Every May 20 marks in Uruguay the commemoration of the Silent March. People walk along the main street of every city and every town in complete and total silence, creating an atmosphere where the streets feel as if they were absolutely empty. This is done in remembrance of the hundreds of victims of the Uruguayan dictatorship, which was endorsed and supported by the United States.
The date was chosen to pay tribute to Senator Zelmar Michelini, Congressman Hector Gutiérrez Ruiz; Rosario Barredo and William Whitelaw (married couple and activists against the dictatorship), all of them abducted and assassinated in Buenos Aires; and Manuel Liberoff, a doctor and communist militant still missing after his abduction. This year, the strong presence of youth was noticeable; and, as every year, there was a multitudinary attendance in the capital, Montevideo, particularly because 2026 marked the 50th anniversary of these murders and forced disappearance and 30 years since the first demonstration.
People in Uruguay consistently march against impunity, demanding information on the whereabouts of their families and for justice for all the victims of the dictatorship. Being this year the fiftieth since the event that gave rise to the Silent March and 30 since the first one, the authorities have had an important role in communicating to the country how they are working to provide answers to the crimes against humanity committed during that time.
On May 14th of 2026, the National Institute of Human Rights and Advocacy of the People (INDDHH for its Spanish acronym), informed that the number of victims has risen from 197 to 205, since new information has come up in the last few years; mostly from testimonies that have emerged from the families of victims of forced disappearance. Mariana Mota, President of the INDDHH, stated: “It’s important to have in mind that the exact number of victims of forced disappearance can only be known if the perpetrators inform and give the locations. In the meantime, the number will always be an approximation and will vary”.
The day before the demonstration, in the press conference of the Association of Mothers and Relatives of Detained-Disappeared , Alba González, one of its founders and mother of Rafael Lezama, abducted the 1 of October of 1976 and still missing, declared that there are “still a lot of closed doors” and “documents are still at large and hidden”, making the search for the missing detainees without that information a “blind search, which needs a comprehensive, state-wide search policy involving all its agents, the commitment must be total and unequivocal”. She also quoted the words of President Yamandú Orsí, who this past week stated that the Armed Forces should give all the information they have without any more delay. He was the first president to give that order since democracy returned to Uruguay. Today, Alba is one of only four mothers of the forced disappeared that are still alive.
During the day of the demonstration, Mario Stevenazzi, commander-in-chief of the Army, declared in Radio Carve, a local radio, that the Army “does not hide anything. anymore” and that they are working with the Ministry of National Defense and with the INDDHH in order to make more findings. However, the Association of Mothers and Relatives is not satisfied with this declaration, considering not only that the number of victims has risen, but also that only two years ago they found new human remains in the 14th Battalion in the Canelones Department, following the previous discovery of remains in 2011, 2012 and 2022 in that same location. Moreover, at least twelve former -military officers who have been summoned by the courts remain fugitives, and have yet to appear to provide testimony.
Despite the military’s lack of cooperation, significant progress has been made by other institutions. Since the year 2018, the Specialized Office of Prosecution Against Crimes Against Humanity, has handled more that 100 cases involving perpetrators of crimes against humanity, compared to only 15 between the return of democracy and the year 2017. This year alone they have secured three convictions. The road towards justice remains rough and challenging However, some authorities and institutions, as well as the people of Uruguay, continue to work in pursuit of truth, justice and guarantees of non-repetition.
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