Thirty-four years ago Mercedes Moreno had her daughter taken from her after giving birth in an illegal detention centre; the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo have now announced they have found her.

“We always had her present, we grew up with the hope of finding her. We want her to know that there is a family waiting for her,” said Paola, a daughter of Moreno and sister of the newly identified woman.

“Stories where our grandchildren are reunited with their parents are rare. Generally state terrorism managed to erase all trace of their existence,” explained Estela de Carlotto, head of the non-governmental organisation fighting for justice on behalf of the disappeared.

Estela de Carlotto and the late President Nestór Kirchner (Wikimedia)

Moreno’s daughter is the 107^th grandchild that went missing during the last dictatorship to have been identified.

Moreno was 25 years old in 1978, two years into Argentina’s last dictatorship, when she was arrested in Córdoba for passing on messages while visiting her husband in prison.

A month later she gave birth to a baby girl in the illegal detention centre of the Information Department of Córdoba’s police. Moreno’s daughter was immediately taken from her and her search for her daughter was only ended last week with the Abuela’s announcement.

Moreno was then released in April of 1979 and, tipped by one of the nurses at the hospital where she had given birth, went to look for her daughter at the Casa Cuna nursery.

“We don’t let in subversives here,” she recalls being told by the nuns that worked there, who also threatened to call the police.

“I always thought that we would find her,” said Moreno, now 59.

“We haven’t met her yet, she asked for some time before seeing us,” she added.

Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires (Wikimedia)

The daughter’s identity has not been revealed after she demanded to remain anonymous and all that is known is that she was registered as the child of an employee of the nursery in Córdoba.

After being contacted by the Justice department she agreed of her own will to give her DNA for cross testing with Moreno’s. The test revealed that there was a more than 99% probability that they are related.

The Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo commemorated 35 years of their fight for justice in April of this year while the last grandchild to have been identified was Pablo Javier Gaona Miranda in August.

Argentines gathered in various locations throughout the country last night to express their frustrations with the administration of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Among the main demands were fewer restrictions on currency exchange, no to constitutional reform, easing trade restrictions, and a reduction of crime and general corruption. In Buenos Aires, people congregated at the intersections of Corrientes and Pueyrredón and Santa Fe and Callao and then descended to meet at Plaza de Mayo. While chaotic, emphatic, and noisy, there was no violence. Photographers Ande Wanderer, Beatrice Murch, Diego Espinosa, Madeleine Decker and Marc Rogers share their photos with you here.

Thousands gathered in Plaza de Mayo today to honor the memories of those who disappeared in Argentina’s last military coup. The day marks the anniversary of Argentina’s dictatorship that began on 24 March, 1976, and is now known as the Memorial Day of Truth and Justice.

Internationally renowned social organisations such as the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo joined other political and economic groups to voice their message in the heart of the nation’s capital. Many carried a large banner that featured names of the victims.

The groups additionally shepherded student unions in their marches today, demanding culpability for those responsible for the disappearances of thousands during the years of the dictatorship.

The student groups and left-wing organisations held banners displaying the slogan “jail for genocide, not impunity for the past and present.”

Several activities were carried out throughout the day as well, such as a photography exhibition and the completion of a 204-piece jigsaw puzzle in the image of journalist Rodolfo Walsh.

Many of the nation’s political leaders got involved in the various causes. According to La Nacion, provincial deputy Gabriel Bruera and councilwoman Valeria Amendolara attended a three-kilometer run/walk that was organised by the La Plata district.

President Cristina Kirchner honored the day and her late husband by quoting some of his more famous words on social networking site Twitter: “24 March has become the living consciousness of what never to do in the fatherland.”

Various political and social organizations gathered yesterday in Avenida 9 de Julio for what was called an act of remembrance for those who were killed as a result of police violence ten years ago.

The groups blocked traffic and burned tires in the street at the intersection of Avenida de Mayo as a way of protesting the events that happened during some of the most violent moments of the economic crisis on 19^th and 20^th December 2001.

