MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

When Peron offered to buy the Falklands/Malvinas in a long term deal

General Juan Domingo Peron sent as his representative and envoy to the ceremony his vice president, Admiral Alberto Teisaire.

Some seven decades ago when the crowing of the princess to become Queen Elizabeth II, Argentine president General Juan Domingo Peron sent as his representative and envoy to the ceremony his vice president, Admiral Alberto Teisaire.

But the naval officer originally from the province of Mendoza, also carried a special proposal to the UK, referred to the Falklands/Malvinas Islands, according to historians from that province who sketched out events in an article published in Diario Mendoza Today.

Allegedly according to events, at the end of May 1952, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was preparing for her coronation, and at the same time Admiral Teisaire arrived in London appointed as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary on special mission, in other words a personal envoy from president Peron. He attended the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

“Argentina wanted to double honor Great Britain by sending to the ceremony not only the second most important person in the country, and who replaced President Peron in his absence, but a person who is also a member of one of the services most admired by the British, the Navy”.

However the special mission of the Argentine naval officer was not only to participate in the coronation, but also to formalize a proposal from Peron, referred to the recovery of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands.

In a private meeting at the Park Lane Hotel, Teisaire told Lord Reading (Gerald Rufus Isaacs), then head of Latin American affairs that Argentina was proposing a long term deal for the purchase of the Falklands.

Allegedly according to declassified documents, the Argentine government wanted Anglo/Argentine relations to be established on a firm base, and that as part of a some long term understanding, involving payment, Great Britain would drop all rights and/or claims over the Malvinas Islands“.

Although there was no mention of any specific sum of money, apparently Lord Reading rejected the proposal, and justified such a refusal pointing out that ”the inhabitants of the Malvinas Islands were British, and if a plebiscite was held, most certainly almost unanimously they would prefer to remain under the British flag”.

The document also points out, between brackets, that (both negotiators agreed that probably that would be the outcome).

Lord Reading apparently also added that it “was unconceivable that any British government would even consider the sale of the Islands, and if they did the government would be ousted of Parliament”.