What a late Argentine activist can teach us about the complex nature of protest

Hebe de Bonafini died at the age of 93 after a lifetime of campaigning, writes David Harding

Hebe de Bonafini’s two sons were taken by the vile military regime led by Jorge Rafael Videla (AFP via Getty)

Hebe de Bonafini died at the weekend. You may not have heard of her but it was some life she lived. She died at the age of 93, after a lifetime of campaigning.

Ms Bonafini was one of the founders of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, the internationally lauded human rights group that came together out of tragedy and went on to bring huge pressure on Argentina’s far-right military rulers in the 1970s and 1980s.

Her two sons were taken by the vile military regime led by Jorge Rafael Videla, the man who had the look of a provincial accountant but was a stone-cold killer.