International
Argentine group finds 131st dictatorship-era ‘stolen’ child
| By AFP |
More than four decades after being taken from his parents — activists who “disappeared” under Argentina’s military dictatorship — a man raised by others has learned his true identity, an activist group has announced.
The man is the 131st child “stolen” during the dictatorship era to be identified under a decades-long fight by the group known as the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo — and the first in nearly three years.
His assumed identity has not been divulged.
“We are happy to announce a new restitution of identity,” the Grandmothers said in a statement Thursday after the man’s DNA tests came back.
“As if the end of the year wanted to fulfill all our wishes,” they said in reference to Argentina’s recent World Cup victory, “we celebrate the discovery of a new grandchild, number 131.”
Almost 300 other men and women “living among us with falsified identities” after being taken from their parents under the 1976-1983 dictatorship remain to be found, the Grandmothers added.
Now 44 years old, the man was the son of Marxist activists Lucia Nadin and Aldo Quevedo, from Mendoza, detained in Buenos Aires in October 1977.
Nadin, 19, was nearly three months pregnant at the time.
Grandmothers president Estela de Carlotto, 92, told reporters Nadin likely gave birth to her son at the notorious Navy Mechanics School (ESMA), which served as the country’s largest detention and torture facility.
“We are told that he is a sweet, calm person,” de Carlotto said. “He (did not react) with refusal or sadness” to discovering his true identity.
But she said he would need time to fully digest the stunning news before being presented to the public.
“He just took it as a reality, a new reality for him,” said de Carlotto.
30,000 people lost
The Grandmothers group was founded in 1977 by women trying to find their arrested daughters — and the babies they bore in captivity.
They take their name from the Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires, where women defied authorities to hold protests demanding information on the whereabouts of their loved ones. They did so in vain.
As many as 500 children were taken from their imprisoned mothers, most of whom then disappeared under the country’s brutal military rule.
Most of the children were given to childless people close to the dictatorship, keen to have them raised as regime loyalists.
Many of those aided by the Grandmothers reached out after experiencing doubt over their identity — because of a lack of physical resemblance to their parents, the absence of photos of their mothers while pregnant, or holes in the family history.
This was the first new identification since June 2019. The coronavirus pandemic had put the brakes on the Grandmothers’ research and interviews with potential victims.
Six of the original grandmothers died during the pandemic.
Rights groups say some 30,000 people died or disappeared under Argentina’s military dictatorship.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
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