Hebe de Bonafini, leader of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Madres de Plaza de Mayo) has been widely criticised following a spirited condemnation of the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Government officials and prominent political figures have spoken out against Bonafini’s assault during a demonstration organised by Kirchnerist supporters in response to the court’s delay in approving the controversial new media law.
“What are we going to tell these “turros” at the Supreme Court? What are we going to say to people that allowed torture and death to take place? People who supported the military dictatorship?
“I don’t know why it’s called “supreme” or why it’s called a “court”. I don’t know why the hell they’re in a palace. These turros only rarely think about the people in the towns and streets – and it’s them that have to decide.
“Let’s snatch the decision away from the court, because it belongs to us. Let us take it out of their hands and even if we have to take Tribunales palace, we’ll take it.
“We won’t leave the street, the street is ours,” she said on Tuesday
Daniel Scioli, governor of Buenos Aires province, spoke out against Bonafini saying: “We must respect each other more. We can live in a democracy and debate all manner of things but we have to respect each other more”.
Scioli was the first high-profile official to criticise Bonafini but was later followed by Juan Manuel Urtubey, governor of San Juan.
In an interview with Clarín, Urtubey said: “We all need to lower the decibels of confrontation and work to provide what the Argentine people need.”
His San Juan colleague, José Luis Gioja was also critical: “We are all part of a country that has a system which is representative and republican and “republican” means that there is division of powers and we have to respect it.”
The Centre for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), a human rights group, later also added its voice to the outcry, describing Bonafini’s words as “horrible” and “unacceptable”.
Amongst other condemnations of the court she also accused them of “receiving envelopes full of money”.
“I know exactly what I’m saying,” she said on a Canal 7 programme last night.
The president of the College of Magistrates in the province of Buenos Aires, Carlos Lami accused Bonafini of slander, inciting violence and of taking the law into her own hands by challenging the court.
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