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Argentina delists Malvinas petitioner Betts, and his shady turncoat past begins to surface

Friday, June 1st 2018 - 08:55 UTC
Full article 16 comments

Alejandro Jacobo Betts, Argentine citizen, born as Alexander Jacob Betts in the Falkland Islands, where he lived with a family until the end of the 1982 conflict, has been delisted from the Argentine delegation to this year's United Nations Decolonization Committee or C24 meeting scheduled for this month in New York. Read full article

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  • falklandlad

    Ah..... the truth finally beginning to seep out. Long may it continue.

    Jun 01st, 2018 - 09:12 am - Link - Report abuse +5
  • Brit Bob

    Ah the little C24 Committee.Such an irrelevance.

    Falklands – UN C24 Committee (2 pgs):-
    https://www.academia.edu/11274445/Falklands_-_UN_C24_Committee

    Jun 01st, 2018 - 11:51 am - Link - Report abuse +5
  • Marti Llazo

    “shady turncoat” is perhaps that most charitable thing that could be said of Betts.

    Jun 01st, 2018 - 12:13 pm - Link - Report abuse +5
  • Don Alberto

    Yet another non-entity in the invented dispute.

    Jun 02nd, 2018 - 02:53 am - Link - Report abuse +4
  • Tr0lListic_Approach

    One man's turncoat is another man's hero.

    Because almost everyone is a hypocrite, except me.

    Is Trump the first Peronist president of the US yes or no?

    Jun 02nd, 2018 - 11:11 am - Link - Report abuse -5
  • Conqueror

    We need an investigation. Is it possible to take him back to “the Malvinas” and shoot him? i don't believe that there's any limitation on dealing with a traitor. If he was knocking off some argie bint during the war, wouldn't that make him a collaborator?

    Jun 02nd, 2018 - 12:07 pm - Link - Report abuse +3
  • Roger Lorton

    A quisling at the very least, or why the war pension?

    Unpleasant certainly - abandoned his wife and children for a bit of Argie totty at the end of the war. Fled would be another word.

    As for “... ”too aggressive“ for the British delegation” however, that is nonsense. The UK Government no longer sends a delegation or even a single representative to the C24 and has not done so for decades.

    Argentina is welcome to Mr. Betts.

    Jun 02nd, 2018 - 10:48 pm - Link - Report abuse +5
  • Zaphod Beeblebrox

    Have we learned the true identity of that Hepatia (etc.) spammer? :-D

    Jun 04th, 2018 - 05:37 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • DemonTree

    Nice idea, but I don't believe Hepatia was ever British.

    @RL
    Maybe the war pension was a reward for all those trips to the UN and other publicity? Makes me wonder what the real veterans think about it.

    Jun 04th, 2018 - 09:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Roger Lorton

    As I understand it, to get a war pension you have to have 'served' in the Islands themselves. A cause of much resentment to those who were in the Argentine forces in 1982, but who did not leave the mainland.

    Jun 04th, 2018 - 11:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Zaphod Beeblebrox

    DT,

    OK, probably not Hepatia. ;-)

    As for “Allegedly he was not included on this occasion since he is considered “too aggressive” for the British delegation and Falklands petitioners to the UN C24 meeting.” I wonder if this is an(other) indication that Macri is trying to very gradually disengage from the Falklands issue? I suspect that he is a realist and knows that Argentina has no valid claim on the islands but to say that would be political suicide so he's not doing anything to escalate the dispute. Not inviting the Betts idiot fits with my hypothesis.

    Jun 05th, 2018 - 05:24 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • DemonTree

    @RL
    What about the navy and air force? How do they decide which of them get a pension?

    Betts moved to Argentina after the war, right? So he was in the islands at the time, but 'served' there, not so much. What's he supposed to have done that merits a military pension? AFAIK several islanders helped the British forces and they don't get a pension from the UK.

    @ZB
    I'd agree with you, but I googled the guy and found this article:

    http://en.mercopress.com/2015/06/25/the-argentine-kelper-didn-t-go-to-the-united-nations-this-year.

    CFK was still in charge in 2015, then after Macri took over Betts attended again in 2016 and 2017. They refused to give a reason for leaving him out in 2015, it's all a bit mysterious.

    Jun 05th, 2018 - 07:48 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Roger Lorton

    The issue of who gets the pension in Argentina has always been, and remains, controversial. Many who claim to have 'fought' the British on the mainland were denied it. I have no idea how it works for their airforce or navy but I suspect they had to have seen some recognised action.

    Rumour has it that Betts was acting as a spy for the Argentine regime in the period leading up to the invasion. It is likely that he would deny it but that pension is otherwise hard to explain.

    As for the current situation, Betts does as he's told so if BA wanted him to tone down his speech, then he would. Which makes his exclusion - still unconfirmed - hard to explain. He has been missing before and it may be that he has just annoyed someone or is being reminded of his place.

    Jun 05th, 2018 - 10:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • DemonTree

    I read another article where he claimed he got the pension because he was living in Stanley, 'dodging bullets and shrapnel' throughout the war, and also because he worked for the Argentine airline which was run by the military. Seems dodgy because all the civilians living there were at the same risk due to the fighting, he didn't suffer any (more) danger due to his job. I'm sure other islanders who worked for the airline didn't get a war pension.

    Was there much need for a spy? I suppose the minimal defence back then was public knowledge. IIRC the Argie military did immediately exile a bunch of people who they regarded as troublemakers, don't know how they decided who to include in that.

    Jun 06th, 2018 - 08:42 am - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Zaphod Beeblebrox

    DT,

    “CFK was still in charge in 2015, then after Macri took over Betts attended again in 2016 and 2017. They refused to give a reason for leaving him out in 2015, it's all a bit mysterious.”

    OK, thanks for that. Whatever the reasons, it seems that Bett's has now managed to lose favour with both CFK and Macri. I suspect that just confirms all the other comments about his character on here. :-D

    If both the CFK and Macri camps don't like Betts, does that mean that the Troll the only person on the planet who thinks he is a hero? That explains a lot too. ;-)

    Jun 07th, 2018 - 05:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
  • Claude

    England will return the Malvinas within 25 years.

    Jun 08th, 2018 - 01:59 am - Link - Report abuse 0

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