ROME / Thursday 13 September – 9:00 to 12:00 Palazzo della Farnesina – Sala Aldo Moro – Palazzo della Farnesina, 1 Seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Day Before Yesterday, The Dictatorship: Not to Forget
A meeting on Argentina’s history from 1974 to 1983
Moderator Roberto Da Rin – Foreign Desk IL SOLE 24 ORE
Speakers
Carlos Cherniak, Renzo Sicco, Annapaola Bardeloni, Norma Berti,
Sonia Belforte, Sergio Dal Farra, Giancarlo Ceraudo, Taty Almeida
Closing speech by GIULIO TERZI di SANT’AGATA – Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic
An event sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic
From the historical point of view, in reality only a moment has passed since those tragic events in Argentina. While many around the world kept still, minimised and, amazingly enough, did not intervene, 30,000 civilians – including 1,600 Italians – were tortured, shot and even pushed to their death from airplanes into the sea. What we want not to erase today is the memory of these deeds; memory, the container of all those things that must act as a warning, especially to the new generations, that such tragedies must never again occur because, as Jewish writer and Nobel Prize laureate Eli Weisel said “neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim, and silence encourages the tormenter, never the tormented”.
Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, Minister for Foreign Affairs
“A 50-year sentence for a former dictator makes the blood of all the despots in the world run cold. You can take control of all the means of power, but time runs out on that too, and in the end if someone calls for justice, even 30 years later justice can come”.
Renzo Sicco, Artistic Director of the Assemblea Teatro
The work of the Assemblea Teatro in Latin America, and above all the support of the Associations for Human Rights of Argentina, become an occasion for a meeting to be held on 13 September at the foreign ministry in Rome on the history of Argentina between 1974 and 1983, and entitled: “The day before yesterday, the dictatorship: not to forget”. Discussions will be about Argentina, its recent history and human rights, a few days before the start of an “Assemblea Teatro” tour through five South American countries. After Ecuador, the tour will go on to Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay and end in Argentina in a symbolic location, the ESMA-Escuela Superior de Mecánica de la Armada, today’s Museum of Memory in Buenos Aires.
The Assemblea Teatro has journeyed for over 15 years at the side of the Madres, the Abuelas and the Hijos who, for more than 35 years now, have never wavered in the pursuit of justice for their loved ones and for all the desaparecidos. Taty, Estela, Hebe, Lita are only a few of the white handkerchief-waving women that the theatrical company have met and sustained over time. The 13 September encounter will also be a commemoration of this constant and tenacious journey that has ensured that a tragic piece of history is not buried in oblivion.
An open session with Italian journalists who have been following events in Argentina, and South America as a whole, for the past 15 years, and a unique opportunity for the world of culture and students to more deeply understand them in a direct encounter with some of those events’ main protagonists. Topics of discussion will include Argentina’s recent past, the tragedy of the desaparecidos, the struggle to uncover the truth of the Madres who, in recent months, were able to claim a final victory with the trials that found General Videla and the members of the Military Junta guilty of engineering the coup of 1976.
As the work of the Madres proceeds, so does that of the Abuelas, who to date have found 106 grandchildren born in secret prison camps – a quest that the Republic of Argentina has today decided to sponsor also in Italy. Carlos Cherniak, human rights representative of the Argentine Embassy in Italy, will briefly illustrate this new initiative.
At approximately 11:50, Minister for Foreign Affairs Giulio Terzi himself will close the sessions.
Journalists and camera operators interested in covering the event are asked to apply for accreditation by completing the interactive form available at the link http://mae.accreditationsystem.info/ITA/Indice.asp to which all required documentation, if not already submitted, can be attached in digital format (letter on company letterhead and, for representatives of foreign media organisations, a Note Verbale issued by the Embassy in Rome of the organisation’s home country).
If it is not possible to complete the online accreditation procedure, applications should be sent by fax to the Press Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (tel. 063691.3432 fax 06.3691.2122).
About he guests:
TATY ALMEIDA – member of the Madres de Plaza De Mayo – Linea Fundadora, and honorary citizen of the City of Turin since 2007
CARLOS CHERNIAK – Human Rights Representative of the Embassy of the Republic of Argentina in Italy
NORMA BERTI – former inmate of a secret prison in Argentina
SONIA BELFORTE – witness to the silent majority’s consenting attitude toward the dictatorship of Argentina
SERGIO DAL FARRA – refugee at the Embassy of Italy in Buenos Aires where he lived for 2 months to escape arrest
GIANCARLO CERAUDO – freelance photo reporter who documented the political events in Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia, and whose work searched out the “death flights” of the Argentine dictatorship
RENZO SICCO – Artistic Director of the Assemblea Teatro
ANNAPAOLA BARDELONI – actress with the Assemblea Teatro, and theatre activist in South America
