Zaffaroni Mariana

Argentine-Uruguayan girl who was kidnapped at age 18 months along with her parents in 1976, then was located in 1983 and returned in 1993. Mariana Zaffaroni, daughter of the Uruguayans María Emilia Islas Gatti and Jorge Roberto Zaffaroni Castilla, was kidnapped from her home along with her parents on 27 September 1976 in the town of Florida, as part of "Operation Condor." Three witnesses stated that, at the time of the abduction, her mother was three months pregnant with her second child. From the testimonies of survivors it was learned that the family of three remained detained in the clandestine detention centre "Automotores Orletti". Witnesses saw them there until 30 September 1976. According to investigations carried out in Uruguay, between 5 and 6 October there would have been a clandestine flight where all the detainees of Automotores Orletti would have been taken to Montevideo, where they were later killed. Nothing has been found out about the birth of her sibling, although it is possible that he or she was born in a clandestine detention centre, because many of the pregnant detained women were kept alive so they could take their children. For years her maternal grandmother María Ester Gatti de Islas, together with Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, made numerous inquiries and followed clues until finally finding her whereabouts. In 1991, when she was a teenager, a judge asked her to take a DNA test. Until then her name was Daniela Furci, alleged daughter of former intelligence agent Miguel Ángel Furci and his wife. Three years previously she had found out by accident that she was not their biological daughter. Regarding that period she said, "The judge did not make me live with my biological family because I was already 17 and did not want to. He made it a condition for me to see them in Argentina." "For many years they came once or twice a year. I didnt want to hear what they had to say to me because it was too painful. I didnt want to, couldnt, build a relationship out of obligation." However, she later developed a closer relationship with her biological family. During 2015, she was involved in an international campaign to locate children abroad who had been kidnapped during the dictatorship. Link to Wikipedia biography (Spanish) Read less