Later they moved towards the Casa Rosada and set fire to the decorative Christmas tree put in place by the government of Argentina in the Plaza de Mayo.

Among those participating in the demonstration were representatives from the Central Workers of Argentina (CTA) and the Revolutionary Communist Party.

José del Frari, head of the CTA said that it is “an obligation” to remember those who fell during those days when the public was fighting against neoliberalism.

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was re-elected president of Argentina by a landslide of 53% of the voters on 23rd October 2011. Many of her supporters thronged to Plaza de Mayo in front of the Casa Rosada to congratulate her and listen to her acceptance speech. Photographer Caitlin M. Kelly with Argentina Elections covered the event, along with Beatrice Murch, Patricio Murphy, and Santiago Trusso who share their photos memorializing the historic evening.

Street graffiti painted on a crosswalk in the Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 23, 2011. (Photo by Caitlin M. Kelly/Argentina Elections)

Angelica Retore, 76, from Avellaneda waits for the other members of her group Frente de Mujeres K during the celebration in the Plaza de Mayo. (Photo by Caitlin M. Kelly/Argentina Elections)

A street vendor takes advantage of the opportunity to sell flags during the celebration for the reelection of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in the Plaza de Mayo. (Photo by Caitlin M. Kelly/Argentina Elections)

A circle of women jump and sing as drummers beat out a rhythm during the celebration of the reelection of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in the Plaza de Mayo. (Photo by Caitlin M. Kelly/Argentina Elections)

The sun sets over the crowd at Plaza de Mayo. (Photo: Patricio Murphy)

The immense crowd fills Plaza de Mayo to the brim. (Photo: Patricio Murphy)

Members of the Tupac Amaru sing and celebrate the reelection of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner as they arrive at the Plaza de Mayo. (Photo: Santiago Trusso)

Members of the Tupac Amaru sing and celebrate the reelection of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner as they arrive at the Plaza de Mayo.

The momentum of the crowd displays their enthusiasm at Plaza de Mayo. (Photo: Patricio Murphy)

The scene outside the Hotel Intercontinental in Buenos Aires, Argentina was packed with people celebrating the reelection of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. (Photo by Caitlin M. Kelly/Argentina Elections)

Banners and ballons surround the Liberty Obelisk at Plaza de Mayo. (Photo: Patricio Murphy)

Chanting, and pumping their fists supporters rally through the evening. (Photo: Santiago Trusso)

A banner approximately four stories tall depicting a representation of former President Nestor Kirchner hangs from a building in the Plaza de Mayo during the celebration for the reelection of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. (Photo by Caitlin M. Kelly/Argentina Elections)

A child sits atop his father's shoulders giving the victory sign as they wait for Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to address the crowd. (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

The visage of former president Nestor Kirchner is used as the face of Eternauta on the supporters' flag. (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

Supporters eagerly await the arrival of the President at Plaza de Mayo. (Photo: Patricio Murphy)

A larger than life-size puppet is maneuvered in the crowd at Plaza de Mayo. There wasn't much room to push forward as the crowds got thicker and thicker the closer in one got, so this manequins arms waved and the head pivoted in a show of support. (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

Supporters fill Plaza de Mayo all through the night. (Photo: Patricio Murphy)

Fireworks are set off in various locations during the celebration for the reelection of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in the Plaza de Mayo. (Photo by Caitlin M. Kelly/Argentina Elections)

Taking a seat along the curb at the end of a long night. (Photo: Santiago Trusso)

The fountain behind the Casa Rosada in Plaza Colon is lit up as the Argentine flag to celebrate Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's re-election victory. (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

Mauricio Macri, the mayor of Buenos Aires, plans to expand the Julio A. Roca Avenue, more commonly known as Diagonal Sur, as far as the 9 de Julio Avenue.

Currently Diagonal Sur starts at the Plaza de Mayo and ends on Belgrano Avenue but, if approved, the project will require the demolition of approximately 40 buildings in the surrounding area.

