Minutes after the House of Lords delivered its historic verdict on the detention of Gen Augusto Pinochet, relatives of Argentina's disappeared converged spontaneously on Buenos Aires' Plaza de Mayo, dancing for joy at the unbelievable news.
"These are the fruits of over 20 years of permanent struggle by the Madres, here and in Chile," said Mrs Laura Bonaparte, who wore the trademark mother's headscarf inscribed with the name of her disappeared son. "For once it's our turn to celebrate something," added Mrs Nora Cortinas, a Brazilian exile.
"Bussi is next," said an elderly man, almost hoarse from cheering, referring to the current governor of Tucuman state, who ordered an estimated 600 killings during military rule between 1976 and 1983. Judge Baltasar Garzon has ample evidence to convict the governor, and an international arrest warrant is due before Christmas.
The Plaza de Mayo resounded to cheers of joy, cars honked as they went by, posters of Gen Pinochet in prison uniform were held aloft and the summer sun shone, provoking good humour and optimism about the future.
"Let the assassins know that they can no longer walk freely through the streets of this world," cried Mrs Iris Pizarro, a Chilean exile living in Argentina. "Now I'm going home to weep in private," she said. "Videla in prison, Massera in prison, Pinocchio in prison, the whole damn year is a carnival", sang members of HIJOS (Children for Identity and Justice and against Forgetting and Silence), a group made up of hundreds of children of the disappeared. "Just like the Nazis, the same will happen to them, wherever they go we will hunt them" the youths continued, peeling off T-shirts, spraying each other with fizzy cola bottles. These youths, mostly in their early 20s, are still uncovering horrific details about the fate of their parents during military rule.
One of the grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo suddenly uncorked a bottle of champagne which almost ruined an expensive suit belonging to Mr Alfredo Bravo, a former political prisoner and current socialist member of parliament. He didn't even notice. "It seems too good to be true," said Mr Bravo, "when Pinochet enjoyed power of life and death over an entire country for so long."
It's no small coincidence that Judge Garzon's search for South America's leading serial killers began here after he witnessed a meeting of the mothers of the disappeared, launching a remarkable attempt to bring to justice former military leaders protected by a solid wall of laws, amnesties and full pardons.
The Argentinian President, Mr Carlos Menem, phoned his Chilean counterpart, Mr Eduardo Frei, and pledged "unconditional support" to the latter's attempts to get Gen Pinochet home on humanitarian grounds.
It was a week of good news for human rights activists, as the former junta leader, Mr Emilio Massera (73), began a lengthy period behind bars, charged with child theft. While Gen Pinochet still has a substantial, if minority following at home, Mr Massera's court appearance prompted just 12 Nazi skinheads with tattoos and chains to turn up at court and demand his release.