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The UNI Americas Conference honoured Alicia Cadenas and Walter Larrea from Argentina with the Freedom from Fear Award for their work to ensure that the thousands killed and disappeared during the dark era of dictatorship in Latin America are not forgotten.



UNI Americas President Ruben Cortina introducing Alicia and Walter said, “Unions do not forget. We will continue to help bring those responsible to justice, not for revenge but so that the truth can be established. Workers’ rights are part of human rights. They can only flourish in a peaceful democratic world.”



Alicia said, “We will continue to seek justice so that our brothers and sisters who died or disappeared are remembered. Life is a struggle and the fight goes on.”



Walter added, “The dictatorships ripped up the borders and spread their doctrine like a cancer across the region. The genocides had an economic and political goal – to breakdown the resistance of the working people and students so that those in power could keep the wealth of the nations for themselves. Those who resisted were killed, tortured or simply ‘disappeared’. There are still 30,000 ‘missing’ in Argentina alone. Some were released back into the community to act as witnesses and were shunned by the community. The full story is yet to be told and we will work with our union brothers and sisters to help bring the perpetrators to justice.”