Macri’s purpose is to finish the “symbolic structure of the city”, a project which was planned a century ago. He also looking to build an underground parking garage underneath Diagonal Sur.

Congressmen from the opposition have questioned the usefulness of the project while the Central Society of Architects has praised the initiative.

Editor’s note: The original article incorrectly stated that the street was commonly known as ‘Diagonal Norte’, when it is ‘Diagonal Sur’. This has since been amended.

Yesterday saw the public holiday in memory of thirty-five years since the military coup. Two main groups characterised the march, both fighting for justice in past and present.

The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Association, led by Hebe de Bonafini, held a rally in the Meracdo Central in Buenos Aires province, accompanied by lectures from the ministers for Economy and Industry, Amado Boudou and Débora Giorgi, and the Interior Commerce secretary, Guillermo Moreno. Bonafii said: “ Today it matters more to us that a child is happy than that a military member is put in jail.” Their hope is that the loss of their sons and daughters translates into new schools, hospitals and employment opportunities.

In the city centre, more than 50,000 people gathered around Plaza de Mayo. At the forefront, the Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, together with other relatives of those who disappeared during the military junta, demanded punishment for those involved and asked for information on missing teenager, Luciano Arruga, and Jorge Julio López, a witness against the repressor Miguel Etchecolatz, who was disappeared in September 2006. They put up posters around the city centre which targeted journalists and public figures implicated in the dictatorship.

Many left-wing groups who wished to protest against the national government, particularly its human rights policy, also convened.

Other marches took place around the country. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner did not participate in the day’s events and instead chose to remain at her home in Santa Cruz.

Over 25,000 people joined a march to Plaza de Mayo last night demanding an explanation for the death of Mariano Ferreyra, 23, in clashes between railway and leftist unions on Wednesday.

After Buenos Aires was paralysed by a city-wide transport strike in protest against the shooting in Baracas, there still hasn’t been an arrest.

Leftist groups and human rights organisations, who organised the march merely 24 hours after the shooting took place, met at the corner of Corrientes and Callao before making their way to the Casa Rosada last night.

Nelson Aguirre, another member of the PO who was also shot on Wednesday was at the front of the march in a wheelchair.

Elsa Rodríguez, 56, who was shot in the head during the clash remains in a coma at Argerich Hospital. Two of her daughters took part in the march.

More than 200 organisations that took part in the march signed a petition which was read out in the Plaza de Mayo. It demanded punishment of those responsible, saying: “We demand an immediate explanation for this latest crime that cost Mariano Ferreyra his life.”

Jorge Altamira, leader of the PO was the only speaker at the rally, saying that the party’s request for a meeting with President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner had been ignored.

He said: “All of the organisations that have come together here have asked for an audience with the President, so that she can tell us what she is going to do to make sure these murderers rot in prison. But we have heard nothing.

“It’s been 20 hours and nobody has been arrested. The fact that she has decided not to receive us reveals the commitment that the government has with union bureaucracy,” he said in an interview with Clarín,” said Altamira.

Kirchner said yesterday: “You already know that the only one I’m married to is Néstor Kirchner, other than that I’m not married to anyone.”

Ferreyra, Rodríguez and Aguirre were shot during a protest in Barracas on Tuesday afternoon in support of ‘outsourced’ Ferrocarril Roca ex-employees.

Many of the people taking part in the march yesterday were at the protest on Wednesday. Over a hundred of the ex-workers marched at the front of the masses wearing their old uniforms and hard hats.

They carried the same signs as they had two days ago, reading: “No more lay-offs. All staff to be permanent.”

Others carried posters of the head of the railway union, José Pedraza, whom they depicted wearing black and white-striped prison clothes.

In condemnation of the crime, state employees and teachers affiliated with the Associacion Trabajadores del Estado (ATE) and the Central de Trabajadores Argentinos (CTA) went on strike nation-wide yesterday.

Sarmiento and Belgrano Norte lines were suspended and underground workers raised the barriers on the Subte so that people could travel for free. There were also protests in Entre Rios, Mendoza, Mar del Plata, Rosario and Córdoba.

