by Ian Moss
“¿Adónde van los desaparecidos?” asking literally, “where do the disappeared go?” This question is asked by the Panamanian music icon, Harvard educated attorney, and human rights activist Ruben Blades in his song “Desapareciones”. Thematically, the song refers to the “Desaparecidos” the name given to the thousands of people in various Latin American countries who vanished at the hands of the State. This unfortunate period in Latin America lasted from the early 1960’s to early 1980’s is known in Spanish as “La Guerra Sucia”, or Dirty War.
The most notable Dirty War occurred in Argentina where thousands of individuals were secretly imprisoned, tortured, or simply never returned home from work or school. The same occurred in Mexico to political dissidents of the Partido Revolutionario Institutional, commonly known as the PRI, the party which ruled Mexico for the better part of the last century. Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was recently convicted for his role in orchestrating disappearances during his tenure. And last year, on the other side of the world, Iran’s turbulent elections further exposed to the World that country’s commission of the same reprehensible conduct against it citizens.
Fortunately for most of us, over the past 50 years the United States, unlike Iran, Chile, Mexico, and Argentina, has not abducted its citizens, deprived them of due process, tortured them, or performed extrajudicial executions — at least, not outside the context of the War on Terror. In America our political institutions are strong and the rule of law prevails. But sadly, we too are waging our own Guerra Sucia and have steadily produced thousands of American Desaparecidos. Instead of targeting political dissidents, America’s Dirty War is being waged against our youth.
