MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina insists Malvinas next of kin fly to the Falklands

The monument in the Argentine Cemetery is waiting to be inaugurated

Argentina promised on Tuesday to insist before the United Kingdom so that the (1982) Malvinas conflict families can travel to the Falklands by air for the opening of the Argentine monument at the Darwin cemetery.

Argentine Foreign Affairs minister Jorge Taiana met in his office with representatives from the committee of families of the fallen in Malvinas and reiterated the Argentine government's commitment, before the British government, for chartered aircrafts to fly the next of kin. "We will continue with the intense discussions already began with the United Kingdom so that the contingent of next of kin can travel to the Islands by air and the inauguration ceremony (of the Argentine monument) can be done in the most convenient way for the relatives, given the humanitarian condition of the event", reported the Argentine Foreign Affairs ministry following the meeting. Héctor Cisneros, Delmira de Cao, Leandro de la Colina, César González Trejo and Julio Cardoso met with Mr. Taiana in representation of the Malvinas families. According to the Buenos Aires press the representatives expressed their gratitude, particularly to President Cristina Kirchner for having referred to the issue during her recent speech to the Argentine Congress when she underlined that the Malvinas families' desire was to make effective "the inauguration ceremony of the Monument to the Fallen in the Darwin Cemetery". Taiana insisted that by air was the most practical, reasonable and secure way of taking the next of kin to the Falklands, and remarked that "travel in a direct flight from Argentine continental territory to the Islands is contemplated in the Argentine-British agreement with exchange of notes, under the sovereignty formula, effective between both countries since February 23 of 2001". The Falkland Islands government which has always supported and facilitated next of kin visits points out that flying over 800 people to the Islands, --according to the numbers contemplated for the inauguration of the monument--, is logistically out of the question and has long suggested the relatives travel by sea. A recent exercise organized by the Falklands government in preparation for the visit not only showed that there's no capacity to lodge 600 to 800 people, but also there are not even enough buses to carry that number of people. Councillor Summers said "it would be a huge logistical exercise even by sea let alone by air." He indicated that by air it would be virtually impossible as the Falklands has no facility to house or feed 800 extra people, and the air terminal alone can only shelter 200 persons on arrival The air/sea controversy arises just a few weeks before Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's leaves for London to participate in a "progressive" political parties meeting invited by the leader of Britain's Labor Party, Prime Minister Gordon Brown