The Casa Rosada was lit up with special colours in honour of an international anti-cancer campaign last night. Altamira said: “I want to see the Casa Rosada in mourning because one of our sons has died.”

“They’re killing us all,” read banners hoisted above a crowd of more than seven thousand people demonstrating against injustice and insecurity at the Plaza de Mayo last night.

The rally was organised by the parents of Diego Rodríguez, the 28 year old model who was killed during an attempted robbery in Liniers on Monday.

His death came ten days after the kidnap and murder of Matías Berardi, a sixteen year old student, in Campana.

“All I’m asking for is security. I don’t want revenge, but I want to live in peace. I can’t get rid of the image of my son, lying on the floor in a pool of blood,” Mathilde Rodriguez, Diego’s mother, said from a stage in front of the Casa Rosada.

The 24 hours following the model’s murder also saw the killings of Gloria Robledo, 33, in Flores and José Luis Musante, 42, in Villa Lugano.

Although Berardi’s parents weren’t at the rally, banners reading, “Never forget – Mati forever,” were carried aloft by his football and rugby team mates.

The crowd carried glowing candles, flags and banners. They were shouting “security and justice!” as well as criticisms of President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and the head of the cabinet, Aníbal Fernández.

Placards with the faces of the recent murder victims printed on them were held up above the multitudes.

Shortly after 7pm Julio Rodriguez, Diego’s father addressed the assembled protestors, saying: “I can’t go on, I’m destroyed. I want someone to do something, I’m not asking for vengeance; just that we can go walk the streets without fear.

“I will never see my son again. Please protect us. What I want now, is that no one else has to feel as bad as we do. We wish we had been coming to the plaza for a walk, rather than coming to demand justice,” he said.

The victim’s girlfriend, Luján, said: “It’s embarrassing that someone has to explain to me why nothing is being done to protect our lives. They killed him like a dog. We want to live, we want to be protected and they’re looking the other way.”

Mathilde, who had been received by Aníbal Fernández earlier in the day, said: “I don’t want the death penalty, but I want life sentences for murderers and rapists that take lives. I don’t want them to see the light of day again, they should suffer inside a prison.

“I am asking the president to pull the necessary strings and I am telling her, from one mother to another, that this can’t go on. People who have power and are in a position to help us, please help us!

“I want them to find the murderers, not just my son’s, but those that have killed the other young people in recent days,” she said.

Today over 100 human rights, student, cultural and labour organisations, marched along Avenida de Mayo to Plaza de Mayo to commemorate ‘El Día de la Memoria’, a day of memory to remember the 30,000 people who ’disappeared’ under the military dictatorship in Argentina that began 34 years ago in 1976. The march was led by the Abuelas and Madres de Plaza de Mayo.

Estela de Carlotto, from the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, was the first to speak at the rally and was accompanied by a 500 metre banner that contained the faces of thousands of the missing. The banner carried the slogan ‘For a bicentenary without impunity: Trial and punishment now’: referring to the need to bring those responsible for the deaths and torture committed during the dictatorship to trial. She spoke about the need for justice and criticised a number of private companies such as Ford and Mercedes Benz, the head of Buenos Aires government, Mauricio Macri, and the metropolitan police. She said, “The accomplices of hunger are the same as 30 years ago.” Other groups at the rally were protesting and remembering those who have ‘disappeared’ since the military dictatorship, under democracy.

President Cristina Kirchner held a rally at ESMA, the former naval mechanic school which was a detention centre of political prisoners during the dictatorship and is now an ‘Espacio para la Memoria’ (a space for memory). Cristina called for a “rebuilding of the country” and stated that she would resort to international courts if justice couldn’t be achieved in Argentina. She said, “Our past should not be judged, those who committed crimes indeed should be [judged].”

Members of the left-wing and anti-government group, Quebracho, led by Fernando Esteche, demonstrated at the Argentine Industrial Union headquarters. They covered their faces with scarves and carried wooden sticks and stones.