MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine President praises fortitude of 1982 war veterans

“May those who fought be the source of inspiration for the future we deserve,” President Fernández longed for

Argentine President Alberto Fernández Saturday delivered the main speech during the ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the Puerto Argentino / Port Stanley landing which triggered the South Atlantic armed conflict with the United Kingdom.

 During the event at the Malvinas Museum in Buenos Aires, the head of state granted medals to war veterans as well as to families of the ones fallen during the war. At the beginning of the ceremony, singer Darío Volonté, a survivor of the battleship ARA General Belgrano, performed Aurora. Fellow singer Dolores Solá performed a version of the Argentine National Anthem and Luna Sujatovich interpreted the Malvinas March.

Fernández asked for a round of applause for the ex-combatants and their families. “On their behalf, I want to pay tribute to the officers who fought with dignity in Malvinas,” he said and mentioned Martín Balza, who was later promoted to four-star general and became Army chief under President Carlos Menem in the 1990s.

President Fernández also thanked former Presidents Evo Morales (Bolivia), Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), and José Mujica (Uruguay) for being there at the ceremony.

“I read a phrase of daughters of former combatants, which synthesize a lot: 'Pride and gratitude for our combatants'. I share them and I add the word horror for the irresponsible decision of a dictatorship that sent soldiers to death in defense of sovereignty,” Fernández went on.

“We also extend the 'Nunca Más' to our heroes so that they never again fall into silence by any government,” he added. “Behind them were many Argentine families. I express a feeling recognized by our people, we recognize them as heroes.”

Fernández also recalled that last week also marked a new anniversary of the March 24, 1976, military coup d'état and the March 30, 1982, demonstration before Casa Rosada of groups who had grown tired of putting up with a dictatorship and whose initiative was silenced by the so-called national cause of war just a few days later.

“In those days the decision was taken by a handful of fascinating people from whom nothing good could be expected,” President Fernández said about the Military Junta's decision to seize the archipelago by force. He expressed that “as the days went by, the attempt of manipulation became evident” and that they wanted to “confuse and manipulate” people.

“Our soldiers did not see it that way and with few means but a lot of courage and the support of the people they defended a usurped land in an absolutely unequal war.” Even the British had acknowledged the bravery of the Argentine troops, Fernández highlighted. “May the Malvinas veterans never again fall into oblivion,” because “even in defeat, they had an extraordinary fortitude.”

“If you read the Rattenbach Report published by Cristina, you will see the clumsiness of those who led the war. Those military officers who discredited the Armed Forces are part of a past to which we do not want to return,” Fernández insisted.

The Argentine president also underlined that British control over the Falklands as well as the Georgias and Sandwich Islands was a “remnant of colonialism.” But in a Freudian slip he mixed up “colonialism” with “capitalism” and when he corrected himself he said that “they are the same thing.”

“We keep on saying it: the Malvinas were, are, and will be Argentine,” Fernández stressed. He added that “40 years have passed and the world is moved by the war in Europe,” in a framework in which “Argentina reiterates its desire for a peaceful search for sovereignty and we will continue working within the framework of respect for international law.”

Fernández pledged to “continue working for the respect of the victims” and called on the United Kingdom to “comply with UN Resolution 2065, which since 1965 recommends both parties to sit down to negotiate the issue” and then thanked Latin American nations for their support to Argentina's claim.

“May those who fought be the source of inspiration for the future we deserve,” the President wished.

The medal pinned Saturday on 15 war veterans was coined at National Mint. It was meant as a gesture of recognition which will be encored nationwide throughout 2022 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the South Atlantic war.

Also participating in the event at the Malvinas Museum was Defense Minister Jorge Taiana, who Friday evening had attended the now traditional vigil at Río Grande in Tierra del Fuego. “Forty years after the conflict, and in honor of our Fallen and Veterans, we continue to peacefully claim our legitimate sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands,” Taiana said.