Buenos Aires Herald editorial

Honoring the life and struggle of Mother of Plaza de Mayo Lidia Stella Mercedes “Taty” Almeida, who passed away on Sunday at 95, feels akin to trying to capture the universe in a single water drop.

How do you depict unwavering courage and grace? How do you accurately convey absolute horror? 

Perhaps the only way to start is to place a hand on your chest, remember her, and take it from there. And tonight, that space feels empty and broken. 

Taty was an example of what endless love can accomplish in the face of unspeakable atrocities. History books retell her ordeal through facts that can sound almost impossible to rationally understand or emotionally bear.

She was a teacher with three sons when one of them, Alejandro, was kidnapped in June 1975. She searched for him by knocking on every door she could think of, eventually joining forces with other mothers enduring the same tragedy. 

Despite the end of the dictatorship in 1983 and the fact that their struggle would become a global symbol for human rights advocacy, Taty has left us without ever finding out the truth about the fate of her son.

For those who never lived through devastation at that scale, it would be an exercise in futility to adequately imagine what the effect might be. Perhaps insurmountable grief. Or paralyzing anguish. Maybe even vengeful rage. 

And while it is entirely plausible that some or all of these emotions crisscrossed Taty’s heart at some time or another, a mere minute in her presence was enough to see that no tragedy would be capable of extinguishing her grit, perseverance, or smile. 

Taty always fought for truth, memory, and justice. Nothing more, and nothing less. 

For those of us who do the Herald, she was also our champion and a source of wisdom we always looked up to. 

The newspaper had been the place where she and other mothers looked to editor-in-chief Robert Cox and journalists like Andrew Graham-Yooll and Uki Goñi for desperately needed assistance during the years of the dictatorship. And it was Taty who offered her full-hearted support and encouragement for the Herald when it relaunched in 2022, looking to continue its work and legacy in a new global media environment. 

And even though her health began to fail her in recent years, she kept showing up with the same determination, just like she did with every struggle she took on in her life. 

Last December, Taty sat in the third row at a screening hosted by the Herald of the film Tiempos Circulares, a touching documentary about four close friends from Córdoba who are united by the experience of losing their parents to the brutality of Argentina’s last dictatorship. After the projection, she gracefully said a few words, praising the film and its efforts to keep memory, truth, and justice alive in Argentina.  

The Herald and the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo—Founders Line presented a joint project last September led by managing editor Juan Décima, unveiling the recordings of the mothers’ biographies in English at the Ex-ESMA. Taty made sure she was there to support the enterprise and express her unwavering commitment to the cause that has united the Herald and the Mothers for more than 50 years. 

“Today more than ever, we remember those who are no longer with us but who are still here. And why are they still here? Thanks to you and so many others who carry the torch we’ve passed you,” she said after gifting editor-in-chief Estefanía Pozzo and former deputy director Amy Booth with statuettes of a figure wearing the white headscarf that symbolizes the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo and the fight to defend human rights.

Taty turned her personal story into a collective political movement, and through that commitment to struggle and activism, she became one of the architects of Argentine democracy.

She never stood on the sidelines of history. In addition to being one of the faces of the movement for memory, truth, and justice, Taty also embraced feminist demands, wearing the green handkerchief that expanded the rights of Argentine women on her wrist.

At the Buenos Aires Herald, we will continue to honor her legacy and defend the causes she fought for, maintaining a commitment to never stop focusing on the stories that need to be reported.

Rest in power, Taty. No nos han vencido.

Cover image: Taty Almeida with Herald editor-in-chief Estefanía Pozzo (middle) and former deputy director Amy Booth (Credit: Guido Piotrkowski).