Argentine Marines during Operation Rosario, 1982. Photo: Wikimedia commons, Dominio público On April 2, 1982, while Argentina was under military dictatorship, and the United Kingdom was in an economic crisis, the Argentine army launched a military operation on the Malvinas Islands (Falkland Islands) to recover the sovereignty which has been a subject of dispute since 1833, when the British armed forces took control of the Islands. Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano sinking after being attacked by a British submarine. Photo: Wikimedia commons, Dominio público The attack took the British by surprise, but after almost three months, and despite a triumphalist military discourse, the Argentine commanders capitulated in the face of the British military forces, which were supported by the United States and France, two of its NATO allies. The conflict resulted in 649 Argentine casualties, of which 323 were due to the sinking of the cruiser Belgrano outside of the war zone. Great Britain acknowledged 255 victims, a figure that rose to 1,032 including wounded personnel. The Argentine state has no official figures as to the number of suicides, but among veterans it is estimated that there were around 454 cases. 41 years after the conflict, the Malvinas Islands remain of great geopolitical interest. During the Cold War, Great Britain built a strategic military base on Soledad Island (also known as East Falkland), partially financed by the illegal exploitation of resources and fishing. This generated international interest in a possible alternative route to the Panama Canal. The region is also home to abundant marine resources, metals, and oil. In August 2023, Argentina’s Defense Ministry halted a project by an Anglo-American company to build a space radar in the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, on the grounds that it violated national security. A June 2023 British poll shows that 46 percent of the British “would not be bothered” if if the Falkland Islands stopped being British, while 35 percent would. Today, 40 years after the restoration of democracy, the Argentine claim to the islands is also still very much alive. People in Argentina continue to dispute Britain’s claim on the territory, as well as the senselessness of the Argentine military chiefs who dragged the country into a war against a European military power, as the former Malvinas combatant and musician Pablo Garriga told Global Voices. He explained how he felt when he was told he was going to war in Malvinas: Photo of Pablo Garriga at age 19, used with his permission. Tuve muchas sensaciones encontradas, por supuesto que miedo a una experiencia que jamás pensé que tendría que enfrentar. Si bien estaba cumpliendo el servicio militar obligatorio y jurado lealtad a la bandera hasta perder la vida, nunca creí que esto realmente sucediera. Ir a una guerra contra Inglaterra (y la OTAN) era impensado y absurdo, por muchos motivos, principalmente que la mayoría de los conscriptos no teníamos la menor idea ni preparación para eso. [Ed.: Aunque no hay pruebas de la implicación de la OTAN en la guerra como organización, es un argumento defendido por gobiernos de Argentina y de los medios en la región]. I had many mixed feelings, of course, fear of an experience I never thought I would have to face. Although I was doing my compulsory military service and swore allegiance to the flag with my life, I never thought it would actually happen. Going to war against England (and NATO) was unthinkable and absurd, for many reasons, mainly that most of us conscripts had no idea or preparation for it. [Ed: Although there is no proof of NATO’s involvement in the war as an organization, it is an argument advanced by Argentinian governments and regional media]. He added: Las hipótesis de guerra siempre había sido contra Chile. Tampoco veía en ese momento que los militares asignados a esa nueva y titánica misión tuviesen la idoneidad suficiente para hacerlo, los veía más preocupados por imponerse o sostenerse políticamente (sobre todo el ejército, fuerza a la que pertenecía, involucrada en la lucha anticomunista en los años 70), que en la búsqueda de una genuina y sorpresiva soberanía nacional en Malvinas. Sin embargo, estratégicamente para sus intereses, esas islas aunaban los sentimientos más profundos de emoción e idiosincrasia patriótica nacional. A pesar de eso también experimenté una sensación de curiosidad, aventura, protagonismo noble y patriótico, propios de mis ingenuos 19 años ; y así … vamos a la guerra! A possible war had always been against Chile.