In Buenos Aires, Macron's tribute to the victims of the dictatorship

Visiting Buenos Aires this weekend, Emmanuel Macron will pay a symbolic tribute to the victims, particularly French, of the Argentine military dictatorship, before meeting the ultraliberal president and close to Donald Trump, Javier Milei. The French president arrived in the Argentine capital on Saturday evening and has already had dinner with his counterpart. Objective stated: the “to hang up» au «consensus international» and “G20 priorities» in which they will then participate on Monday and Tuesday in Brazil.

Before a new interview with Javier Milei at the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace, the French head of state, accompanied by his wife Brigitte Macron, will lay a wreath at the foot of the Santa Cruz church, place of memory of resistance against the dictatorship (1976-1983). The Élysée evokes “a strong message» pour «say that France does not forget».

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In December 1977, several founding members of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, who were demanding information about their missing loved ones, were arrested, tortured and murdered after meeting in this church. Among the victims were French nuns Léonie Duquet and Alice Domon, who were kidnapped and then killed in a “flight of death» of the dictatorship, thrown off the coast of the Rio de la Plata from a plane. In all, at least 22 French people were listed among the dead or missing from this period.

A revisited assessment

Emmanuel Macron is not the first French leader to salute the memory of these victims. But the context has changed since Javier Milei came to power 11 months ago. The president, and even more so his vice-president Victoria Villaruel, from a military family, are accused of revisionism by human rights organizations.

They prefer to talk about “guerre» against «guerrillas» far left rather than “dictatorship», to put the responsibility of the army into perspective. And they do not hesitate to revisit the toll of the military junta in power during these years: while that, generally accepted, of human rights organizations reports 30,000 deaths, Javier Milei mentions less than 9,000 victims.

The hypothetical release of Alfredo Astiz

In July, six ruling party deputies visited Alfredo Astiz and other ex-soldiers convicted of crimes against humanity in prison. President Milei, however, distanced himself from this gesture. Astiz, a 73-year-old ex-navy captain, was twice sentenced to life imprisonment in Argentina, notably for the kidnapping and disappearance of the French nuns. In France, he was sentenced in his absence to life in prison in 1990 for the same case.

Relatives of missing French people were received at the beginning of November by advisors to President Macron at the Élysée. They asked the Head of State to convey to his Argentinian counterpart their “worry» on the hypothetical release of Alfredo Astiz. “At this stage, there is no questioning of the legal proceedings which resulted in the conviction of the persons responsible“, assures those around Emmanuel Macron, while specifying that they do not want “interfere in Argentine domestic politics».

Jean-Pierre Lhande, president of the Association of Parents and Friends of the French Disappeared in Argentina, considered that the presidential tribute was “insufficient». «What I have been demanding for years is that we appoint someone in France responsible for searching for French people who have disappeared in Argentina and that Argentina appoint someone else“, he told AFP, stressing that time is running out because “the parents of the missing are almost all dead».