MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
April Second, an anniversary remembered, but not celebrated, in the Falkland Islands
“It's not a particularly celebratory event.” This was the view expressed by Falkland Island Government spokesman, Cllr.Mike Summers, when asked if he and his colleagues had made any plans to celebrate the 24th anniversary of what Falkland Islanders regard as the illegal invasion of their country by Argentinean forces on April 2nd 1982.
Of the eight elected members of the Falkland Islands Legislative Council, only four were in the Islands in 1982 and one was at school in Argentina.
The Reverend Paul Sweeting, pastor of Stanley's Anglican cathedral, told Mercopress that he would not normally mention the anniversary as he was sensitive to the fact that for some people in the Falklands the period of seventy-four days from April 2nd, was still "a difficult time." The theme for his sermon this Sunday was that times of crisis required faith to be endurable. This was prompted not by the events of 1982, but by a more recent tragic road accident, the second in a few weeks, which had left the whole community stunned and grieving. The invasion was mentioned, in passing, as yet such another time of crisis.
In a world largely desensitized by over exposure to violence and tragedy, it is hard to convey what effect a single unnecessary death can have on a population the size of the Falkland Islands, which would not be noticed at any British Premier League footballing fixture. Even harder is to convey the extent of the trauma of armed invasion on the population of what had been up to that point one of the most peaceful places on earth.
On April 2nd 1982, the people of Stanley, who witnessed the presence of thousands of armed troops and armoured personnel carriers in their streets knew that their world had changed for ever. What they did not know at that point was the outcome of those changes. That would not begin to become clear until long after the Islands were once again free, thanks to the valour of the British forces.
In those early hours of fear and confusion anyone envisaging the confident, prosperous and increasingly independent Falkland Islands of today would have been regarded as mad. Nothing about that day seemed good, except the sunshine, prompting from some wag the bitter joke, "Well if this is now Argentina, at least the weather's better."
Today, April; 2nd 2006, 24 years after that momentous event, if everything else has changed, at least the weather remains the same and the sun of an Indian summer shines on everyone in Stanley. This includes a small, but peaceful, invasion of Argentine TV people, including Gaston Pauls, the star of the much acclaimed film, Iluminados por el Fuego which has to do with the shabby treatment metered out to Argentina's largely conscript forces both during and after the 1982 conflict.
While the anniversary of the Argentine invasion is not publicly celebrated no doubt it is still privately remembered by all those Falkland Islanders who lived through it. By contrast, the end of the seventy four days of Argentine occupation on 14th June is always a public holiday in the Falklands, marked by a service of thanksgiving in the Cathedral, a military parade and free drinks for all in the Town Hall.
John Fowler (Mercopress) Stanley
Top Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesCommenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!