María Emilia Islas

María Emilia Islas Gatti (Montevideo, April 18, 1953 - disappeared on September 27, 1976) was a Uruguayan political activist, who disappeared in Buenos Aires in 1976.

María Emilia Islas Gatti
Born(1953-04-18)April 18, 1953
Montevideo, Uruguay
DisappearedSeptember 27, 1976
Buenos Aires
StatusMissing for 43 years, 10 months and 4 days
NationalityUruguayan
Spouse(s)Jorge Roberto Zaffaroni Castilla
ChildrenMariana Zaffaroni

Biography

She was born on April 18, 1953, at the Harvard Clinical Sanatorium in the city of Montevideo, Uruguay. The only daughter of María Ester Gatti and Ramón Islas, María Emilia was named for her grandmother. She lived her first years in the Cordon neighbourhood.

In 1965, María Emilia entered the Zorillia de San Martin high school where she became engaged in politics and political organizing. In 1970 she became more involved and joined the Federación Anarquista Uruguaya (FAU), the Oriental Revolutionary Popular Organization 33 (OPR 33); Asociación de Estudiantes de Magisterio en la Resistencia Obrero Estudiantil (ROE)[1] and finally in Argentina, with the Party for Victory of the People (PVP).[2]

On November 28, 1973, she married Jorge Zaffaroni, also an activist.[3] By 1974, the political situation in Uruguay became intolerable, so they left for Buenos Aires. María Emilia arrived during the second week of December, then six months pregnant. Zaffaroni joined her on January 11, 1975, and their daughter Mariana was born on March 22, 1975.[4][5]

Storefront of "Automotores Orletti" which functioned as a clandestine detention centre during the Argentinian military dictatorship.

The family was arrested on September 27, 1976 at their home in Parque Chacabuco, Buenos Aires.[6] They were then taken to the clandestine detention center "Automotres Orletti." According to testimony given by Orestes Estanisalo Bello, the couple was interrogated by personnel from the Servicio de Inteligencia Uruguayo (SID).[7] They were suspected to be members of OPR-33, a Uruguayan militant group based in Buenos Aires.[8][6] Their detention and disappearance was part of the Dirty War tactics under "Operation Condor".[9]

María Emilia was most likely moved to a final destination between October 5 and 6, 1976.[10] She and Jorge Zaffaroni remain on a list of missing Uruguayans in Argentina.

Her mother, María Ester Gatti, was an active member of Madres y Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos.[11] Due to her persistence, Islas' daughter was located in 1983, and her identity confirmed in 1993.[2][12]

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References
  1. "María Emilia Islas Gatti | Centro de Fotografía de Montevideo". cdf.montevideo.gub.uy. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  2. "ZAFFARONI ISLAS, Mariana | Nuestros Nietos | Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo". www.abuelas.org.ar. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  3. Graña, François (2011). Los padres de Mariana : María Emilia Islas y Jorge Zaffaroni : la pasión militante (2 ed.). Montevideo, Uruguay: Ediciones Trilce. p. 140. ISBN 978-9974-32-569-2. OCLC 748436730.
  4. "ZAFFARONI CASTILLA - ISLAS GATTI | Nuestros Nietos | Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo". www.abuelas.org.ar. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  5. Forcinito, Ana (2018). Intermittences : memory, justice, and the poetics of the visible in Uruguay. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 978-0-8229-8636-2. OCLC 1081315649.
  6. State Intelligence Secretariat, Secretaria de Inteligencia del Estado (SIDE) (1976-09-29). "Entregados a OCOAS XXX URUGUAYOS, September 29, 1976". The National Security Archive. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  7. Graña, François (2011). Los padres de Mariana : María Emilia Islas y Jorge Zaffaroni : la pasión militante (2 ed.). Montevideo, Uruguay: Ediciones Trilce. p. 242. ISBN 978-9974-32-569-2. OCLC 748436730.
  8. "On 30th Anniversary of Argentine Coup: New Declassified Details on Repression and U.S. Support for Military Dictatorship". nsarchive2.gwu.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  9. Department of Defence. "Special Operations Forces Secret NoForn Intelligence Information Report". The National Security Archive. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  10. "Ficha perteneciente a ISLAS GATTI, María Emilia". Secretaría de Derechos Humanos para el Pasado Reciente (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  11. Newbery, Charles (2010-12-06). "María Ester Gatti, Uruguayan Activist, Dies at 92". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  12. Entrevista a Mariana Zaffaroni 1/2, retrieved 2020-01-02
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