Chilean village heartfelt thanks for Falklands support
The Chilean village of Lolol in the Colchagua region has sent its heartfelt thanks, in the form of a plaque, to the people of the Falklands and the Chilean Community in the Islands for their very generous support following the devastation of buildings in the area as a result of the earthquake in 2010.
Falklands resident and Chilean born Celia Short, who organised the raising of a massive £26,600.19 shortly after the February 27 earthquake, told Penguin News that during a trip to Chile to visit her family she was taken on a surprise visit to Lolol.
Mrs Short had in fact earlier been invited to visit the village, and FIG had offered to pay, but she explained she preferred not to accept funding for the flight, “it was never the idea to take money from the government for that.”
However, much later, having become concerned about rumours that the LAN flight might be withdrawn as a result of Argentine political pressure, she decided to fund a private trip to see her sister and other family members.
During the visit her sister suggested they take a journey to the Santa Cruz area. On arrival she took a phone call from the Alcalde (mayor) of Lolol, Marco Antonio Marin Rodriguez, and discovered the trip had been pre-planned by the Alcalde and her sister, as a surprise, so that she would have the opportunity to view the buildings repaired or rebuilt as a result of money sent from the Falklands.
A government vehicle was sent to Santa Cruz and one hour later she found herself the guest of the Alcalde: “He was so happy to see me he couldn’t thank us enough for all of the money sent from the Falkland Islands people and Chileans.”
She was taken to, “a few houses, the church and we went to the school.” The headmaster was collected from the school and she was shown the new roof funded by the Falklands donation. “There is still a lot to be done in that place, it was devastated, but so much work was done with our money and they were just so happy.”
She was taken to the church and to the tax office, and on introducing her to the office staff, “everybody was saying thank you, I was overwhelmed by it.”
“It was really nice to see the place and what they had done with our money and to see the efforts. The Falkland Islands people are always very generous in helping any country that needs it, anybody, but sometimes we don’t know where the money has gone or what they have done with it and in this case I had had regular contact, and they were always telling me, we have used this much money for this, and that much money for that. So I knew all the time; and then to actually go there I was so delighted and happy.”
Mrs Short had initially written to a number of towns in Chile in order to research a specific place in most need of the funds; eventually with help from her sister who works for the Chilean Air Force the village of Lolol was decided upon. The village is situated in a very rural area and as a result of the disaster most residents were devoid of basic conditions.
She explained that when the appeal was launched in the Falklands it was a very touching time for her. Companies in the Islands gave thousands of pounds, “and sometimes pensioners would come and give £20 it was so kind and generous, and one school teacher gave £1000, but whether it was £20 or £2 it was all so kind.”
Mrs Short is now looking into a place where the plaque might hang, “where the Falkland Islands people can get to see it,” however, she is still uncertain where that should be, “we don’t really have a public place where things like that can go.” She said she would be open to suggestions with regard to a suitable venue. Lolol spans an area of 596.9 km2 (230 sq mi) and has just over 6,000 inhabitants. (Penguin News)
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41 comments Feed
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There was absolutely no 'goodwill' coming from Chile towards the Falklands at the UN decolonization committee last month, they were very hostile towards them infact.
The “current Chilean regime” has nothing to do with this charitable donation.
Do you really think the mayor of a small town has to get clearance from the president to receive a charitable donation?!? Some of you Brits are as tedious as the Malvinistas with your one issue obsession.
Well done the Falkland islands for helping out Lolol!
Well done Jon Benjamin (British Ambassador in Chile) for setting up a foundation to rebuild the only school on Juan Fernandez after the tsunami!
Well done Margaret Thatcher for selling weapons and “crowd control” equipment to Pinochet, despite that being a contradiction of British policy not to sell weapons to pariah states...oh wait a minute, that can’t be right, that would be a double standard.
I agree. It is a good news story about a kind gesture and has nothing to do with the C24, politics or governments. That is the point I was making.
May be that's the reason we have that close links between Magallanes Region and the Falklands.....good people no matter what...!!!
And to my friend Celia from our Uni times just a.....WELL DONE, CHILEAN.....!!!
Interesting that Lolol has about double the population of the FI.
