Every weekend for the past 16 years, the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo have hosted a TV show on Argentina’s TV Pública public channel. But their program, Madres de la Plaza, aired for the last time on Saturday after the channel’s managers told them, with just 72 hours’ notice, that the show was canceled.

Madres de la Plaza had aired every Saturday since January 2008, showing interviews and news about the Mothers’ latest activities, including the historic Thursday marches around the Pirámide de Mayo monument in Plaza de Mayo. 

“We reject the denialist government of [President Javier] Milei, friend to the perpetrators of genocide […] for this unjust decision,” read a statement issued by the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, who have marched around Plaza de Mayo every Thursday since 1977 to demand the safe return of their children, who were disappeared by Argentina’s 1976-1983 dictatorship. 

The Mothers’ march, known as the Ronda de los Jueves (Thursday round), began as a way to protest without breaking the military dictatorship’s strict rules on public gatherings.

The decision to cancel their show did not come as a surprise, since Milei has been clear about his plans to shut down Argentina’s public media, the mothers said. Milei and members of his administration have previously lashed out against outlets such as TV Pública, news agency Télam (the biggest of Argentina’s two remaining news agencies), educational channels Encuentro and Paka Paka, and congressional news channel Diputados TV.

The privatization of some of those public channels was included in Milei’s omnibus bill, which collapsed during congressional debate three weeks ago due to a lack of support from lawmakers.

“If [Milei] thinks that by removing us from the airwaves he will end our fight, he is greatly mistaken,” the release said. “We will continue [marching] around Plaza de Mayo, and we will see his damned government end.”