HIJOS is an acronym for Hijos por la Identidad y la Justicia contra el Olvido y el Silencio (English: ''Sons and Daughters for Identity and Justice Against forgetfulness and Silence''). It is the name of two organizations founded by children of people who were forcibly "disappeared" by military dictatorships in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

. The Argentine organization was founded in 1995 in Córdoba and

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...

. The Guatemalan organization, founded in 1999 and based in

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, ne ...

, has received many death threats from government sympathizers. HIJOS Guatemala raises awareness by painting

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

style murals dealing with the death of their relatives and how Guatemalan youth and

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

youth are treated in the country. In Argentina, HIJOS in 1995 started to perform ''escraches'' to raise public awareness about former dirty-war criminals being free on the streets despite their crimes.H.I.J.O.S., ''Astiz ya no camina por las calles'', Página 12, 2012, http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-187955-2012-02-20.html

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Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

website Human rights organisations based in Argentina Human rights organizations based in Guatemala Children of people disappeared during Dirty War Political movements in Argentina Dirty War Women's organisations based in Argentina Enforced disappearance Argentine human rights activists Adoption, fostering, orphan care and displacement Kidnapping in Argentina Child abduction Missing Argentine children Child-related organisations in Argentina Kidnapped children Kidnapping in the 1970s Kidnapping in the 1980s {{Guatemala-stub