“The position of the Chilean government is clear and firm: we back and support the right of Argentina, on legal and historic reasons, over the Malvinas and other adjoining islands”
@13 Marcos Did nobody tell the Chilean president that the Argentine government enthusiastically supports Bolivian claims on Chilean territory? Or that “Operación Soberanía” the invasion of Chile was only aborted at the last minute because Argentina thought the Falkland Islands were the soft option. Chile would certainly have been invaded next if Britain hadn't kicked the heroic Argentine invaders sorry arses off the Falklands. Very forgiving people these Chileans, some would say 'naive'.
@14 redpoll Malvinistas often site the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas to support their ludicrous claims on the Falkland Islands. This treaty divided up the Southern Hemisphere between Portugal and Spain. They believe they have the 'right' to claim ownership of foreign territory by virtue of 'inheritance' from Spain. Never mind the fact Spain didn't cede anything to Argentina, and didn't even recognise Argentina until the 1860s nor the fact that Britain was not a signatory to this treaty and did not accept Papal authority. By malvinista logic they would also have 'legitimate' claim to Australia, New Zealand and everything in between. They also claim Antarctica. In the extremely unlikely event the Argentine empire occupied Antarctica, Australia and New Zealand would be their next claim. It all sounds preposterous, but our job is to nip this Argentine aspiring colonialism and empire-building idiocy in the bud.
territories.indigenousknowledge.org/exhibit-10/2
Are you serious?!
Give them a break. Well done FI. A wonderful gesture that I am sure will be well remembered.
That's exactly it. When argentine leaders find it tough going they focus on the Falklands, it's their 'Get out of jail free' card.
Well done to the Falklanders for their efforts. Top marks!
The amount from the Falklands amounted to £9 per person.
I gather that this was non-governmental aid.
How much did the Argentine public donate - (not the government ).
By extrapolation this would need to be £36,000,000 to equal the per capita donations of the Islanders. Do you have this figure ?
Argentina's first response was 3 field hospitals, 1800 tons of food and over half a million liters of water.
See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_response_to_the_2010_Chile_earthquake
I don't know what monetary aid we sent, but obviously it wasn't £36 million!!!
I have explained the Chilean position before and CP explains it above. Chile is all too aware of Argentina’s support for Bolivia. But, neither Bolivia nor Argentina have a solid legal argument or the military strength to back up their claims, so the status quo will not change, Chile remains on good terms with Argentina and continues its very close relationship with the UK. That is not naive, that is astute and pragmatic.
The UK understands Chile’s position and continues to maintain close diplomatic, military and economic ties with Chile.
17 BK
No I am not serious. I am neither condemning nor condoning Thatcher. The point I was trying, unsuccessfully, to make is that countries (yes even the UK) do what they need to do in national interest and are seldom guided by higher principles. The UK and Chile sought each other in 82 because it was in both their interests. The UK signs up to some very one-sided deals with the US and the EU in order to get along, despite UK public opinion being against much of what they are signed up to. The same is true of Chile’s “support” for Argentina’s claim.
19 War Monkey
Thank you for understanding.
20 Hans
Yes. I agree.
22 Clyde
I don’t have a figure of cash donated and I doubt there was a significant amount, but, as Simon has answered already, Argentina responded immediately with an important humanitarian effort.
I misread the post about the average per capita donation from the Falklanders and took this as sarcasm.
My reply was to show how much the Argentine public would have had to donate to equal the per capita amount. I specifically excluded government aid because donations from the public are spontaneous.
I in no way denigrate the aid supplied by the Argentine govt.
I think that Argentine (private) solidarity has shrunk from being extremely large about 3-4 years ago to being at present more or less at familly level.
I will help my children if there's any money left over at the end of the month sort of thing.
It used to be that one would be happily donating to cancer research, and the church, fire brigade, police benevolent fund, etc. now no way!!!
@19 Chile doesn't have a dilemma. It has choices. It can have courage or cowardice. It can have honesty or cowardice. It can have integrity or cowardice. It can have principles or cowardice. Where's the dilemma? A Brit would choose courage, honesty, integrity and principles.
