MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Malvinas war next of kin to visit Darwin cemetery

Darwin cemetery ready to receive argentine next of kin

Argentine Malvinas war next of kin of Argentines combatants who died in the 1982 conflict will be visiting the Argentine Cemetery in Falklands Islands later this year it was officially announced Wednesday by the Falklands' elected government.

"The event would be intended to provide a dignified, fitting and private commemoration by families of the Argentine armed forces who died in the conflict", says the release from Gilbert House, seat of the Falklands Legislative Council. The trip and visit to the cemetery in Darwin was agreed following discussions between the British Embassy in Buenos Aires and the Argentine Families Commission which "are now developing ideas for the commemorative event". This year is the 25th anniversary of the 74 days conflict in the South Atlantic which ended with the ousting of invading Argentine forces from the Falklands and a year later the collapse of the ruthless Argentine military Junta. It was also the launching point for the transformation of the Falklands' from a sheep farm to a dynamic fisheries and tourism economy with the highest per capita income in the hemisphere behind US and Canada. Dozens of Argentine combatants from the 1982 conflict are buried in the Darwin cemetery and depending on relations between Buenos Aires and London, veterans and next of kin have visited the graves of their beloved. The Falkland Islands government has always welcomed visits of next of kin and regular private trips to Darwin, partly funded by the Argentine government, were organized until the collapse of the Argentine economy in 2001/02. A change of attitude from Argentine authorities since then has seen no further organized group visits and the inauguration of the remodelled Darwin cemetery, funded by an Argentine tycoon, is still pending because of misunderstandings between Buenos Aires and the local Islands government which the President Nestor Kirchner administration flatly refuses to acknowledge. The refurbished cemetery was designed by Argentine architects and transported to the Islands block by block from Argentina. The official Falklands government announcement which had been partly anticipated by the Argentine press a few days ago coincides with a new controversy between Buenos Aires and London regarding oil and gas exploration in the disputed areas of the South Atlantic.