Analyze the nonviolent actions described in the case study, in terms of theories and concepts of nonviolence and nonviolent action. Refer to specific concepts and materials (especially those we have explored in class or in the readings) that you feel are most helpful to deepening an understanding of the situation depicted in the case study that you choose to explore. Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Argentina 1977 – 1983 Taken directly from Waging Nonviolent Struggle, by Gene Sharp, pp 217 – 221. Between 1976 and 1983, tens of thousands of people “disappeared” in Argentina. After the military conducted a coup d’etat in 1976, it [had a] goal of eradicating all sectors of possible “subversion” from Argentine society. … Rather than simply detaining left-wing activists or publicly assassinating them (thus turning them into martyrs), the plan was to kidnap, torture, and then execute them extra-officially…while disavowing knowledge of their whereabouts.… At the [start], resistance to military rule was almost non-existent. … In 1977, after thousands had already disappeared … a small group of women grew desperate. Their children were missing, and there was strong evidence to suggest they had been kidnapped by military or paramilitary death squads. The women … were always told that no one knew anything about the fate of their children. A few of the mothers then decided to take their campaign to the prominent Plaza de Mayo…. Their first “meeting” was held at the plaza on April 30, 1977. It was attended by 14 women…. The mothers could not simply stand together, as this would have been tantamount to holding an illegal demonstration. So they began to walk slowly in a counter-clockwise circle around the centre of the square. They attracted little attention at first…Nevertheless they were emboldened by their action. They …[planned] a weekly walk around the plaza each Thursday afternoon, when the plaza was typically more crowded. They did not usually carry signs or placards, but rather wore the names of their missing children embroidered on white head scarves. The head scarves would soon become the mothers’ most visible symbol and trademark. The military was caught off-guard by this most unlikely sector of opposition…. The military regime was being publicly challenged by a small but growing group of … housewives and mothers. At the end of 1977 the military finally cracked down. … [11] women were detained … and none was ever heard from again. Nevertheless the protest continued, although in smaller numbers. … Although they were now clearly risking their lives, the remaining mothers did not give up. By the end of 1978… the plaza was completely sealed off by metal barriers and squadrons of military police. No longer able to march in the plaza, they resorted to “lightning actions,” gathering on one side of the square and running across to the other side before being caught by police. At the end of 1979 the Mothers agreed that they needed to go on the offensive again. They decided they would return to the Plaza… on the first Thursday of 1980, then return every Thursday thereafter until they were either killed or the truth about all the ‘disappeared” was revealed and those who had tortured and killed them had been punished. … By this time the regime itself was showing signs of decay. .. On December 10, 1982, the Mothers … held a 24-hour “March of Resistance” on the avenue leading off the plaza. For the first time, thousands joined the Mothers, emboldened by their example and the persistent weakening of the regime. Faced with overwhelming levels of public discontent, the military dictators eventually decided to restore civilian rule.