![This year’s march, held under the slogan “Sepan cumplir” (“Let them fulfill [their promises]”), echoed a campaign phrase used by newly elected President Yamandú Orsi. Photo: Sebastián Astorga](https://en.mercopress.com/data/cache/noticias/104996/0x0/marc2.jpg)
MONTEVIDEO, May 21 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) –Thousands of people filled the streets of Uruguay’s capital Montevideo on Monday evening for the 30th annual Marcha del Silencio (Silent March), the country’s largest civic demonstration demanding truth and justice for the victims of forced disappearances during the country’s military dictatorship (1973–1985).
This year’s march, held under the slogan “Sepan cumplir” (“Let them fulfill [their promises]”), echoed a campaign phrase used by newly elected President Yamandú Orsi and urged the government to take concrete action in uncovering the fate of 197 missing people.
“The older generation is passing, but the fight is being renewed by the youth,” said Nilo Patiño, a member of the organization Madres y Familiares de Uruguayos Detenidos Desaparecidos (Mothers and Relatives of Uruguayan Detainees and Disappeared). “Fifteen years ago, we were all elders. Now, it’s the young who carry this cause forward,” Patiño told La Diaria.
The march began at Plaza de los Desaparecidos de América and moved silently down Montevideo’s central avenue, led by relatives holding large photographs of the disappeared. Projected images, banners, and silence marked the atmosphere, with signs reading “No more impunity” and “This wound remains open.”
Among those attending were Vice President Carolina Cosse, Economy Minister Gabriel Oddone, and Lucía Topolansky, widow of former President José “Pepe” Mujica, who died just a week earlier.
Organizers viewed President Orsi’s recent symbolic gestures—such as breaking protocol during his inauguration to greet families of the disappeared—as signs of hope. “We’ve seen genuine empathy and interest from this government,” said Ignacio Errandonea, spokesperson for the families’ collective. “We now expect that to become real action.”
“This government represents the state,” Patiño added. “They promised to act. Now, we ask that they fulfill that promise.”
As in previous years, the march concluded in Montevideo’s Plaza Libertad with a solemn reading of each of the 197 disappeared individuals’ names, answered in unison by the crowd with a resounding “Presente!” A long, heartfelt applause closed the night. — NNN-MERCOPRESS
