MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Protestors receive Falklands’ bound Lan Chile flight in Rio Gallegos

A Lan Chile aircraft in Rio Gallegos

As had been anticipated a dissident group of Malvinas veterans protested at the Argentine airport of Rio Gallegos during the Saturday stop over of the weekly Lan Chile flight to the Falkland Islands.

Members of the Malvinas Association of Civil Combatants from Buenos Aires unfurled a huge Argentine flag and let off light-blue and white smoke bombs at the end of the runway demanding the immediate suspension of all Lan Chile flights to the Falklands.

According to the Argentine press it’s the same group that during the recent military parade in Buenos Aires to celebrate the Bicentenary (25 May) slipped in and marched in front of the Honours’ Box, in spite of having been ignored by the organizers of the festivity.

“We’re here in defence of our sovereignty, we want flights of Lan Chile to Malvinas to be suspended”, said Fernando Préstamo following the protest and quoted by La Nacion.

The Malvinas veterans group arrived in Rio Gallegos to protest the monthly flight and unfurl the Argentine flag which read: “Glory to the 649 Malvinas heroes”. However nor the flag nor the smoke bombs interrupted or interfered with the normal operation of the aircraft according to the local Lan office.

In a communiqué distributed by the group the veterans openly reject the current round of oil exploration in waters adjacent to the Malvinas archipelago and protested last week’s ‘incursion of RAF aircraft from the British military base in Mount Pleasant en route to Chile’.