MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina denies compensations for Malvinas veterans

The Argentine government denies it was considering monetary compensations for Malvinas war veterans and for next of kin of killed servicemen.

Interior Minister Aníbal Fernandez denied statements attributed to him and published Monday in Buenos Aires newspaper La Nacion.

"Nobody has interviewed or spoken to me on the issue", said Mr. Fernandez. "No decision has been taken and much less mentioning cash and bond payments", insisted Mr. Fernandez in a release from Telam. "All is still very green, and there won't be any announcement next April 2" when Argentina commemorates the 1982 landing in Falklands. "The President doesn't like to rush things. They are decisions which take their time and need much thinking. Deciding from one day to another as if magic, does not exist", added Mr. Fernandez.

However, Paola Juarez from La Nacion who wrote the article insists that Mr. Fernandez advanced the news to her and Armed Forces sources as well as Malvinas veterans' organizations confirmed it and provided further details of the operation.

La Nacion article pointed out that the Kirchner administration was considering paying the equivalent of 68,000 US dollars to veterans and relatives of servicemen killed in the South Atlantic 1982 conflict.

"We are examining how to pay compensation to former combatants," Interior Minister Anibal Fernandez told La Nacion.

Apparently President would be making an announcement April 2, on the 23rd anniversary of the Argentine troop landings in the Falklands that triggered the war with Britain.

The conflict, started by the military regime that then ruled Argentina, claimed nearly 1,000 lives - some 700 Argentines and 255 British soldiers and sailors.

Last year, the Argentine Interior Ministry carried out the first census of veterans of the war, identifying over 25,000, of whom 14,840 are collecting monthly pensions of 315 US dollars.

La Nacion mentioned in the article that the initiative was still a project and compensations much depended on the Ministry of Economy approval. The April 2 date was being considered by the government and veterans associations.