MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

By air or by sea, Malvinas war next of kin visit confirmed

The old and the new display of Argentine cemetery at Darwin

The Malvinas war next of kin visit to the Falkland Islands for the inauguration of the monument at the Argentine cemetery has been confirmed by the main authorities in Argentina and the Falklands. The discussion now is whether the 600 to 800 visitors will arrive in the Falklands by air of by sea.

Argentine president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner called for a "humanitarian act" from the United Kingdom so that relatives of the Argentines killed in the 1982 Malvinas war can fly to the Falkland Islands for the inauguration of the cemetery in Darwin. Mrs. Kirchner made the appeal on Saturday at the end of her speech to the Argentine Congress formally opening the 126th ordinary sessions' period. After describing Malvinas as "a colonial enclave in the South Atlantic", Mrs. Kirchner said, "I want to ask for a humanitarian act: that England allow the next of kin, the relatives of those who lost their lives (in the Islands) to travel there by airplane, for the inauguration of the monument they themselves built with private support, to remember and honor their beloved. That's the only thing all Argentines are asking from the United Kingdom".A one minute ovation followed her words. However on Friday, Falkland Islands weekly Penguin News reported in front page that local authorities, under coordination from the Governor, would begin holding meetings in preparation for the visit of a ship of Argentine next of kin, 600 to 800 people "who will come for the inauguration of the memorial at the Argentine cemetery in Darwin". The original 1982 Argentine cemetery in Darwin made up of simple crosses displayed over a cross perimeter has been redesigned into a monument and although it has been finished for several years it still has to be officially inaugurated. Argentina has repeatedly insisted it would like to have an official inauguration with close to "a thousand people" participating including one next of kin for each Argentine killed in the 1982 conflict plus officials and press. The huge mobilization would be by air. However Falkland Islands authorities that supported the construction of the monument, argue there is insufficient logistics for such a number of people arriving by air and have suggested the Argentine next of kin come by sea. The total population of the Falklands is 2.600 and there simply is no capacity for such a number of one day visitors if they should have to be lodged in the Islands. Besides whether by sea or air there's also the challenge of having sufficient buses to carry such a number of visitors to the Darwin cemetery. Nevertheless it must also be mentioned that since the Kirchner administrations are in office, Argentina banned all charter flights to the Falklands from the continent. The Islands elected authorities point out that the Argentine proposal for the next of kin visit would mean charter flights, in violation of the ban which was imposed in an attempt to further isolate and harm the Falklands' economy and in this particular case its tourism industry. From Stanley Penguin News quoted First Secretary Paul Martinez saying that no dates for the families visit "have been given", but "the Governor thought we ought to start thinking about how the exercise itself, moving so many people from a ship to the cemetery, might be carried out". The monument at Darwin has been redesigned in the shape of two walls as extended protective hands, with a cross and a hermitage that will lodge Argentina's patron virgin, looking out to the graves. The new cemetery was designed by Argentine architects who also directed the ground work and assembling of the different cement slabs that were built and shipped from Argentina. The whole operation is estimated to have cost over a million US dollars mostly funded by an Argentine businessman with close links to the government and private donations organized by the Malvinas veterans' families.