The Malvinas – The Falklands – you can’t avoid the subject

The Falkland’s or Malvinas as they are called in Argentina  was a 10 week war between Argentina and the UK. It started on 2 April when Argentina invaded not only the Falklands but South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. it was no coincidence that the war started during the dictatorship. They wanted to cling on to power and saw a victory as giving the country a huge boost and increasing their popularity.  Sadly for Argentina the war was a disaster, although reports in the newspapers clearly indicated otherwise. Troops were ill prepared, there was a shortage of military equipment and even basic necessitates like food was in short supply. So I am not about to get into the ins and outs of the war as it has been well documented, but one story I heard from our guide stood out.  The war for Argentina was a massive expense and money was tight. People were asked to donate their valuables towards the war effort. Bear in mind it was also during the dictatorship, who in the early stages sugar coated the real facts with tales of a glory. Sadly nothing was further from the truth. By the end of the war 10 weeks later 649 Argentinians were dead and the money collected which totalled $55,000,000 had disappeared. To this day no one knows where the money went.

The Monument to the Fallen in the Falklands ( Monumento a los caídos en Malvinas)can be found in Plaza San Martin. it is dedicated to the 649 Argentine soldiers who were killed in the war The inscription reads ‘La nación también rinde homenaje a los que guardan en su cuerpo o memoria las huellas del combate’ The nation honors also those who keep traces of the struggle on their bodies or in their memories.