After 36 years of searching, Estela de Carlotto, president and founder of the Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo (Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo) was reunited with her grandson in a private meeting in La Plata on Wednesday evening. Ignacio Hurbán, named Guido Montoya Carlotto by his biological mother, discovered his true identity after taking a DNA test Tuesday resulting in a 99.9 percent match with the Carlotto family.
Guido met with his grandmother and his aunt and uncles, Claudia, Kibo and Remo Carlotto, in an undisclosed location from 3 pm to 9:30 pm Wednesday evening, catching up on the decades that had passed since Guido was taken from his 23 year-old mother Laura, who was being held prisoner of the state by the Argentine military dictatorship and had her baby stolen from her only five hours after giving birth.
While recuperated children’s identities are carefully guarded to protect the individuals who may be suffering from shock, the news of Guido quickly spread to local and national news. The 36 year-old musician was brought up in Olavarría, a town just under 200 miles from Buenos Aires, by a family with no direct connection to the dictatorship.
During the Argentine military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983—during which time more than 30,000 people were taken prisoner, tortured and killed or disappeared—over 500 babies were stolen from prisoners as “botín de guerra” (spoils of war) and adopted by military and other families. Guido is the 114th grandchild to be recovered after the Abuelas started a DNA bank to help reunite stolen children with their biological families.
The impact of finding Guido has spread across the country. The Abuelas, which usually receive between 10 to 40 calls a day regarding identity, had to bring in additional help on Wednesday to attend to the 100 calls received. While the Abuelas are hopeful of reuniting all of the stolen children with their biological families, they are also cognizant of the difficulty of doing so.
“If it took us 36 years to find 114 grandchildren, calculate how much time will have to pass for us to find the rest of the 400 we’re missing,” said Rosa Roisinbilt, vice president of the Abuelas.
