María Emilia Islas


María Emilia Islas Gatti was a Uruguayan political activist, who disappeared in Buenos Aires in 1976.

Biography

She was born on April 18, 1953, at the Harvard Clinical Sanatorium in the city of Montevideo, Uruguay. The only daughter of María Ester Gatti and Ramón Islas, María Emilia was named for her grandmother. She lived her first years in the Cordon neighbourhood.
In 1965, María Emilia entered the Zorillia de San Martin high school where she became engaged in politics and political organizing. In 1970 she became more involved and joined the :es:Federación Anarquista Uruguaya|Federación Anarquista Uruguaya, the Oriental Revolutionary Popular Organization 33 ; Asociación de Estudiantes de Magisterio en la Resistencia Obrero Estudiantil and finally in Argentina, with the :es:Partido por la Victoria del Pueblo|Party for Victory of the People.
On November 28, 1973, she married Jorge Zaffaroni, also an activist. By 1974, the political situation in Uruguay became intolerable, so they left for Buenos Aires. María Emilia arrived during the second week of December, then six months pregnant. Zaffaroni joined her on January 11, 1975, and their daughter Mariana was born on March 22, 1975.
The family was arrested on September 27, 1976 at their home in Parque Chacabuco, Buenos Aires. They were then taken to the clandestine detention center ":fr:Centre clandestin de détention#Automotores Orletti|Automotres Orletti." According to testimony given by Orestes Estanisalo Bello, the couple was interrogated by personnel from the Servicio de Inteligencia Uruguayo. They were suspected to be members of OPR-33, a Uruguayan militant group based in Buenos Aires. Their detention and disappearance was part of the Dirty War tactics under "Operation Condor".
María Emilia was most likely moved to a final destination between October 5 and 6, 1976. She and Jorge Zaffaroni remain on a list of missing Uruguayans in Argentina.
Her mother, María Ester Gatti, was an active member of Madres y Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos. Due to her persistence, Islas' daughter was located in 1983, and her identity confirmed in 1993.