As Brazil marks 50th anniversary of the coup, more people open up about the dictatorship
As Brazil marks 50th anniversary of the coup, more people open up about the dictatorship
By Dom Phillips, Published: March 31, 2014
RIO DE JANEIRO — Under a 1979 amnesty law, no one has ever been tried for the human rights abuses committed during Brazil’s dictatorship. Although some victims have spoken about the horrors of that dark time, it seemed many Brazilians preferred to forget.
But as the country marks the 50th anniversary this week of the coup that brought the military to power, the dictatorship is at the center of a national debate about what happened and what it means today.
At a news conference Monday in Brasilia, the capital, President Dilma Rousseff remembered the victims of the coup, the BBC reported. “Our present day requires that we remember and speak about what happened. We owe this to those who died and disappeared, owe it to those who were tortured and persecuted, owe it to their families,” the BBC quoted her as saying.
Separately, Justice Minister José Eduardo Cardozo issued an official apology to the victims of the military government, the BBC said.
Rousseff, a former member of a left-wing guerrilla group, was among those imprisoned and tortured. She has never spoken publicly about the details of her experience.
More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/as-brazil-marks-50th-anniversary-of-the-coup-more-people-open-up-about-the-dictatorship/2014/03/30/ea259678-b6ae-11e3-8cc3-d4bf596577eb_story.html