Photos

I have been to Plaza de Mayo many times with visitors to Buenos Aires, but have never seen the Changing of the Grenedier Regiment. I found information that says that this ceremony takes place every 2 hours, I guess I have not been on the square at the right time in the past.

This shot of them as they march past the legislature building makes them seem like toy soldiers against the towering fascade as they pass.

May Square, or Plaza de Mayo dates back to 1580 and many important events have taken place on this historic site. The uprising against Spain on May 25, 1810 gave this sqare it's name. The most recent was the bloody protest against then-President Fernando de la Rua. This is also the place where the Mothers of May Square have marched silently for more than 2 decades every Thursday at 3:30 in the afternoon to demand justice for the dessparedicos, or the young people who "disappeared" during the "Dirty War," when the military government ruled from 1976 - 1983. During this time, 30,000 people "disappeared." A Wikipedia article states the following:

"Desaparecidos" redirects here, for the United States band see Desaparecidos (band)."

"A forced disappearance occurs when an organization forces a person to vanish from public view, either by murder or by simple sequestration. The victim is first kidnapped, then illegally detained in camps, often tortured, and finally executed and its corpse hidden. In Spanish, "disappeared people" are called "desaparecidos", a term which specifically refers to the (mostly) South American victims of state terrorism during the 1970s and the 1980s, in particular concerning operation Condor."

The mothers also made an annual 2-day march. There are conflicting reports as to whether the weekly marches have been ended. Some reports have been written that just the annual march has come to an end because the mothers feel that the current administration is a "friend" to their cause and there is no reason to continue. I am going to have to take a Thursday afternoon off to head down to the Plaza to see if they are still there for their weekly vigil.

The vigil is a reminder that few of the perpetrators of the crimes of this terrible time in Argentine history have ever been brought to justice aqnd few of the children who were stolen and given to their parent's killers have ever been recovered. It is a reminder of a sad period in Argentina's history.