For the American band, see Desaparecidos.

Desaparecidos means literally "the disappeared" in Spanish, and is a reference to people who were arrested by various South American military governments and then vanished without a trace.

From 1976 to 1983 in Argentina, for example, thousands of dissidents vanished without a trace under the military junta that was in power.

From bits and pieces of information collected from military officers involved in the so-called "dirty war" (guerra sucia), many victims were sedated and dumped from airplanes into the waters of the Río de la Plata. Many detainees were held in detention camps; the most notorious one was the Navy's Mechanics Training School in the Núñez district of Buenos Aires.

Many women gave birth in captivity, and their children were given in adoption to military couples or their friends. The task of locating these children and restoring their lost identity has been going on ever since the restoration of democracy in 1983.

See Also

• Forced disappearance
• Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo