QUICK SMART ENGLISH - ADVANCED
by Maurice Forget, Andrew Betsis ELT publications
UNIT 11
PEACE around the World
VOCABULARY – SYNONYMS in alphabetical order
TEXT 2
Abduct: steal, kidnap, grab
acknowledged : recognised, admitted
awards: prizes
banners : sign, poster, placard
barracks : military shelter, camp
booth : stand, counter, box, corner
Censorship: ban, suppression
claims: states, supports, says
commission: agency, mission
counteracted : faced, dealt with, opposed
Demonstration: march, protest, react, rally
diapers : grave carvings/letters, nappies, pants
distributing: hand out, give away, offer
Dumped: thrown
earned : won, gained
eventually : finally
extradition: ostracism, exile
faction: group, party, coalition, club
fleeing : leaving secretly, running away
former : old, ex
founding : starting
gained: won
going public: expose, disclose, present to all
Grave: burial place, tomb
harassment: abuse, maltreatment, molestation
Hawk : advertise, cry out
Head: in charge of, leader,president
Heads: leads
immunity: exemption, privilege, protection
Imposed : set up, placed, forced
inspiration: idol
intentions: plans, aims
Intone: recite, call out, read
leanings: inclination, siding
literature : readings
littered : dirtied, filled, covered
major : greatest, biggest
March: parade, protest
matter : issue, theme, problem
Militants : fighter, protester, demonstrator, activist, rioter, aggressive
mounted : grew, rose
nonviolent: peaceful
Obliterate: wipe out, destroy
Outskirts : outside the centre, suburbs
Over: about, for
prestige : dignity, status
prevented : stopped
prohibit: stop, not allow
Reclaim: recover, save, claim, ask for, get back, retrieve
Records : documents
referring to: mentioning, picturing
Reigned : dominated, prevailed
repressive : oppressive, suppressive
Resistance: fight, opposition
Rights: privilege
set up: put, place
Shortly : fast
Solemnity: dignity, grace, nobility, nobleness, seriousness
Stage: present, do, act
Strung : covered, attached with
suffered : undergo, be in pain, endure
suspend: delay, hold off
taking office : being appointed, getting into the government
took place: happened
Tortured : torment, hurt
unresolved: unsolved, not clear, not answered
Vendors : sellers, salesperson
Waged: conducted, carried out
Wares: products, stock, material
Yearly: annual, every year
our book text comprises the bold letters pieces below.
Original text
Hope ends 29-year march of Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo / 1,500th demonstration over disappeared children
Regina M. Anavy
Published 4:00am, Sunday, February 26, 2006
Hebe de Bonafini, head of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo human rights group, center, heads the final yearly 24-hours Resistance March which started yesterday in Buenos Aires's Plaza de Mayo, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006. Bonafini said "The enemy is no longer in the Government," when she explained why the group has decided to end the yearly 24-hours long Resistance March which has been staged since 1981. (AP Photo/Eduardo Di Baia) **EFE OUT**
One month ago, a historic event took place in Buenos Aires when the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo staged their 1,500th, and last, demonstration.
Crowds had been arriving since the day before, and tents littered the grass. Left-wing political factions had set up booths and were distributing literature. Images of Eva Peron and Che Guevara mixed with banners carrying slogans. Vendors on the outskirts hawked their wares to passers-by and tourists.
It was a festival, complete with musicians. But at the heart of the demonstration, solemnity reigned. The pyramid in the center was strung with photos of dead children. A loudspeaker intoned their names. The marchers walked slowly and silently around the pyramid. No one should forget what brought them here.
The Mothers began their protests during the Dirty War in Argentina, waged from 1976 to 1983, when the military government abducted, tortured and killed left-wing militants, stole babies born to pregnant prisoners, and obliterated any records that would help the families find the bodies or reclaim their grandchildren.
During this period, the word "disappeared" entered the lexicon. It referred to the kidnapped people who were never heard from again. Their families did not know if they were in a detention center, alive and being tortured, or dead and dumped into an unmarked grave. The censorship imposed by the military government prevented any discussion of the matter, and those who did not stay silent risked being disappeared themselves.
The Mothers counteracted this fear by bravery and love. They searched everywhere for information about their children, in government buildings and barracks, police stations and churches. They wrote letters to the army, navy and air force, but no one ever acknowledged their requests for information. They realized that if they were going to be successful, they must put pressure on the government by going public.
On April 30, 1977, fourteen women went to the Plaza de Mayo, across from the Pink House, the presidential palace. They were told by the police that they could not stay there. There was a law that prohibited groups of three or more people from standing together. So they began to walk(ing) around the pyramid in the center. They identified themselves by wearing white head scarves, symbolizing the diapers of their children.
As the Dirty War continued and the number of disappeared mounted, more family members joined the women. Their nonviolent witness gained them prestige abroad and earned them international awards. They became an inspiration for others who suffered similar situations under repressive governments. They also became victims of harassment and endured personal threats and break-ins at the organization's office. Three of the founding members eventually ‘disappeared’ too.
Argentina was not the only place where people were disappearing. In Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, in the mid-1970s, a campaign of assassination and intelligence-gathering, under the guise of counterterrorism, was conducted. Colombia, Peru and Venezuela also cooperated. The countries exchanged torture techniques, like near drowning and playing recordings of torture to the families of victims. Corpses were thrown from planes to destroy evidence.
The targets were officially leftist guerrillas but in fact included all political opponents of these regimes. A declassified State Department document from 1978 revealed that the United States facilitated communications among governments, allowing the South American intelligence chiefs to "keep in touch with one another through a U.S. communications installation in the Panama Canal Zone."
The civilian government that took over in Argentina in 1983 pardoned those officials who had carried on the Dirty War, but the Mothers did not give up. In 1986, they split into two factions. The Founding Line focused on legislation to help in recovering remains and bringing ex-officials to justice, while a more radical faction, the Association of Mothers, led by Hebe de Bonafini, took a more political approach, seeing themselves as inheritors of their children's dreams and responsible for carrying on their children's work.
Now, the Mothers will continue to hold hourlong silent vigils on Thursday afternoons.
Why was last month's major demonstration their last? Bonafini, in an interview with La Nacion, put it this way: "We no longer have an enemy in the Pink House. This government has good intentions. Kirchner is a friend of the family."
She was referring to Nestor Kirchner, a Peronist with leftist leanings, who became president of Argentina in 2003. Shortly after taking office, Kirchner suspended the laws of immunity for former military leaders and announced that he would not oppose extradition for those who had escaped justice by fleeing the country. "We are all Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo," he declared.
The Mothers say about 30,000 disappearances remain unresolved. The military claims 9,000. A government commission has put the number closer to 11,000.
Regina M. Anavy Published 4:00 am, Sunday, February 26, 2006
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Hope-ends-29-year-march-of-Mothers-of-the-Plaza-2503349.php
extra readings
1. The politics of human rights protection, Jan Knippers Black, (p.18)
http://m.friendfeed-media.com/f90c8aad3958ddf7580458e043cf2bc979ee0b0f
2. https://books.google.gr/books?id=urIbBnlPhUwC&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=hope+ends+29-year+march+of+mothers+of+the+plaza+de+mayo&source=bl&ots=0AjtrUxIBe&sig=bT3QEh0OH-1U1wnBjsx9oKX-usc&hl=el&sa=X&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAWoVChMI9rPulILeyAIVCGwaCh0xngKo#v=onepage&q=hope%20ends%2029-year%20march%20of%20mothers%20of%20the%20plaza%20de%20mayo&f=false
3.