Homeless Chilean couple hand in £6,500 approx money found in a rubbish bag.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/9388070/Homeless-couple-hand-in-6500-found-in-rubbish-bag.html
'My mother taught me never to steal' (said) the man who makes less than £5 per day recycling rubbish. AND YES, I know it is Brasil but it shows how a lot of people live in this end of the world.
I feel far safer in my area of Uruguay than I sometimes did in the UK. War Monkey was simply putting the reasonable view that to avoid war with Argentia is sensible, if possible. In the UK it's called Diplomacy, but we are not very good at it when we get involved with the Bully Boy that we think we have a 'special relationship' with.
good post.
great story!
I would remind you the UK acts in its national interest too, “courage, honesty, integrity and principles” are often far from influencing the decisions made. I am not saying that Brits don’t possess those qualities, but governments don’t operate like that.
The UK seldom stands up to US pressure and you know it.
The UK get shafted by the US and takes it in the name of the, very one sided “special relationship”.
Are you happy with the extradition treaty the UK is signed up to with the US?
Are you happy with Spanish fishing fleets plundering your territorial waters?
Are you happy that EU legislation can override British court decisions?
Of course not, but these are all deals your government has signed you up to, not because they are courageous, but because all countries have to give on some deals to take on others. All countries cut deals in their own interest, integrity and principles come second.
I would love to see more courage, honesty, integrity and principles applied by all countries. To Tony Blair’s credit, I think one of the few principled acts by a country in recent times, was his decision to intervene in Sierra Leon. More of that would be good.
You tell Cameron to go and get Mugabe, I will tell Piñera to change his stance on the Falklands.
@Alexi: No problem.
@scarfo: Thanks
I could not agree with you more. Every country eventually has to eat crow and act pragmatically.
In light of the economic problems in Argentine, Chile is also starting to make it much harder for Argentine citizens to get work permits as it fears a mass imigration of Argentine citizens attempting to find secure work and escape inflation.
@34 I think you have summed up things very well.
I have nothing but the deepest respect for Chileans and the dilema that comes from having Argentina as a neighbour. This story is testament to how interntational diplomacy should work. The Falkland islanders have engaged in friendship to enhance there cause which is in stark contrast to the bullying tactics adopted by the Argentine government.
I guess your sources are... ”As a brit living in Argentina“ and what they have told you.
Honestly said, I am not aware of ANY dispute, where Chile has gained something. Not even the Beagle Channel dispute was in favour of Chile, even in Argentina they ”sell” it as such one.
I am also a reader of history of the southern horn of America. The beagle channel was disputed by both parties and it was found in favour of Chile.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beagle_conflict
I understand it is wikepedia but the information is broadly correct.
This was also a similar issue witht he straits of Magellan.
I at no point argueed that Chile did not have a right to these Islands as neither an Argentine or Chilean I stay out of these sorts of issues but my statement that a number od disputes were found in favout of Chile is wholy accurate.
Id be intrested to know what position you are taking on the issue so i can better udnerstand your comment.
www.facebook.com/Britain1592
The point is, and you can see it in your own sources (Wikipedia), that Argentina since then, has steadily expanded their VIRTUAL pretention (I say virtual, as they never gained physical control over it) bit by bit as you can see it on that map:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Resume.arg.cart.en.png
They have played this game so permanently, that a “setting back” of this pretentions by, lets say by fictive 90%, is already generally perceived as a Chilean victory. I say fictive, as I would not now how to define weight of martime territory vs soil. Nevertheless they gained those extra 10% over what was originally agreed and perceived by Argentina herself (!) in 1881.
Also do not forget there has been 2 arbitrations, one done by the Queen end of the 70ies and one in the 80ies by the Pope. If you study this case more in depth, you will see that the Pope's proposal is way in favour to Argentina vs the original arbitration defined by the Queen.
Not to forget... against all the facts I have mentioned above, the Beagle Channel is perceived by Argentina as the “biggest win” for Chile in demarcatory arbitrations. You then can imagine the situation in the other cases...I would ask you to mention the “other” arbitrations in favour of Chile they have told you, I am quite curious about them.
Btw, the strait of Magellan was physically occupied and fortified by Chile (during Bulnes presidency) in 1843, 30 years before Argentina even started their “conquest of the desert” thousands of kilometers way north arround Buenos Aires.
Checkout the facts:
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquista_del_Desierto
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