Argentina: Lula meets with Mothers and Grandmothers from Plaza de Mayo

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s busy schedule in Buenos Aires on Monday (Jan. 23) included a meeting with the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a group of women formed to demand explanations from the Argentine state for the murder and disappearance of thousands of young people during dictatorship in the neighboring country.

“The Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo are an inspiration in the defense of democracy in Latin America. I am thrilled with our meeting today,” Lula wrote in a post on social media.

The trip to Argentina is Lula’s first international tour in his third term. Throughout the day, he met with the country’s President Alberto Fernández and with Argentine and Brazilian businessmen. In the evening, Lula, Fernández and other foreign leaders participated in a musical concert with artists from both countries at the Kirchner Cultural Center.

First Lady Janja Lula da Silva, who is accompanying President Lula on his trip, also posted on social media highlighting the meeting with the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

“In Buenos Aires, we met with representatives of the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, whose children and grandchildren were murdered or disappeared during the military dictatorship. Admiration for these women who are fighting for dignity and redress of rights,” she wrote.