Argie president says UK's triumph in Falklands was 'unacceptable colonial victory'

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Argentine president says Britain's triumph in Falklands was 'unacceptable colonial victory'

15th June 2007
Daily Mail

Nestor Kirchner denounced Margaret Thatcher for rejoicing in Argentina's defeat



Argentine president Nestor Kirchner says Britain's triumph in the Falkland Islands war a temporary "colonial victory".

And he has denounced former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for rejoicing in Argentina's defeat.

Mrs Thatcher, who dispatched a Naval task force to the South Atlantic to retake the archipelago occupied by Argentina in April 1982, used a radio speech marking Argentina's June 14 1982 surrender to praise her nation's military.

"The whole nation rejoiced at the success; and we should still rejoice," she said on the British Forces Broadcasting Service.

"Aggression was defeated and reversed. The wishes of local people were upheld as paramount. Britain's honor and interests prevailed."

But Kirchner maintains that "the islands are Argentine" and that the British triumph "was a colonial victory, really unacceptable in the eyes of the world".

Many Argentines - especially supporters of Kirchner's centre-left government - see Argentina's 1982 invasion of the islands as a mistake by the nation's now-discredited former military dictators.

The Argentine president says Britain's triumph in the Falklands 25 years ago was a 'colonial victory unacceptable in the eyes of the world'


The 73-day war claimed 649 Argentine lives and 255 on the British side.

But Argentines almost universally call the islands their own, insisting the British seized them by force in 1833.

And Kirchner has ardently reinvoked that sovereignty claim, saying the archipelago would one day be returned by peaceful means. "I would like to say to Mrs Thatcher that she may have won the battle because she belongs to a world power, but she never defeated us through the force of reason or justice."

He said Las Malvinas - as Argentines call the islands - "are Argentine, and by way of peace will again be Argentina's".

Margaret Thatcher, pictured with Cherie Blair at a ceremony remembering the 255 Britons who fell in the Falklands


Unlike in London, no large-scale ceremonies were held in Argentina recalling the date. About 100 people attended a small tribute at a granite war memorial in a leafy Buenos Aires square.

Defeat hastened the collapse of a seven-year military dictatorship in Argentina.

The two countries renewed diplomatic ties in 1990, agreeing not to discuss the Argentine claims of sovereignty to the islands that are populated by English-speaking peoples largely of British heritage.

Britain says it should not surrender the islands against the inhabitants' wishes

READERS' COMMENTS

(The British people just do not agree with Kirchner)

So he's now speaking on behalf of "the world"? Margaret Thatcher will be remembered for standing up for her principles. Mr Kirchner? Who?

- Maria, Glasgow, Scotland
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And what was Argentina's invasion of the Falklands if not an attempt to impose 'unacceptable colonialism' on the islands?

- Lickyalips, Richmond, Surrey
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As Mandy Rice Davis would quip... 'He would say that, wouldn't he?'

- Karen, England
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Sour grapes...

- Mike May, Egham
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The man is deluded.

- John Phillips, Derby



dailymail.co.uk

 

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But Kirchner maintains that "the islands are Argentine"

Not according to international law.

and that the British triumph "was a colonial victory, really unacceptable in the eyes of the world".

Is that so? It was the British, not the Argebtinians, who had the UN on their sides.