Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero and the Secretary of Malvinas, Antarctica and the South Atlantic, Guillermo Carmona, presented on Monday a selection of historical documents from the 19th century, with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of the history of the Argentine claim for the recovery of the exercise full sovereignty of the islands.
“Activating memory implies divulging what our history is, which implies having tools for the present” reflected the Foreign Minister during the presentation made within the framework of the “40 Years Malvinas Agenda”.
In this sense, the head of the San Martín Palace assessed that “understanding all of history is not only a historiographical question, but also gives us the possibility of further revaluing the arguments we have to defend and reaffirm our sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands.”
“This exhibition goes in that direction, because understanding that stage of the 19th century where the main foundation of our affirmation of Argentine sovereignty in the islands begins is to tell our story,” Cafiero said.
And he stressed that “This is not a story that began and ended in a war 40 years ago, but this has been going on for 189 years. Reason assists us and that is when we tell the complete story with the elements that are expressed in this exhibition”.
According to a statement from the San Martín Palace, the foreign minister vindicated Argentina’s historic position of resolving the dispute with the United Kingdom over the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands, through peaceful and diplomatic means.
“Our tool is diplomacy, word and conviction. The great majority understand and value the diplomatic task that has been carried out in our country for so many years to recover the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands”Cafiero added.
The exhibition, available to those who take a guided tour of the Palacio San Martín, it extends until next June 16 and refers to material preserved in the Historical Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship and allows reaffirming the justice of the Argentine claim.
Under this premise, the exhibition “highlights the importance” of the Historical Archive of the Foreign Ministry “fulfilling its triple social function: to be a guarantor of rights, to contribute to the consolidation of institutional memory and to constitute a source of research to transmit knowledge of our history to the citizenry as a whole”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed in a statement.
Carmona highlighted the work of the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Archives of the Foreign Ministryas well as the work carried out by the Consultative Council of the South Atlantic (CASUR) to carry out the exhibition.
“We are valuing our history, that of our foreign policy, the efforts of our diplomats and the meticulous and professional work that the staff of the Foreign Ministry carries out to preserve these fundamental archives”said the official.
After highlighting the “valuable” role played by the Foreign Ministry’s archive, Carmona highlighted the importance that the current management under Foreign Minister Cafiero is giving it.
He also argued that “The CASUR file is of enormous value, it has remained confidential for many years, responding to the needs of a stage, and it seems essential to us that, based on a meticulous look, we can make it available to researchers”.
The exhibition is divided into three thematic sections.
In the first instance, the question of the Argentine administration over the Malvinas Islands, that sheds light on the effective exercise of sovereignty by the authorities of Buenos Aires as heirs to the rights previously held by the Spanish monarchy.
The second block is crossed by foreign aggression: the American attack and the subsequent British usurpation of the Islands in 1833.
And the third part is aimed at showing the firm and uninterrupted Argentine diplomatic efforts in defense of our sovereign rights carried out during the 19th century.
Throughout this route, an outstanding part of the documentary collection preserved and guarded in the archive is made available with the intention of serving for the dissemination and visibility, both nationally and internationally, of Argentine sovereign rights regarding the Islands. Malvinas, South Georgia, South Sandwich and the corresponding maritime and insular spaces, as well as the persistence of a sovereignty dispute – recognized by the United Nations – still unresolved today.
“The purpose of this selection of documents and their transcriptions is to be the starting point for their exhibition in Argentine representations abroad, as well as the production of didactic material in an online format that unifies the documentary heritage that accounts for the incessant Argentine claim for the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands”, indicates the statement from the Palacio San Martín.
