…the almost right word

I’ve written in the past of Los Desaparecidos, the “subversive” citizens of Chile and Argentina (in particular) who were kidnapped, tortured or murdered. In essence, they disappeared. It has been easy to consider this a part of history, a part of what, is now, the past. However, even in the aftermath of their dictatorships, even in the process of “democratization,” disappearances continue. 

Two years ago, an Argentine man named Julio Lopez appeared as a witness to a human rights trial. The trial was set to convict a police chief who had taken part in the violent acts of his country’s totalitarian regime. The day before the police chief was sentenced to life, Julio Lopez disappeared. The BBC News calls Lopez a “victim twice over:” 

His family and human rights activists believe he was taken by police officers or ex-police officers as a warning to others considering testifying in subsequent human rights trials against former members of the military government.

Mr Lopez has not been seen since, despite a massive campaign of marches, rallies, media coverage and appeals from his family and the president.

In honor of the second anniversary of his disappearance, mass protests have been organized in Buenos Aires, the capitol, and La Plata, Lopez’ hometown. While the police initially concluded their investigation and closed the case due to its dead end, current protests now demand that he be found alive. 

It’s an unexpected turn of events — a man, whose name few knew, now represents the ongoing fight to bring justice to these countries. He now has a Wikipedia page and countless articles have been written about his disappearance. The government of Buenos Aires offered an reward, that has now been doubled, for information on his whereabouts.

We make so much progress, over time, and yet events like these continue to take place. I’m tempted to call it “astonishing,” but perhaps it isn’t astonishing at all. Perhaps it makes perfect sense — just because the corrupt men are no longer “in power,” doesn’t mean that they don’t have power. Meanwhile, citizens who are being “empowered” through democratization, through free elections, are still disappearing. 

Argentine Writer Ernesto Sabato once wrote (about the disappearances that occurred during the dictatorship), “It is only democracy which can save people from horror on this scale.” It looks like democracy is not, necessarily, the savior after all.