On this week’s show, we’re looking at how Argentina and its neighbor Chile are coming to terms with their past, both marred by dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s.
In Argentina, the return of an airplane from the time of the country’s military regime has made headlines. The plane was the fifth and final known aircraft used to get rid of dissidents during what became known as the "death flights." Its arrival coincides with the 40th anniversary of the end of the dictatorship and has stirred up many emotions about the past.
Then, this year marks 50 years since the military coup that eventually brought Augusto Pinochet to power in Chile. Why are the children and grandchildren of suspected criminals from the Pinochet era calling for their prosecution? We'll more about this and how Chile has been coming to terms with its past.
Professor Cara Levey, a senior lecturer in Latin American Studies at University College Cork, joins us to talk about the memory of the dictatorship in Argentina and Chile, and how the discovery of aircraft used for the "death flights" could figure in to public discussion about how to deal with the past.