This is a blog about monsters, cryptozoology and science. However, sometimes the "real" world intrudes and we must clarify some comments.
As most of you should know, in 1982 Argentina and Great Britain fought a stupid and sensless war (all wars are stupid and pointless) over the islands which, in Spanish are named Islas Malvinas and in English are known as Falkland Islands.
Argentina in those days was ruled by a military dictatorship, a "junta" who to prop up its falling popularity (was it ever popular?) came up with this war to retake the islands from the British.
"Retake" because, the islands were forcibly occupied by "England" in 1833, when they deposed the Argentine Governor and expelled him. Since then Argentina has peacefully made repeated demands and requesting that Britain hand back the islands. To no avail.
War was a very stupid idea. Britain aided by Ronald Reagan's "star-wars" U.S.A. technology, quickly defeated the Argentine occupation force (an army made up mostly by eighteen year old conscripts!) and so the war ended in defeat. The bitter wounds of this war are still fresh after more than 27 years (I believe that the German -former nazis- and the British buried the hatchet much sooner!).
Argentine Cemetery, Malvinas / Falkland Islands - March 2006: The crosses of the island's only cemetery commemorating the many Argentines who died during the 1982 war. Photo: Susan Schulman. Online Here
Yes, things in Argentina have sometimes been a mess. The economy has had its terrible ups and downs, so you can't blame the people living on the islands for not wanting to be part of Argentina. Bigots and anti-British feelings in my country have not helped either (I know about this, all my family is of British origin).
However, in Argentina we have the firm conviction and deep set belief that the "Malvinas son Argentinas" (The Malvinas are Argentine). So whenever I post anything regarding those islands I will always use both names Malvinas and Falklands.
For those of you interested in a summary on the sovereignty issue over the Malvinas, the Argentine Foreign Affairs Ministry's web site has a good online brief in English, which you can Download here or See Online Here.
If you want to know more about the war, the British Ministry of Defence summarizes the war Here.
The sad thing about this is that the 1982 "conflict" claimed the lives of 255 British and 649 Argentine servicemen, and 3 civilian Falkland Islanders. A tragedy for all involved.
Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©
Patagonian Monsters
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