[3][4][5] As president of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo Association beginning in 1979, Bonafini spoke out in defense of human rights, both in Argentina and abroad, gaining international recognition; she received the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in 1999.

Adopting the rallying cry of Aparición con vida (Make them appear alive) in 1980, Bonafini demanded an immediate accounting of all of the forced disappearances, including her sons, who were members of the marxist guerrilla group called Montoneros, which along with the other communist organization, Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo, were responsible of more than 10.000 terrorist attacks that left more than 1.000 people dead.

[6] Following the return to civilian rule in 1983, divisions began to develop in the organization relating to President Raúl Alfonsín's overly cautious progress in prosecuting the perpetrators of the Dirty War.

[17] The Schoklender brothers, who were convicted in 1981 of the murder of their parents and spent fifteen years in prison, had gained Bonafini's confidence and managed the project's finances with little oversight from either the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo or the program's licensor, the Secretary of Public Works.

[18] Following an investigation ordered by Federal Judge Norberto Mario Oyarbide, the Secretary of Public Works canceled the Sueños Compartidos contract in August and transferred the outstanding projects to the Undersecretary of Housing and Urban Development.

[17] Bonafini expressed support for figures such as Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Augusto Sandino, Yasser Arafat, Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales, and the mothers of ETA prisoners.

[14] She also attacked Bolivian protesters for occupying Plaza de Mayo, calling them "shitty"; and suggested seizing the Supreme Court by force for the delays of the application of the Audiovisual Media Law.