jorge Taiana plans to visit the main Navy Mechanics School torture center, and at 5 p.m. there will be a huge march to the Plaza de Mayo.

Yesterday a friend sent an email of what is a sort of totemic anti-dictatorship document: the open protest letter the writer Rodolfo Walsh (right) posted to the military junta the day before he himself was 'disappeared.'

One oddness about this holiday: it is commemorating the beginning of the military dictatorship, not the end of it, much like for Americans celebrating Pearl Harbour instead of the 4th of July. But, hey, it marks an important day.