Mothers of Plaza de Mayo leader Taty Almeida dies at 95

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President of Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Taty Almeida passed away on Sunday at 95.

Beloved by her fellow mothers and the rest of the human rights movements, she spent more than 50 years seeking answers and justice for the disappearance of her son, Alejandro Almeida, who was kidnapped by far-right paramilitary group Triple A in 1975.

Over the past four decades, Almeida became one of the most prominent human rights leaders in Argentina. She became president of Mothers of Plaza de Mayo-Founders Line in December 2024, after the death of her predecessor, Norita Cortiñas, in May of that year.

She first heard about the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo in 1979 and decided to find out what their work was all about. “It was hard for me to reach out to the mothers because I wondered who those women were,” she told Revista Haroldo.

Once she entered their headquarters in downtown Buenos Aires, however, she was shocked. “When I went in I saw pictures, and pictures, and pictures, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m not the only one.” Taty joined the group of mothers right then and there and never left.

“Until the one up there says otherwise, I’ll keep going, firm in my fight for memory, for truth and for justice.”

At: https://buenosairesherald.com/human-rights/mother-of-plaza-de-mayo-taty-almeida-dies-at-95

Mothers of Plaza de Mayo leader Taty Almeida, 1930-2026.

Taking over the reins of the renowned human rights group in 2024, the media-savvy Almeida worked tirelessly to draw attention to Preisdent Javier Milei's back-door efforts to free the over 1,200 convicted Dirty War culprits from house arrest - as well as what she saw as Milei's politically-motivated persecution of a top rival, center-left former President Cristina Kirchner.

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1. She is/was a true hero.

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2. True. And the Argentine right (who are just gaga over Trump, btw) hated her for it.

She was an especially easy target because she was what in Argentina they call a morocha - a tawny woman.

This dynamic made her a very close ally of the similarly tawny former President Cristina Kirchner - whom right-wingers in Argentina hate in much the same way Trumpkins hate Hillary (at least!).

Mrs. Kirchner, 73, would - despite having been put under house arrest on Milei's orders (by his own admission) - lead the polls for the 2027 elections if she were allowed to run for president.

But as Milei would never allow that to happen, it's anyone's race right now really - with center-left Governor Axel Kicillof leading the pack.

Should he win next year, he'll be Argentina's first Jewish president - something that drives the right down there especially nuts (oy!).

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3. I was in Argentina in 1987 when Alfonsin became President.

I visited the Plaza De Mayo. Perhaps I saw her.

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4. Wow. What memories, I'm sure.

You know - when a Alfonsín took office (in late 1983), a well-known RW former dictatorship official scoffed that "given the foreign debt crisis we've left him, he won't be able to do anything."

And he was right.

Argentina, moreover, never really climbed out of that foreign debt trap.

Although now - what with three bumper crops in a row, plus an oil export boomlet - they may once again, for the first time since 2011, be ahead of the debt snowball.