MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Malvinas Islands will finally be Argentine, through diplomacy”

“The United Nations statements are conclusive and they oblige us to negotiate” underlined Defense minister Aguad during the ceremony

“The Malvinas Islands will finally, through diplomacy, be Argentine”, said Argentina's Defense minister Oscar Aguad on Tuesday at the main ceremony on the start of the 37th anniversary of the South Atlantic conflict with the United Kingdom.

The United Nations statements are conclusive and they oblige us to negotiate“ added Aguad during the ceremony that took place at the Malvinas Cenotaph in Plaza San Martin, downtown Buenos Aires.

The minister praised the courage and determination of the Argentine soldiers during the conflict, ”the British never had air superiority and this is evidence of the valor of our combatants which was even recognized by the same British. Our boys fought in inferior conditions against NATO“

During the ceremony a black granite gravestone with the reading, ”Argentine soldier, only known to God” from the Argentine military cemetery in the Falklands for 37 years was officially donated to the cenotaph to be later incorporated. Likewise another plaque with the full names of the fallen combatants which have been identified in recent years was unveiled.

The ceremony was also attended by foreign minister Jorge Faurie, Human Rights Secretary Claudio Avruj, other officials and leading officers of the three forces as well as dozens of Malvinas veterans and Malvinas families relatives.

It was precisely the president of the Malvinas Families Fernanda Araujo and Santiago Tito, head of the Foundation Criteria who donated the grave stone from the Darwin cemetery.

The ceremony at the San Martin Plaza was one of many commemorations that took place in Argentina on the official Malvinas Fallen and Veterans Day, which also included vigils on the night leading to April 2, mostly in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego cities. The Argentine military invaded the Falkland Islands on 2 April 1982

Military honors were followed by a bugle's lament and the Navy's music band playing the Argentine anthem, the Malvinas March closing with a minute of silence. Malvinas Veterans displayed the different flags and crests of the their combat units and wreaths and flowers were laid at the foot of the cenotaph to the memory of the 649 Argentine combatants killed during the conflict.