Human skeletal remains were found in Uruguay in a military property where bodies of opponents of the dictatorship (1973-1985) are suspected of having been buried on the outskirts of Montevideo, the government confirmed yesterday.
The Minister of National Defense, Javier García, told the press after inspecting the site of the 14th Infantry Battalion in Toledo, Canelones department (south), that the finding is “moving” and that he hopes it “will bring peace to a family”.
According to the president of the National Human Rights Institution (INDDHH), Wilder Tayler, “a skull and other bone parts” were found in an “evidently clandestine” grave.
García confirmed that the finding occurred about 100 meters from where the remains of two other people who disappeared by the dictatorship the repressive forces had kidnaped in 1977 and 1978 were found in 2011 and 2012.
He also reported that he spoke with representatives of the organization Mothers and Relatives of Disappeared Detainees, to whom he ratified the “commitment” of the Government of Luis Lacalle Pou in the search for “peace and unity of Uruguayans”.
“This military area has 410 hectares, and about 32 hectares are under precautionary measures, preserved, and full of activity. We are doing it because there is a judicial indication”, detailed García, who highlighted the work carried out in the place by the team of anthropologists.
Meanwhile, Ignacio Errandonea, a member of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees, said, “Undoubtedly, we believe that it is one of our relatives because of the type of burial”, but “we are going to wait for the DNA tests to conclude it”.
So far, five bodies have been found and identified, the first in 2006 and the last in 2019, in a total of 197 disappeared, according to official data.
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