What makes this tour special
· Walk around the Plaza de Mayo that saw many protests against the dictatorship
· See the memorial to the dead of the 1982 conflict in the Plaza San Martin
· Go into where the dictatorship murdered and tortured its victims in ESMA
Argentina’s political history is riven with strife, but the state terror of the military Junta between 1976 and 1983 explored terrible lows of inhumanity. This tour covers that depressing period and looks at both the domestic terror, and the defeat in the 1982 conflict which proved a catalyst for its downfall.
Place of Protest
Walking around the Plaza de Mayo, your own private guide will tell you the general story of the dictatorship and why where you are standing is so important. From being a place of protest for the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, who demanded information on their missing children, to where headquarters of the state secret police was based, it became a symbol of the experiences of many ordinary Argentinians.
Hubris and Memory
Venturing with your private guide to the north of Buenos Aires, you will walk around the Plaza San Martin. This is where the Argentine dead from the 1982 conflict are remembered at the Monumento a los Caidos en Malvinas, where a guard from one of the three services is always present during the day. Your guide will also point out important buildings surrounding the bucolic park, from the historic headquarters of Argentina’s Foreign Ministry to the Circulo Militar, where the influential Military Officers Club is located.
Place of Horrors
Even further north is where the Junta did some of its most horrific acts. The Espacio Memoria y Derechos Humanos is now a museum but the site used to be a military site (known by its Spanish initials as ESMA) where people were murdered, tortured and imprisoned. Walking around the grounds is a sobering experience when you know what happened in each building. It is tough to leave the place and forget you visited.
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