Latin America News: Missing Argentina Grandchild Kidnapped During Dictatorship Discovered
Kidnapped during Argentina's military dictatorship, a woman has discovered through DNA testing that she is the daughter of a couple who disappeared during the country's tumoultous regime.
The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a human rights group devoted to the search for the missing grandchildren taken during the right-wing dictatorship, identified the person known as "Nieta 115." She is the granddaughter of one of the group's founding members Alicia Zubasnabar de la Cuadra, according to The Associated Press.
Born to de la Cuadra's daughter in 1977, the woman, a 37-year-old who lives in Europe, learned of her identity after decades of thinking she was someone else's child, reports Tiempo Argentino. She was named Ana Libertad when she was born.
During the military dictatorship, which ruled the South American country from 1976 to 1983, government dissenters were kidnapped and executed. Many children of those executed were kidnapped and given to families loyal to the regime. De la Cuadra's daughter, Elena, was taken when she was pregnant, along with her husband Hector Baratti, according to the Buenos Aires Herald.
De la Cuadra and a number of women who lost their relatives formed the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo and began searching for them. De la Cuadra became the organization's first president but died in 2008 before meeting her granddaughter.
The Grandmothers' released a statement on Facebook announcing the news and explaining the months long process through which the DNA was taken and sent to Argentina to match with those at the National Bank of Genetic Data.
It all began in 2010 when the group and the National Commission for the Right to Identity received a case from a woman claiming to be the child of a disappeared couple. After an investigation of documents, a government unit specialized on cases of children kidnapped by the dictatorship took the case in 2013. When Ana found out a court had ordered a DNA sample, she offered it willingly.
The group's current president, Estela de Carlotto, said Ana was "anxious to learn her identity," according to Tiempo Argentino.
Comparing the discovery of Ana to that of her own grandchild, Guido, de Carlotto said, "It impacted the country in which Guido lives. And, it also encouraged her to find her real identity, which was thankfully done quickly."
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com