MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Falklands and Welsh anniversary in Argentina: chronicle of a foretold debate
Next 28 July Wales First Minister Carwyn Jones will be attending celebrations in the province of Chubut in the framework of the 150th anniversary of the first Welsh settlement in Patagonia, 28 July 1865. An event which in an electoral year in Argentina could become a good opportunity for president Cristina Fernandez to press on the Falkland Islands dispute, according to speculation in the Buenos Aires media. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesQuite a clever headline. I enjoyed that.
Jul 11th, 2015 - 08:02 am - Link - Report abuse 0The rest is mainly piffle.
Those who went to Patagonia went of there own free will and have been willing to be part of Argentina, The Islanders also went to the Falklands of there own free will and they wish to remain associated with the UK. That is the BIG difference.
Jul 11th, 2015 - 11:33 am - Link - Report abuse 0We are assured that Carwyn Jones is very clear about the right to self determination of Falkland Islanders. He will not be drawn into Argentine propaganda. Thanks SAMA.
Jul 11th, 2015 - 12:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0These people are not Welsh settlers. They are the descendants of Welsh settlers. In much the same way that people the world over are usually the descendants of some nation's settlers, way back.
Jul 11th, 2015 - 12:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I shall be writing to Caerwyn Jones. He's being seduced into the idea that RGland has something to offer us.
It's worth reading an article I found on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_in_Patagonia
Jul 11th, 2015 - 12:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It's worth noting that Patagonia didn't “belong” to the argies when the Welsh arrived. How did argieland “welcome” the Welsh, then? And when you read, you'll find this bit “There were few farmers, which was rather unfortunate particularly when they discovered that the attractions of the area had been oversold and they had landed in an arid semi-desert with little food; they had been told that the area was like lowland Wales.” Perfect place for argies to go. People were already being conned. And then there was the Conquest of the Desert Part 1.
They are NOT Welsh, they are Argentine.
Jul 11th, 2015 - 01:04 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Get over it with the 150 years crap.
Distraction.
Jul 11th, 2015 - 02:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0rotting roadkill:
You've got much more pressing matters to deal with than small potatoes like a supposed claim to the Falklands.
When the Welsh arrived in Chubut there were no Argentine colonists there. Their idea was to establish a colony to preserve the Welsh way of life and language which under attack in their homeland.
Jul 11th, 2015 - 04:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The 1865 agreement guaranteed them freedom of worship, education in Welsh and exemption from military conscption.
They established a good relationship with the indigenous population, unlike the publicly stated Argentine position that the only good indian was a dead indian.
As usual with all Argentine agreements the treaty was unilaterally abrogated by the Argentine government just 35 years later.
Wales First Minister Carwyn Jones
Jul 11th, 2015 - 07:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0welcomes the very people that not only killed his fellow Welshmen in the illegal invasion, but the same people that are intimidating , threatening , abusing and bullying British Falkland now,
or if im wrong, he is just being diplomatically welcoming to our enemies,
we reap what we sow,
two faced , or appeasement.
Well thank goodness he will be under the strict control of the British Embassy and will be having his words carefully written. So far i've only seen stupidity and naivity from the Welsh on this issue.
Jul 11th, 2015 - 08:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@8
Jul 11th, 2015 - 09:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“The 1865 agreement guaranteed them freedom of worship, education in Welsh and exemption from military conscption. ” and;
“ As usual with all Argentine agreements the treaty was unilaterally abrogated by the Argentine government just 35 years later.”
Which Castro conveniently left out=meaning that while the Welsh soldiers that fought on the UK's side were voluntary, the Welsh Argentines who served in the Falklands on the losing side were conscripted.
@11 Spot on Pete
Jul 11th, 2015 - 10:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0In a further example of the warm Argentine welcome that Alicia Castro is so proud of, the initial proposal to establish a Welsh settlement was rejected by the Argentine Congress on the grounds of ethnic supremacy, and only got through in the end by jiggery-pokery.
Jul 12th, 2015 - 09:22 am - Link - Report abuse 0“Argentinean officials who thought that sending a party under the auspices of the Buenos Aires government would strengthen Argentina’s claims over the Patagonian region before neighbouring Chile took the upper hand. However, others saw the settlement as a high-risk enterprise; the proximity of a colony of British subjects on the Falkland Islands occupied permanently by Great Britain in 1833 soon generated suspicions among those who were wary of British intentions. This, combined with the fear that the Welsh were Protestants who could convert the original peoples and eventually turn them against the officially Catholic Argentine State, led the Legislators in Congress to reject the project by 21 votes against 5 on 27 July 1863. Dr Guillermo Rawson, the Home Secretary, was still enthusiastic about the Welsh settling in Patagonia, and secured tracts of land in the Chubut Valley that were to be given to owners individually rather than to an immigration company. In 1864, when the Congress was not in session, Rawson managed to get the Welsh petition approved.”
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CFYQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Forca.cf.ac.uk%2F46450%2F1%2FWelshPrintCultureInYWladfaWalterBrooks.pdf&ei=LiyiVdDSPILWygPNmLCYAQ&usg=AFQjCNEyM4NRUFo_Db-HEQxBGlknJkW0Eg&sig2=8baKqGOn7RrLMPREH7kF8g&bvm=bv.97653015,d.bGQ
Well, if she accepts that the welsh were there before the Argentinians, [she was colony then ]
Jul 12th, 2015 - 07:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0then Britain must surly have a better claim to Patagonia than modern day Argentina, is this not so,
Off to the ICJ with this claim, Quickly before they change their minds...lol
Perhaps the Welsh would like to rename Patagonia as “New Wales”. The Welsh were there first. Shouldn't they have “sovereignty”? Perhaps they'd like to go to the ICJ with a “claim” to the Falkland Islands and New Wales under British sovereignty? And co-operation with Chile! How could argieland claim “colony”? Let's remember the “territorial integrity” of the Falklands and New Wales. Partly stolen by argieland. Did spain recognise New Wales as part of argieland? Land stolen by miitary conquest and genocide?
Jul 13th, 2015 - 03:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Agree.
Jul 13th, 2015 - 07:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@15
Jul 13th, 2015 - 09:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Good points Conqueror-even if the Welsh Argentines are proud to speak Spanish-there must be descendants from the Falkland Islands (Mainwaring, Michael, From the Falklands to Patagonia [London: Allison and Busby,1983]. that farmed in the Santa Cruz area(Hallidays) that could also go to the ICJ-after all, the UK would look after and finance them better (as Vernet thought when he hedged his bets-preferring British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands).
Then there's Ushuaia, founded by Bishop Stirling, in relation to the Christian mission on the Falkland Islands (Keppel Island), before the Argies had awoken from their siesta and moved South to commit genocide.
You know it makes sense Argentina, help Ushuaia's sewers by giving it to the Falkland Islands to run properly...
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