In a world in which every day brings new challenges to the defense of human rights, Rel UITA stands firmly as an ethical and militant reference point.

For decades, the regional organization has been weaving networks of solidarity and commitment that transcend borders, raising its voice in defense of victims, truth, and justice.

Its imprint is also reflected in the impact of its everyday work. The article celebrating María Bellizzi, founder of Mothers and Relatives of Detained-Disappeared Uruguayans and symbol of the struggle against forgetting, garnered 34,000 views in just one week.

With her 101 years of age, María continues to inspire new generations, and the impact of the homage paid to her confirms the enormous power of memory when it is evoked with respect and feeling.

But Rel UITA’s work is not limited to remembering: it also involves a sustained and collective effort of coordination, of forging deep, solidarity-based alliances with sister organizations such as the Movement for Justice and Human Rights (MJDH) in Brazil, the Commission of Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), and more recently the Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Detained-Disappeared Persons (FEDEFAM).

Bonds that cut across borders and times, and which had made it possible to support struggles, denounce abuses, and maintain hope in the darkest times.

Defending memory, truth, and justice has always been a central cause in the history of the Regional Secretariat. From the years of the region’s dictatorships to the current threats to social rights, the organization has always been firmly present, extending its solidarity and building bridges between the labor movement and the human rights movement.

Today, when the region once again faces discourses of hate, impunity, and precarization, the Regional Secretariat reaffirms it place on the front line. And it does so with the same spirit as always and the belief that the organized labor movement must be on the side of all those who fight for a more just and solidarity-based world.

Because remembering—as María Bellizzi shows us—does not mean looking to the past, but walking forward with truth as our cause.