Vigils, ceremonies in schools: Argentina on Friday began a weekend of commemoration of the Falklands War (April-June 1982) against the United Kingdom, reaffirming its claim of sovereignty over the small archipelago in the South Atlantic under British control.
“I believe reason always wins, and we are right.
And at some point, reason will prevail
,” said President Alberto Fernandez in an interview with the BBC, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the lightning conflict which left some 900 dead: 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British and three inhabitants of the islands.
Read alsoFalklands War: London has no regrets
The Falklands cause
'is a pillar of Argentina's foreign policy'
, and the government
'will continue to sensitize the international community to put pressure on the UK'
to bring it to negotiations, the leader said. from diplomacy Santiago Cafiero to the state agency Telam.
Songs, salutes to the flag, exhibitions of drawings, wreath laying, testimonies of veterans: hundreds of Argentine schools celebrated Friday, a day in advance, the memory of the conflict the war.
Because on April 2, established in 2000 as
"Day of Veterans and Fallen in the Falklands War"
, in memory of the landing of an Argentine commando on the archipelago in 1982,
During the night from Friday to Saturday, night vigils were to be organized in several cities, including the most important in the province of Tierra del Fuego (south) in Rio Grande, 3000 km from Buenos Aires, the nearest port ( 590 km) from the Falklands, and strategic site from where the Argentine fighters embarked.
On April 2, 1982, the military junta in power in Argentina since 1976, faced with growing protest, launched a surprise invasion of the small archipelago of less than 3,000 inhabitants, under British control since 1833, Argentine before, and tirelessly claimed since by Buenos Aires. .
After British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sent 30,000 soldiers, the Argentines capitulated on June 14, 74 days after their invasion.
A surrender that precipitated the return of democracy in 1983.
On Saturday, President Fernandez is due to participate in the central commemoration ceremony at the Falklands Museum in Buenos Aires, a symbol of a desire to maintain the collective memory of Argentina's claim to these islands.
Saturday culminates in an endless list of ceremonies, conferences, shows and exhibitions.
The Falklands claim is generally seen, in the highly polarized country, as a rare subject of political consensus.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/HCCQ2RUBL37C4PDXS4TPBJVKGE.jpg)
