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Over the course of two days, a total of 15 speakers, 5 moderators, and 4 musicians will participate. The first part of the conference will take place on Friday, August 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the San Martín Hall of the Buenos Aires City Legislature (Perú 160); the second part will be held on Saturday, August 23, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m., at Espacio Aguaribay (Mendoza 3281).
The 2025 edition of the conference commemorating the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarianism will address the following topics: 40 years since the Trial of the Military Juntas in Argentina; The global state of democracy; 50 years since the Helsinki Accords; After Auschwitz and Presentation of the book “A Brief History of Equatorial Guinea: The Country with the World’s Longest-Serving Dictator”
Confirmed speakers include: Patricia Tappatá, Horacio Ravenna, Jaime Rosemberg, Carlos Gervasoni, Ignacio Labaqui, Inés Pousadela, Javier El-Hage, Sanna Pulkkinen, Filip Kanda, Bogna Ruminowicz, Eran Nagan, Ana Arzoumanian, Jorge Sigal, Omer Freixa, and Tutu Alicante. Moderators will include: Melisa Balbi, María de los Ángeles Lasa, Susanne Käss, Rubén Chababo, and María Navarro.
The conference will also feature the 2025 edition of the Graciela Fernández Meijide Award for the defense of human rights. This year’s laureates are Nancy Henríquez (Nicaragua), Carlos Julio Rojas (Venezuela), and Lizandra Góngora and Alexander Fábregas (Cuba)—all political prisoners. Their awards will be accepted on their behalf by representatives.
The conference will conclude with a live concert by Olguita Acuña (Nicaragua) and Atemporal Trio (Cuba).
Promoted by CADAL and supported by legislators Cecilia de la Torre and Francisco Quintana, the Buenos Aires City Legislature adopted in 2016 Law No. 5608, establishing the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarianism on August 23. The law was published in the Gazette BOCBA No. 4968 on September 19, 2016.
August 23 marks the anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, under which Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union divided Eastern Europe between them. According to Jerzy Buzek, former President of the European Parliament from Poland, it represented “the collusion of the two worst forms of totalitarianism in human history.” The International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarianism was established by the European Parliament and later adopted by Canada. The initiative was originally proposed by Václav Havel and other European politicians and human rights activists.
