While the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo have become known around the world for their resistance and defiance of the Argentine military dictatorship, their generational forerunners, the Abuelas of the Plaza de Mayo, have played and continue to play a similarly critical role. We spoke with Abuela Buscarita Roa who, like many members of the organization, had her daughter and granddaughter disappeared. As we learned, her story is a fascinating one - especially in the years following the dictatorship.

The Abuelas's primary focus is on the recovery of children disappeared by the military government. During the dictatorship, newborn children (often born while the mothers were in custody) were taken away from abducted "dissidents" and given to military families. All told, at least 500 children were abducted between 1976 and 1983. In nearly all cases, the mothers were killed; the grandmothers were left searching.

Buscarita's daughter and son-in-law were disappeared in 1978. 8-month old Claudia, Buscarita's granddaughter, was also taken. For 22 years, she searched in vain but finally, in 2000, the miracle occurred - she found her long-missing granddaughter - but living happily ever after was complicated.

For starters, she had a different name: Mercedes. During those same 22 years that Buscarita had been looking for her, Mercedes was raised by an army colonel and his wife and was, to all outward appearance, their rightful daughter. Then, suddenly, life as she knew it was radically transformed. Her parents were not really her parents; her real parents were dead. The people she had loved for 22 years were part of the same system that killed her mother and father. Everything was fake, from her name to her home.

Mercedes faced a difficult transition. At first, she refused to cooperate with the process, as is the case with many kidnapping victims in Argentina. It is hard to accept that your life has gone from relative tranquility to terrible tragedy. Over time, she gradually did come to terms with the truth, though, establishing a relationship with Buscarita and changing her name back to Claudia. However, throughout this time she maintained contact with her abductors, which is also quite common, but nonetheless quite difficult for Buscarita to accept.

But then, Claudia became pregnant. Soon after, she cut ties with her fraudulent parents. As Buscarita put it, "she wanted her daughter to know her own family, not the criminals."

Over the course of its history, the Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo has helped to find 97 kidnapped grandchildren. The work was laborious and bore little fruit in its early years. The major task at the beginning was the establishment of a National Genetic Info Bank, based in the US, that provided careful records to allow for blood and DNA tests down the road. Then, gradually, the Abuelas's cause gained more media attention in Argentina, raising awareness about the kidnapped babies and the types of families in which they were typically placed.

As the abducted children became young adults, many started to have suspicions of their own. Buscarita explained that the two most common factors generating doubts are a lack of baby pictures and unclear physical resemblance, to parents or siblings. Even when suspicions are raised, though, it is still difficult for the victims to step forward. Some young people know that they are in illegitimate hands but they don't want to come forward because they don't want their fake parents to be arrested and punished. Even knowing that a terrible crime was committed, two decades of cohabitation and affection produce a powerful sense of loyalty.

If that is the stumbling block, why not offer amnesty? The abductors are typically in their 60s and 70s today; given their military service and advanced age, even if the justice system moved forward with their cases today they would receive very limited punishment. Why not offer amnesty in exchange for truth? Why let another day pass with grandparents and grandchildren kept apart, when they have already suffered so much? Buscarita rejects this. Quite simply, she says that all of those responsible should face justice, that justice is necessary for Argentina to move forward.

A more difficult question to ask, especially in Spanish, is: There is no question that the kidnappers are criminals. But, these children have spent years Ð more than 20 years - as, in their minds, normal Argentine children. Now, suddenly, they are told that the parents they love are criminals and their lives are full of trauma. Punishing the criminals is justice. Is this justice for the children and how?

The problem, responded Buscarita Roa, is that the militaries committed a crime that continues to punish. The young people are victims and continue to be victims. The children were stolen and their parents were killed. It is harder at first, she acknowledged, but their biological family can love them more and better.