Argentines hold nationwide Veterans Day celebrations to honor the fallen

Argentines hold nationwide Veterans Day celebrations to honor the fallen

Multiple events are to be held across Argentina Sunday marking Veterans Day 41 years after the military Junta’s troops landed in Stanley (then renamed Puerto Argentino) thus kicking off the 1982 Falkland/Malvinas War with the United Kingdom.

 Vigils and artistic performances were staged starting Saturday evening in the wake of the day in which the memory of those fallen during the conflict is to be honored.

According to Télam, organizers of the various events agreed on the idea of “never extinguishing the flame” of the fallen combatants and of Argentina’s sovereignty claim of “our islands” and to build “an awareness of the war in Argentina”.

In Río Gallegos, declared the “provincial capital of the Malvinas vigil” Santa Cruz Governor Alicia Kirchner presided over the ceremony since midnight with marches performed by military music bands. Governor Kirchner insisted that “Malvinasization is lived here very strongly, from the heart”.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Jorge Taiana highlighted on Twitter that “the peace zone in the South Atlantic will be an effective and lasting reality when the United Kingdom withdraws from our islands, which it occupies illegally.”

“Honor to the veterans and the fallen in our Malvinas Islands defending Argentine sovereignty,” he added.

Although there was no specific main event, the one in Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego, is believed to be the most significant because that is where most war veterans gather every year. (Source. Telam)