MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Furious Chile demands an apology from Argentina’s former military governor of the Falklands

President of the Chilean Foreign Affairs Committee Deputy Jorge Tarud

The Chilean political system reacted angrily and demanded official apologies from the Argentine government following statements from former General Mario Menendez who said “Chileans behaved as pigs during the Malvinas war” three decades ago.

“Chileans didn’t behave as brothers but rather as pigs during the Malvinas conflict” said the former military governor of Argentine occupied Falkland Islands (who surrendered to the British Task Force), in direct reference to Chile’s intelligence support to the UK during the conflict.

The president of the Chilean Foreign Affairs Committee Deputy Jorge Tarud said that General Menendez words only reflect the hatred from the Argentine military Junta towards Chile.

“The offensive words from a former Argentine military officer and collaborator of the Junta only reflect the hatred of the Junta towards Chile”, which if they were successful in their campaign in the Falklands, “would have continued with an invasion of Chile” said lawmaker Tarud.

“We expect the Argentine government to categorically condemn this kind of insults from a former high ranking member of the Argentine military Junta”, added Tarud.

The attitude of the Argentine military and the Junta at the time was pure madness against its own people, besides the fact they sent teenagers to wage a war with no food, no proper clothing, lack of military training, in what can only be described as an “adventure”.

Tarud said that General Leopoldo Galtieri head of the military Junta at the time of the Falklands invasion “is the only responsible for the death of 650 Argentine combatants who died in the Falklands”.

Menenedez also admitted that Argentina was not prepared for “a war in the Islands but for war with Chile”.