The ceremony took place in the gardens of the Malvinas Museum, and both met with President Alberto Fernández, as well as with the former presidents of Bolivia, Evo Morales, and of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo.
Morales shared photos of the event and highlighted the presence of regional political leaders, including Mujica. “A great joy to share a reunion with my brothers Alberto Fernández, Fernando Lugo and Pepe Mujica in Argentina. We live in times of strengthening the bonds of brotherhood in Latin America, the land of solidarity and freedom,” he wrote on Twitter..
President Fernandez led the event at the museum this Saturday, where during his speech he insisted that “the Malvinas were, are and will be Argentine.”
“Honor to our soldiers. Landing on the islands was a decision made behind the back of the people. The Malvinas were, are and will be Argentine. We will never give in to our claims,” said the president in the central act.
Tens of thousands of people, including ex-combatants, participated in cities across Argentina in ceremonies, vigils and torchlight marches in tribute to those who fell in the Malvinas Islands war.
For her part, the Argentine vice president, Cristina Fernández, participated separately in a tribute at the Argentine National Congress, where she gave a speech on the occasion of the date.
The conflict
In those air, land and naval combats 649 Argentine soldiers and 255 British died.
Thousands of activists from left-wing social organizations marched through the center of Buenos Aires to the British embassy with the slogan “We repudiate British imperialist aggression.”
Argentina It affirms that the islands, inherited from the Spanish crown after independence, were occupied by British troops in 1833 and the Argentine governor and settlers were expelled to the mainland.
For its part, London points out that almost 100% of the 2,000 inhabitants of the archipelago approved continuing under British control in a referendum held in 2013.
That vote is the UK’s main argument for ignoring a 1965 United Nations resolution that recognized the conflict of sovereignty in the South Atlantic and invited the two nations to negotiate it.
The dictatorship Argentinathen commanded by General Leopoldo Galtieri, was mortally wounded by the lost war and in 1983 had to call elections that marked the return of democracy.
With information from AFP
