Disappeared Argentina activists' son finds family after 40 years Published duration 14 June 2019

media caption Javier Darroux Mijalchuk's parents were abducted by Argentinean agents in 1977

A man whose parents were abducted by Argentinean secret service agents in 1977 has been reunited with his biological family.

Javier Darroux Mijalchuk was just four months old when his father and pregnant mother disappeared in Buenos Aires.

He was later adopted by a family who did not know his background.

But a few years ago, he started to doubt his true identity, and sought help from the human rights organisation Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

The group tracks down the children of dissidents killed or forcibly disappeared during Argentina's military dictatorship, which lasted from 1976 to 1983, and introduces them to their biological families.

Mr Darroux is the 130th child who the organisation has identified, after carrying out DNA tests.

Speaking to reporters, he thanked his uncle Roberto Mijalchuk, who he said had been searching for him for the past four decades.

"The restitution of my identity is, for me, a tribute to my parents, a caress to the soul, a symbol of memory, truth and justice," Mr Darroux said.

"It's a symbol that, if I have to define it with a moment, there isn't a more significant one than the embrace with uncle, when after 40 years of searching he could say: 'Are you Javi?' and embrace like nobody has ever done before, and no one will be able to do again."

He added that he would now try and find out more information about his parents, Juan Manuel Darroux and Elena Mijalchuk.

It is not known what happened to them after they were abducted. Some 30,000 people were murdered by the military junta in Argentina.

image copyright Reuters image caption Mr Darroux, his uncle Roberto and Estela de Carlotto, president of Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, hold up photos of Mr Darroux's parents

Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo's leader, Estela de Carlotto, was reunited with her own missing grandson in 2014.

A year later, one of the group's co-founders Delia Giovanola was also reunited with her grandson.