MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

CFK on Malvinas: in this upside down world “we are called colonialists and bad guys”

We will keep claiming but don’t expect from this government any “intemperate shouting or actions”

Fully recovered from the thyroidectomy and with her irony sharp as ever, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, CFK, resumed office on Wednesday and in an hour plus colloquial speech in Casa Rosada spent a good twenty minutes talking about Malvinas, colonialism and promised more rigour in the campaign to have the UK sit and discuss Falklands sovereignty.

“In this upside down world, in my absence I’ve heard they were calling as colonialists”, said the Argentine leader in reference to recent statements from British PM David Cameron. “Honestly, we are always tempted to respond, but sometimes we have to avoid doing so because when you hear such statements it’s because they have neither arguments nor reasons”.

Nevertheless “we will continue claiming our Islands with far more political, juridical and diplomatic rigour and with the so many supports that we are receiving. But it’s good to remember that this is not an overnight achievement, it has taken years”, said Cristina Fernandez addressing the packed Women’s Hall at Casa Rosada.

She went on to say that “if I’m not wrong at a UN Decolonization Committee, I believe of the 19 or so pending cases in the agenda, referred to colonialism, 16 refer to the British, so let’s not talk about this anymore”.

“Everybody knows, history clearly shows that the (Malvinas) war was not demanded by the Argentine people, that it was a decision from the dictatorship, orchestrated by a Junta desperate to bury the new reality that had been uncovered by a group of brave women who were looking for their children and grandchildren while wearing white handkerchiefs on their heads. The regime was financially broke and their cruelty exposed not by politicians but by the Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo”.

And the military didn’t have a better idea than to send teenagers, not trained or prepared, to a suicidal war, “that is why I’m signing a decree instructing Defence Minister Arturo Puricelli to create a committee in order to declassify the Rattenbach Report,” an independent investigation that was drafted after the Malvinas Islands and its original version was never released and put under a 50 year state secrets act.

The report compiled by a list of top officers from the three services and considered respectful and independent was “South Atlantic conflict committee for the analysis and evaluation of political and military-strategic responsibilities”. Allegedly the main commanders involved in the Malvinas war questioned conclusions and rejected its publication, but none of the following elected Argentine governments did anything about it. The report describes the Malvinas invasion as “a military adventure”.

Cristina Fernandez went on to say that when she was absent from government, “I’ve been told that we have some bad intentions for the anniversary and are preparing naughty surprises. Well it’s all nonsense we are going to keep to the political, juridical and diplomatic path we have been working on. This is only an attempt, who knows by whom, to show us as the ‘bad boys’ or the ‘violent guys’ of the picture”.

“The fact we want discussions on Malvinas does not mean the Islanders have to cease to be British, nor the Italians living in Argentina have to cease being Italian, or the Spanish, or the Ukrainians, or whoever, my grandparents never ceased to be Spanish”, argued the Argentine president.

“This is the upside down world, because in the real world we are going to continue with the same policy, demanding that UN resolutions are abided and that we sit and dialogue with the usurpers on the issue of Malvinas, but don’t expect from this government any “intemperate shouting or actions”.

But since “we are the ‘bad, violent guys’ planning naughty things, may I ask how is it, as the Foreign Affairs minister said, we have several times more English people living in Buenos Aires than the whole population of the Malvinas? How it is so many British companies are established in Argentina, making good money, I imagine, and even more, here I have a list of the English companies that have taken over Argentine companies in the last few years, and it is not a short list”. She then went on to read some names of the list of UK companies prospering in Argentina.

But in this upside world, “we are the ‘bad guys’ planning bad things and obviously the ‘colonialists’”, emphasized an inspired Cristina Fernandez.

Further on she questioned several environmental groups for not criticizing the exploitation of natural resources in the Malvinas Islands, in a moment when many seem to focus on a controversial mining project in the north of Argentina.

“How strange, upside world again, they are depleting our natural resources, our oil, our fisheries. I haven’t heard a single NGO (non government organization) complain about what they are doing in our Malvinas Islands. Boys: it’s OK if you defend, protect whales, I love them too, but what about defending the squid, our squid they are depleting, and what if an oil spill?”

The Argentine president praised Vice President Amado Boudou for his time as head of state and underlined the achievements of the Argentine economy in 2011: 9.2% growth; 10 billion dollars trade surplus and 6.7% unemployment.

“We pierced the 7% threshold in unemployment; remember it was 25% when Nestor Kirchner took office back in 2003? We definitively broke through the number seven”, which somehow was a coarse reference since in the River Plate slang seven is synonymous of ‘ass’.

The president also warned the oil companies for not having invested sufficiently forcing Argentina to import 9 billion dollars in different fuels, and for taking advantage through a scam, together with the distribution companies and a ‘related teamsters union’ of the generous subsidies system.

“I think some misunderstood me: when I talked about ‘fine tuning’ with the different sectors of the economy I meant an end to the guys and companies who think they can do “wise things” and get off the hook, taking advantage and abusing of privileges. The subsidies are for the needy and Argentina’s resources under out Constitution belong to the provinces that have oil, not to the multinationals, and that don’t reinvest in the country”, warned Cristina Fernandez.

Finally showing proudly her four centimetres scar, the Argentine president defended the work made by the medical team who operated on her and spoke of a “miracle” after the controversial news that she didn’t have cancer as diagnosed originally. She said every piece of information about her health condition was released to the press “without adding or removing anything” since the beginning.

“Doctor Pedro Saco told me he was in shock because what happened was incredible, it was like a miracle. He cannot say that because he’s a scientist, but I am saying it. And I think it was because of everyone’s support and their love” said Cristina Fernández.

She later revealed she was planning on wearing a scarf to cover her scar, but assured that it would prompt some newspapers to say her operation was a sham.

“You know I’m a sucker for looks, but I said to myself: ‘politics before looks, darling’,” she joked.