April 2 is the 30th anniversary of the start of the Malvinas (Falklands) War (la Guerra de los Malvinas) between Argentina and Great Britain.
The Argentine junta initiated the war to rally the public around their dictatorship. And also because they were probably paranoid enough to believe some of their own propaganda about enemies prowling everywhere ready to strike. In one of those many ironies of history that also remind us that war is one of the most unpredictable of all political actions, losing the war fatally undermined the credibility of the junta. But it gave new credibility to Maggie Thatcher and strengthened here hand in pursuing her destructive neoliberal policies in Britain, as Simon Jenkins explains in Falklands war 30 years on and how it turned Thatcher into a world celebrity Guardian 04/01/2012.
El Tiempo offers a special section on the war, Malvinas, guerra en el fin del mundo 02.04.2012.
President Cristina Fernández joined the commemoration with her current diplomatic offensive to press Britain into negotiations over the status of the Malvinas, as Uki Goni reports in Argentinian president attacks UK refusal to negotiate on Falklands Guardian 04/02/2012. The Casa Rosada has provided this video of Cristina's speech, Día de los Ex Combatientes y Veteranos de Malvinas. Cristina Fernández:
And British Prime Minister David Cameron used the occasion to emphasize his intransigence over the islands whose possession gives Britain control over major oil drilling concessions in the South Atlantic. (Caroline Davies, Falklands war: 30th anniversary 'a day for reflection' Guardian 04/02/2012)
The National Security Archive reports on recently-released US diplomatic papers from the war in Reagan On The
Falkland/Malvinas: "Give[] Maggie enough to carry on..." 04/01/2012.
And, speaking of diplomatic documents, here are links to a lot of them from the Argentine side: Historia General de las Relaciones Exteriores de la República Argentina Tomo XII: Diplomacia de Malvinas, 1945-1989
One of the themes that is prominent in Argentine memory and discussion of the war is that of the Argentine soldiers tortured and starved, not by Britain but by their own armed forces. Some were sent to war with minimal training. On that theme:
TV Public Argentina, Torturas en Malvinas 02.04.2012
Fernando Cibeira, “Cuesta entender que también fuimos víctimas” Página 12 02.04.2012
Victoria Ginzberg, “Me hizo comer entre el propio excremento” Página 12 02.04.2012
Laura Vales, Frío y hambre en las islas Página 12 02.04.2012
Nora Veiras, “El enemigo estaba entre nosotros” Página 12 02.04.2012
Mario Wainfeld in Héroes estaqueados Página 12 02.04.2012 points to a real dilemma in blanket praise for the soldiers in the Guerra de los Malvinas. Some of them were criminals who took part in torture and other illegal acts of repression on part of the dictatorship. He cites the case of Pedro Edgardo Giachino, the first fatality to be celebrated as a hero of the war, with numerous schools named after him. Later investigations showed that he had participated in torture at the notorious ESMA torture center.
Other general accounts include:
BBC New UK, Falklands War: UK and Argentina mark invasion 30 years on 04/02/2012
BBC New UK, The Falklands War: Key dates 03/30/2012
Clarín, Documentos revelan la preocupación de Brasil por el rol soviético en la guerra 02.04.2012
El Espectado, Hace 30 años fue la Guerra de las Malvinas...y la tensión continúa 02.04.2012
Jonathan Gilbert, Falklands War: Why the battle continues 30 years later Christian Science Monitor 04/02/2012
Sara Miller Llana, Why all the attention on the Falklands? Five key questions. Christian Science Monitor 04/02/2012
Miguel Lobianco, Argentina chides Britain on Falklands war anniversary Reuters 04/02/2012
Federico Lorenz, Malvinas: prejuicios y deudas Página 12 02.04.2012
Graciela Mochkofsky, Malvinas: imperio, antisemitismo y represión El País 02.04.2012
Página 12, Boudou: “El colonialismo es una vergüenza para la humanidad”02.04.2012
Página 12, CFK: "Memoria, verdad y justicia" 02.04.2012
Andrea Rönsberg, “La Guerra de las Malvinas fue una guerra muy particular” Deutsche Welle 02.04.2012.
Spiegel Online, Konflikt mit Großbritannien. Argentinien bekräftigt Anspruch auf Falkland-Inseln 02.04.2012
Other articles, commentary and news videos:
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Thirty years on, the British still can't admit the truth about the Falklands The Independent 04/02/2012
El Día editorial, Una guerra que no debió desatarse y el derecho argentino sobre Malvinas 02.04.2012
Guardian editorial The Falklands: 30 years on 03/30/2012
Julián López, A treinta años de Malvinas, libros nuevos y viejos para contar la guerra Clarín 02.04.2012
TV Public Argentina, El debate por Malvinas Fernando Fraquelli Dellatorre (5 min) (Frederico Pinedo (PRO) speaks; Argentine Ambassador to US also speaks) 04/02/2012
TV Public Argentina, Visión Siete: Vigilia por Malvinas Ushuaia 04/02/2012
Tags: argentina, cristina fernández, falklands, malvinas
No comments:
Post a Comment