Argentine President Cristina Fernandez marked Tuesday's 31st anniversary of the start of the Falklands War by again demanding that Britain agree to discuss sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands.
Senior Tories were initially sceptical about going to war over the Falkland Islands, newly released papers from Margaret Thatcher's personal archive show. A note from the whips' office following Argentina's 1982 invasion reported solid support for military action from some Conservative MPs, but others were privately hostile.
Ahead of a much disputed by election at Eastleigh, Hampshire, Prime Minister David Cameron had a chance to make an impression during the PM questions on Wednesday accusing Labour hopeful John O’Farrell of supporting terrorism and Argentina because he wanted Great Britain to lose the Falklands’ war.
Argentine Defence Minister Arturo Puricelli said that the sinking of the destroyer ARA Santísima Trinidad could have been a planned sabotage attack, but also confessed that when President Cristina Fernandez asks him why the ship sank his face drops with embarrassment.
The British designed Argentine missile destroyer ARA “Santísima Trinidad,” that participated in the Falklands conflict in 1982 and has been out of service since 2004 moored at the Puerto Belgrano Navy base, is currently leaning to port and under the risk of sinking.
Three days after Argentina’s ruling military junta seized the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic (April 1982), the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher called for an “urgent assessment” of Britain’s ability to defend Gibraltar, prompted in part by the “jubilant reaction” to the invasion in the Spanish press.
The 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina caught PM Margaret Thatcher by surprise, newly released government papers have shown. The then-prime minister only saw it was likely after getting “raw intelligence” two days before the Argentines landed.
The third phase of explosive ordnance and landmine clearance in the Falkland Islands is scheduled to begin next January and extend until March 2013 and is programmed to concentrate in the surrounding of the capital Stanley.
Remembrance Sunday, November 11, was celebrated in the Falkland Islands capital, Stanley with a service at Christ Church Cathedral, followed by a march to the Cross of Sacrifice, the Memorial to all those who laid down their lives for Britain in war, where a service of remembrance and thanksgiving was held in warm and sunny weather.
Sir Rex Hunt, the former governor of the Falkland Islands during the Argentine invasion which triggered the South Atlantic conflict of 1982 passed away in England on Remembrance Sunday.