Esperanza Pérez Labrador
Esperanza Catalina Pérez de Labrador (1922 – November 13, 2011) was a
Esperanza Pérez Labrador was born in Camagüey, Cuba, to Spanish parents.[1] her mother died during while giving birth and her father, unable to take care of her, gave her up to a Cuban family, the Mestrils.[1] Despite objections from the Mestrils and Esperanza Pérez, her father regained custody of her seven years later.[1] She moved with her father to Spain and then immigrated to Argentina in 1950.[1] She married a Spanish husband, Víctor Labrador.
Miguel Ángel Labrador, her 25-year-old youngest son, left home on September 13, 1976, towards the beginning of the Dirty War, and was never seen again.[1] Just two months later, Labrador's husband, Víctor, their 28-year-old son, Palmiro Labrador, and his friend, Edith Graciela Koatz, were killed on November 10, 1976.[1]
Devastated, but determined to find out what happened to her family, Esperanza Perez Labrador held a vigil outside the headquarters of General Leopoldo Galtieri, who commanded government sponsored death squads.[1] At one point, Labrador grabbed Galtieri's uniform and publicly shouted "¡Asesino, criminal!" to him.[1] The actions of Labrador reportedly prompted Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón to open a criminal case against perpetrated of the Dirty War and the Argentinian dictatorship in 1996.[1]
Esperanza Pérez Labrador moved to Madrid, Spain, where she lived with her daughter, Manoli. She died in Madrid on November 13, 2011, at the age 89.[1]
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