Protesters decry tribute for victims of leftist groups in Argentina’s 1970s political violence

By DANIEL POLITI
Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Human rights activists surrounded the Buenos Aires City Legislature to denounce an event honoring victims of armed leftist groups during the 1970s, when Argentina was engulfed by political violence. Monday’s tribute was arranged by the running-mate of right-wing populist presidential candidate Javier Milei, and demonstrators called it an attempt to change the narrative about crimes against humanity perpetrated by the country’s last military dictatorship. Milei running-mate Victoria Villaruel is a lawmaker who has long defended military officers convicted of crimes against humanity during the bloody 1976-1983 dictatorship. She said the victims of leftist “terrorism were erased from memory, swept under the rug of history.”