"Madres de Plaza de Mayo" Rough Draft

Saphire Miramontes

Professor Stephanie Brown
ENG 306
23 February 2016

Unsolved Mysteries

“Nunca mas” – Madres de Plaza de Mayo

            Through the past decades, violence has been a huge topic in much of South American history due the role of military personnel and government officials within their society. One of the biggest, violent acts in South American history occurred in Bueno Aires, Argentina dating from 1976-1983. This specific act was formally known as the “Dirty War” (Teaching Tolerance 2016). This war began as a result of the Argentinian military taking over the government in 1976 by overthrowing President Isabel Peron while they then gained military dictatorship of the country (Encyclopedia Britannica 2014). Following their overruling, two separate groups began protesting the military’s new harsh federal policies and regulations (Encyclopedia Britannica 2014).

            One of the groups consisted of young activists that focused their efforts on displaying a non-violent protest; meanwhile, the other group known as “left-wing guerillas,” took pride in violently protesting the military’s new control (Encyclopedia Britannica 2014). After strong resistance to from the civilians, the military decided to terrorize them to invoke fear in order to have them obey their policies and commands. The military’s “secret police” invaded the streets and started kidnapping, torturing, and killing many young men and women regardless of their affiliation with the protesting parties (Encyclopedia Britannica 2014). Eventually, the violence became unavoidable and mothers found their voice by forming a group, known as “Madres de Plaza de Mayo” (Teaching Tolerance 2016). This group of mothers took on protesting the war in order to demand information on the whereabouts of their disappeared and deceased children.

            In the first half of this investigation, an explication of the protest of Madres de Plaza de Mayo will be further examined first through a series of lens’ relevant to rhetorical situation. Further, the series of explication will be as follows: protest object, intended audience, relevant context of the protest, goal and purpose, and the identities of those directly involved in the protest. Furthermore, in the second part of the examining of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo protest, an analysis of ethos, pathos, and logos will take place. After polarizing how the Madres de Plaza de Mayo make use of the three rhetorical strategies, a closer look at purpose, identity, and protest tactics will be utilized to describe the effectiveness of their protest.

            When looking at the protest, one would notice that a key object used by the Madres de Mayo de Plaza was their slogan. In Spanish, it reads “nunca mas” and translate to English as “never again” (Teaching Tolerance 2016). The meaning behind the slogan was to represent how the mothers that founded the protest group, Madres de Plaza de Mayo, would never again allow the military or government to have reign over their children’s lives. The powerful, short slogan is believed to therefore have one specific audience - the military regime of Argentina. The military regime was the targeted audience because they were responsible for the unethical treatment of the citizens, the disappearance of young individuals, and the killing of thousands of innocent children (Encyclopedia Britannica 2014). Moving forward to relevant context of the protest, it is noted that history from South American countries like Argentina, more specifically Buenos Aires, have citizens that fear military ruling the most. Reasons that make this fear valid are experiences like this “Dirty War” and the extent the military is willing to explore to gain respect and obedience from their locals.

            Moreover, relevant context to this protest would be that many of the disappeared and deceased will never be able to return home. The mothers of those children will never be given the details of their child’s experiences. No other group had the authority or power to help the mothers seek the information they were pleading for in order to find their way to one another again. Consequently, the goal of the Madres de Mayo de Plaza and their clever slogan, was to protest the military’s attempts to take more children, as well as to demand them to return or release information concerning the individuals that had already been captured. The purpose of Madres de Plaza de Mayo and their protest was to bring awareness of the military corruption that had stained their country’s history with blood and tears for a dreadful amount of time. To close the first half of the investigation and in respect of the goals and purpose, a closer look at the identities tied to those affected by the tragedy and those accountable for it will be looked at. For the individuals that were affected by the tragedy that led to the protest, we see a common identity being “mother.” This identity is important because in cultures, especially Latin cultures, mothers are the nurturers, healers, sensible family members that share a close bond with their offspring. Their role in the protest was to be strong, serious, and justice-seeking leaders for their children; hence, their commitment to their slogan “nunca mas.” The following identity being “military regime.” Without the military’s twisted role in society, there would be no purpose for the Madres de Plaza de Mayo to have protested saying “never again” would they allow children to surrender to them. Their role as enforcers, immoral leaders, illegal abductors, and murders during the years 1976-1983 is something that has permanently altered the image of the military to its country’s citizens and government.

            Now advancing to the analysis of the protest’s rhetorical strategies, a more critical investigation will examine the use of ethos, pathos and logos by the Madres de Plaza de Mayo; also, when comparing the use of these strategies, an evaluation of the protest’s effectiveness will be addressed. First, the use of ethos can be seen in the manner the Madres de Plaza de Mayo share their stories of losing their children. This strategy appeals to their credibility as mothers, as primary caretakers, and as concerned citizens involved in Dirty War. Each of those three roles are taken on by one single woman; which goes to show their invincibility when looking towards their goal of receiving information that the military refused to disclose (Encyclopedia Britannica 2014).

            Additionally, the strong use of pathos in the protest by the Madres de Plaza de Mayo is very apparent. For example, in photographs of the protest many of the mothers of the disappeared and murdered have signs that have the number of lives that had been taken. Considering the number was as high as 30,000, it can be imagined that the toll of their lost was heavy (Teaching Tolerance 2016). According to Teaching Tolerance (2016) it has been reported that one of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo released this statement, “"What remains in the end is a deep longing for justice …We're still fighting for those murderers to go to jail. We want you all to remember what happened to our children so that it never happens again.” This statement gives the audience a clear vision of the protester’s goals and purpose. Finally, when analyzing the usage of logos by the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, an understanding of their name is considered. In respect of their goals and purpose, the “Madres” meaning “mothers,” formed together and began their protest at the “Plaza de Mayo” which is the “Presidential Palace,” (Encyclopedia Britannica 2014). The logistics of this is very ingenious. The Plaza de Mayo is central of all the towns, which makes it the busiest and most populated area. It is safe to assume that the location was picked because more people would be exposed to the protest and would most likely ask questions, join, or support the protesters. By having more citizens involved in the protest the Madres hoped to gain a surrender from the Argentina’s military regime.

            In conclusion, the Madres de Plaza de Mayo’s took it upon themselves to be proactive leaders in seeking righteousness on behalf of their disappeared and deceased children. Moreover, the Argentinian military found it necessary during their seven year ruling to treat the country’s citizens harmfully and unlawfully. In the protest we see two clear identities being tested; one being the mothers of the children, and the second being military regime that serve as assaulters. Rhetorically, the goal of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo was effective in the idea that they appealed to all three protest strategies of ethos, pathos, and logos. Supplementary, to their effectiveness rhetorically, the protesters were also effective historically as their legacy is still well known in Buenos Aires, Argentina today. Hence, the mothers ability to not allow such trajectories to occur “nunca mas” or “never again,” it can be said that their protesting met their goals and fulfilled their purpose altogether.

 

 

 

Works Cited

“Dirty War.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Web 19 February 2016. Retrieved from:

http://www.britannica.com/event/Dirty-War

"Teaching Tolerance: Madres de Plaza de Mayo.” Web. 07 February 2016. Retrieved from:

            http://www.tolerance.org/activity/madres-de-plaza-de-mayo

"Madres de Plaza de Mayo: 36 anos de lucha." Web. 07 February 2016. Retrieved from:

            http://www.almagrotubarrio.com.ar/?p=1693