It is estimated that there were more than 20,000 Chilean minors adopted irregularly during Augusto Pinochet’s regime in 1973-1990. They stayed in the country or were sent abroad, especially to Europe. That is why, today, Chile seeks to follow their footsteps and create reunions and memories.
Carmen Esquivel
The State was complicit in these illegal practices, including a range of institutions such as CEMA Chile, where Pinochet’s wife, Lucía Hiriart, was president, and judicial bodies that put together a network for the mass exit of children in the interests of social control or profit.
The Children and Mothers of Silence Foundation (HMS), dedicated to supporting families affected by this scourge, carried out a study based on the accounts of 273 victims. This revealed systematic methods such as false declarations of death at birth, document manipulation, the involvement of networks of intermediaries, and even the use of threats. With regards to the profile of the victims, the majority were young, poor, and indigenous women.
“We have achieved more than 350 reunions of children living abroad or here in Chile, with their biological parents,” Marisol Rodríguez, president of HMS, told the press.
Irregular adoptions did not just happen in Chile but also in other countries such as Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and Guatemala. “Therefore, it is important not to silence them and for the mothers whose babies were taken away to transform this pain into strength,” she said.
Last year, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights announced the creation of the Inter-Institutional Working Group on Forced or Irregular Adoptions, with the aim of guaranteeing the right of each and every person to knowing their origins and to family reunification.
The executive secretary of the Inter-Institutional Working Group, Ananías Reyes, reported that in 2024, 10 sessions and several meetings were held with civil society, state institutions, and international organisations.
However, there has been little progress because of a lack of coordinated response from the State to assist victims; there are no administrative channels to search for stolen children, and official information is scarce.
The Working Group suggested the need that in the first instance, the State must recognise the existence of forced adoptions and create a specialist entity to handle the search for children through administrative mechanisms.
The president of the Children and Mothers of Silence Foundation, Marisol Rodríguez, also proposed the creation of a DNA bank to identify victims, give mental health support to families, and a commission for truth, justice, and reparation.
A meeting
On the HMS Foundation website, Carolina Baeza is case number 294 of reunion with family facilitated by the non-profit organisation.
Carolina was born in 1976 at the José Joaquín Aguirre Hospital in the Chilean capital. Her mother was told she had died in childbirth but, in reality, she was another victim of child theft perpetrated by the dictatorship.
“I found out that I was adopted at 15. My adoptive mother died nine years ago. In 2022, I joined the Foundation and, thanks to DNA, I was able to find my biological parents,” she told Prensa Latina.
“My mother is 78 years old and my father is 82, and I also have four siblings,” she said.
Regarding the reunion, she says it was filled with weeping and pain because they were no longer looking for her, as they thought their youngest daughter had died in childbirth.
“My mother prayed for me. I was like a star shining down from heaven for her; they never forgot the day I was born.”
In her conversation with the press, she explained that two years have passed and little by little they have been able to build bonds. “We’ve laughed, we’ve cried. I’m very grateful for the foundation’s work, but it needs a lot of help,” she stated. Carolina believes it is necessary for the Government to do more because many mums are dying without knowing the whereabouts of their children. “That’s a very great pain because when you carry your baby for nine months in your womb and even hear it cry, you never forget that,” she says.
Politician Boris Barrera, who has supported the work of the Children and Mothers of Silence Foundation for several years, reported that they are pushing the Law on Identity of Origin in Parliament alongside social groups. PL
(Translated by Donna Davison – Email: donna_davison@hotmail.com) – Photos: Pixabay
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