This Saturday April 2nd 40 years since the start of the Argentine landing on the Malvinas Islands, controlled by the UK. This gave rise to a war that left, on both sides, hundreds of deaths, in combat or by suicide, and serious cases of psychological sequelae. In Argentina, this date is commemorated without warmongering and with cultural events that honor the memory of veterans.
Campo Minado, Minefield in English, is a work created in 2016 by the Argentine author Lola Arias in which veterans of the Malvinas war confront memories of the conflict.
Argentine and British veterans, who have performed together since then all over the world, with great success, especially in London and Buenos Aires. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the start of the war, on April 2, the play is revived at the emblematic San Martín Theater in the Argentine capital.
Gabriel Sagastume, today a lawyer, is one of the Argentine ex-combatants who acts in minefield. “The work gave me a broader view of the conflict. I learned to know the English first. And in general, having toured other countries with the work, I was contributing that there are many points in common for all those who have suffered a war,” Sagastume points out.
In this 2022, officially declared “Year of the Falklands”, the vindication of the sovereignty of the islands remains intact as far as the Government is concerned, and popular with the people. But there is no warmongering. The commemorations honor the victims, the veterans, and are mostly cultural.
Something that greets the great tenor Darío Volonte, Malvinas veteran and survivor of the General Belgrano cruiser, sunk by a British nuclear submarine outside the conflict zone. “This April 2 I will be singing at the Malvinas Museum and in the afternoon at the Kirchner cultural center. Two events corresponding to the celebration, meditation, reflection of these 40 years of the Malvinas battle,” says the singer.
This Saturday, all flags will be at half-staff in Argentina. For the veterans. And for the Falklands