Thousands march to condemn Argentina's coup

Tens of thousands of Argentines gathered in Buenos Aires’ central square to mark the 26th anniversary of the country’s last military coup.

Around 30,000 people, including human rights activists, leftist parties and families of victims of the 1976-83 military junta, marched to the Plaza de Mayo on yesterday, to condemn the coup.

‘‘This is a cry for memory, truth and justice,’’ said Tati Almeyda, whose son was one of thousands of victims of the military government, in comments to Argentine television station Cronica.

Protests also took place in front of a former navy school used as a torture centre during the dictatorship and outside the houses of former ministers in the junta. In Rosario, Argentina’s third largest city, 8,000 people came together.

In Buenos Aires, demonstrators unfurled a huge banner with the photographs and names of thousands of the victims of the military years.

Others carried signs saying, ‘‘Never Again’’, and demanding punishment for those responsible for the dictatorship’s so-called ‘‘Dirty War’’ against leftist groups.

On March 24, 1976, a military junta, led by General Jorge Rafael Videla, seized power from President Isabel Peron.

Over the next seven years, nearly 9,000 people disappeared, according to a 1985 government report. Human rights groups put the figure at around 30,000.

After democracy returned, top military officers got life sentences for their role in the crimes, only to be pardoned by former president Carlos Menem in 1990. Immunity was also granted for lower-ranking military officials who committed crimes on orders of superiors.

During yesterday’s march, Nobel Peace Prize winner Alberto Perez Esquevel was one of several speakers to call on the government of President Eduardo Duhalde to annul those immunity laws.

‘‘Democracy cannot be built on impunity,’’ he said.

The anniversary comes at a time when Argentina is suffering from economic depression, after four years of negative growth which has left over one third of Argentines living on or below the poverty line.

That crisis, polls indicate, has eroded support for democracy.

A 2001 survey by Chile’s Latinobarometo organization, showed that only 58% of Argentines thought democracy was ‘‘preferable’’ to other systems, down from 76% in 1995. Around 78% of those asked, said they were ‘‘not at all satisfied’’ with Argentina’s democracy.