Taty Almeida, president of Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, dies at 95

Taty Almeida, president of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo-Founding Line, died Sunday at age 95. Her full name was Lidia Stella Mercedes Miy Uranga de Almeida, but she became known simply as Taty, a figure synonymous with Argentina's human rights movement.

Almeida was hospitalized in critical condition at Hospital Italiano in Buenos Aires before her death. She had dedicated nearly half a century to advocating for memory, truth, and justice in Argentina, with the goal that the crimes of the country's last military dictatorship would never be repeated.

Born June 28, 1930, in Buenos Aires, Almeida worked as a teacher until the birth of her three children, after which she became a homemaker. Her activism began with the desperate search for her son, who disappeared during the state terrorism that preceded Argentina's military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983. She never learned what became of her son and was never able to say goodbye to his remains.

The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo-Founding Line, the organization Almeida led, released a statement following her death. "Words are not enough, they fall short, we have a lump in our throat. So immense that there is no way to tell it," the organization wrote. Members expressed gratitude for Almeida's "commitment, activism, and tenderness" over the years, and credited her with teaching them that "to love is to resist" and that "the only struggle that is lost is the one that is abandoned."

The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo emerged as a prominent human rights organization in Argentina, with members searching for relatives who disappeared during the period of state violence and the subsequent military dictatorship. Almeida became one of the organization's most recognized figures, embodying the decades-long struggle for accountability and remembrance in the country.