MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Turning “Malvinas” into positive thinking.

Turning the Malvinas expression into a “positive diplomatic neologism” avoiding that sovereignty over the Islands completely moves aside other very significant issues of the Argentine-United Kingdom relation is the latest proposal of Rodriguez Giavarini a former Argentine Foreign Affairs minister.

In a column published in a Buenos Aires daily Mr. Rodriguez Giavarini states that "the hammer must never be a tool of foreign policy" and refers to the values that the Argentine people rescued following the 1982 disaster, and those are the "value of tolerance" and "agreeing on dissent".

Although those values have suffered a degree of set backs, from a historic perspective "our political culture has improved and we are in condition to again agree on margins of dissent both domestically and internationally".

"Malvinizar" would then also mean recognizing London as the great ally for the opening of markets to Argentine agriculture produce, given UK's position favoring an end to European and US farm subsidies.

"Malvinizar" would enable Argentina to continue with the United Nations peace keeping operations which have helped both countries to work together after having fought in the battle field.

Furthermore advances regarding understanding on private air and sea trips between the continent and the Islands; the Islands de-mining feasibility project; Fisheries Commission meetings to impede poaching in the South Atlantic and joint scientific research cruises should not be excluded from that spirit, writes Mr. Rodriguez Giavarini.

The consensus on dissent opened the way for a strong and realistic dialogue which improved cooperation and the lifting of the British veto to Buenos Aires becoming the seat of the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat.

The achievement in 2001 of "this national aspiration was an acknowledgement to the seriousness of Argentina's historic policies" towards the Antarctic continent, points out the Foreign Affairs minister of the former administration of Fernando De la Rua administration.

And today when those politically responsible for the war belong to the past, "we must remember what Malvinas taught us: the hammer must never be the tool of foreign policy".

The memory of the Argentine and British who were killed in the Islands merits that we "malvinicemos" positively. (Think in positive Malvinas). But yes, between "mate" and tea we'll always make sure that we hope to recover by decisive diplomatic action "our lost sister".

Mr. Rodriguez Giavarini highlights that Malvinas is the international policy issue which most sentiments and feelings excites among Argentines and the only one with a constitutional mandate since 1994.

However as Alexis de Tocqueville warns, the nation which is regularly involved in sentiments of love and hate towards other nations, "ends being a slave of those sentiments".