Argentina commemorates the Falklands War and reaffirms its sovereignty over these islands

Memorial to Argentinian soldiers killed in the Falklands War.

Buenos Aires, April 1, 2022. REUTERS - STRINGER

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Forty years after the start of the Falklands War, Argentina paid tribute this Saturday, April 2, to its soldiers who fell during the war, while reaffirming its claims to these islands. 

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The tribute ceremony took place at the Falklands Museum in Buenos Aires in the presence of the Argentine President, Alberto Fernandez.

Former heads of state in the region, such as Evo Morales or Pepe Mujica, had also made the trip.

After listing the names of the 649 soldiers who fell during the war, the Argentine president decorated several veterans and delivered a speech in which he reaffirmed his country's sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.

Controlled by the British since 1833, these islands, located off the coast of Argentina, have always been claimed by successive governments in Buenos Aires. 

Omnipresent

Forty years after the war, the Falklands are still omnipresent in the Argentine cultural and political landscape, says our correspondent in Buenos Aires,

.

The archipelago is mentioned in the Constitution, in school curricula.

It is found on 50 peso notes, but also in literature, cinema and even on the walls of cities where it is not uncommon to see these islands represented on large frescoes with the inscription "Argentine Falklands".

The 1982 defeat against the British is a wound in Argentina's collective memory and the peaceful claim of sovereignty over the archipelago remains one of the pillars of the country's foreign policy.

It is even one of the rare points of consensus at the political level, all parties combined.

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• Very cultural commemorations

Campo Minado

 (“Minefield” in English, “Champ de mines” in French) is a work created in 2016 by Argentinian author Lola Arias, in which veterans of the Falklands War, Argentinians and British, confront their memories of the conflict.

The play, which had great success all over the world, especially in London and Buenos Aires, is performed again in the Argentine capital on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the war.

The piece gave me a broader view of things.

I understood the English better and, traveling through other countries, I saw that there is a lot in common between those who have suffered from wars.

Veterans on stage

Jean Louis Buchet

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