ARGENTINA: Argentine government presses Falklands sovereignty issue on 31st anniversary of battle

Record ID: 447400

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Argentine government presses Falklands sovereignty issue on 31st anniversary of battle
  • Date: 1st May 2013
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINE DEFENCE MINISTER, ARTURO ANTONIO PURICELLI, SAYING: "To say to the families of those who laid down their lives for us, the Malvinas cause, which will not rest during this nation's life, and will only end the day the Argentine flag flies over the Malvinas Islands of the South Atlantic."
  • Embargoed: 16th May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Conflict,History,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9KPJTZHJS5IXTXI836A1408C5
  • Story Text: Argentina marked the 31st anniversary of the Argentine Air Force's involvement in the Falklands War on Wednesday (May 1) with a ceremony honouring veterans of the 1982 war with Britain.
    A moment of silence was observed while C-130 Hercules aircraft belonging to the Argentine Air Force (FAA) flew overhead.
    Veterans of the 74-day-long conflict watched with their families during the ceremony.
    About 650 Argentines and 255 Britons were killed in the war that started after Argentinean forces invaded the islands, prompting Britain's prime minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher, to dispatch a naval task force to retake them.
    Most Argentines think the islands - known as the Malvinas in Spanish - rightfully belong to the South American country and they remain a potent national symbol that unites political foes.
    "To say to the families of those who laid down their lives for us, the Malvinas cause, which will not rest during this nation's life, and will only end the day the Argentine flag flies over the Malvinas Islands of the South Atlantic," Defence Minister Arturo Antonio Puricelli, who led the ceremony, said.
    Argentina's left-leaning president, Cristina Fernandez, has piled pressure on Britain to negotiate the sovereignty of the islands - something London refuses to do unless the islanders request talks.
    Argentina, 300 miles (500 km) to the west of the Falklands, has claimed the South Atlantic archipelago for almost 200 years.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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