Falklands by Rep

Miguel Rep, class 1961, is one of the many Argentines who, without having become part of the troops that fought in Malvinas, felt extremely close to the tragedy that involved the death of those young people abandoned to their fate by the gang of military coup that sent them to war without any chance. The sequence of images that he proposes to us before this anniversary is a correlate of his deep conviction, shared in a chat with Télam, in relation to these 40 years.

Télam: In this allusive video you make a reading that is moving due to the sequence of childhood and adolescence of those who went to war, but also of the nearby generations, of those who for years more or less lived the war very closely even without having been Summoned: How did 1982 grab you?

Rep: He caught me working in the Registered Humor magazine, learning little by little about what had happened with the genocide of the dictatorship, with the disappeared. Knowing the history of Oesterheld, with whom I had shared editorial writing, and with his daughters, in 1977. And politicizing myself, little by little. For this reason, I was at the CGT mobilization on March 30. And on April 2, walking at dawn through the Eleven arcade, I saw the headline in the newspapers reporting the imminent landing in Malvinas. I felt a sting.

T: From the magazine did you get to work on the theme?

A: Yes. At Humor magazine we worked on Malvinas while the conflict was going on. And on June 14, the day of the surrender, at night, I began to make a cartoon called Los Mutiladitos, for the magazine Super Humor. He spoke of a society where we were all mutilated, in every way, by war. Then I continued working, always humorously, on the war. It has been one of my themes. By generational nature. In my first book, “Rep…!” Two comics are compiled: Los Mutiladitos, and Diario de un Combatiente. The book is from 1985.

T: Also in the video you close with a fabulous title for what it signifies: “Malvinas IS Argentina”, there is a linguistic twist there that expresses a lot.

A: I think ES is much better than Son. The slogan “The Malvinas are Argentine” is from the dictatorship, and it keeps repeating itself. I have been saying ES for eight years. I think that’s how it should be said, of existence, not of possession.

T: Your illustrations emphasize the national and federal aspects, the participation of soldiers from different provinces, Diego’s goal against England… Is the Malvinas, as a cause, a glue?

A: I don’t know if it brings us together. All I know is that an empire took it from us, and it’s our territory, and it’s humiliating. And it is a generational tragedy, and these young people should not have given their lives in vain. I am not a chauvinist, but those islands are Argentina. For the class 62 and 63, never for the military or the nationalists.