Chile Forum

see next post

The history of Argentine invasions of the Falklands includes a number of odd aspects which should tell us something of the Argentine character, and the recurring quixotic willingness of their overly zealous nationalists to jump onto the world's stage.

In our lifetimes there have been two Argentine "invasions" of the Falklands. The one in 1982 was both foolish and tragic. The invasion in 1966 was just foolish and silly, albeit quintessentially Argentine, though it should have been seen as a wakeup call for the Falkland authorities.

During the 1960s, Argie domestic air travel in Patagonia involved several rickety old DC-4 aircraft. One of them was hijacked in 1966 by a group of Argie fanatics who reasoned that they could and should put an end to British rule of the Falkland Islands. This was a short time before another Argentine, a fellow named Ernesto "Che" Guevara, was to learn the hard way that such adventures don't always work out.

At about six in the morning on 28 September 1966, a group of 18 Argentines hijacked flight 648, an Aerolineas Argentina DC-4. For the 35 passengers originally headed for Río Gallegos in Sta Cruz province, this was most inconvenient. It is perhaps only coincidental that both the hijackers and the present presidenta of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner, identified themselves as Peronists. The hijackers included workers, students, journalists, and others. They carried guns and flags so that, at least for a few hours, the Argie banner could fly in the Falklands air.

And so began another adventure called Operation Condor. It seems as though there are not enough Big Bird names to go around for odd undertakings in Latin America, so "Operation Condor" gets recycled periodically.

Preparations for the Argentine invasion were unsurprisingly incomplete. The captain of the DC-4 explained to the hijackers that they didn't carry enough fuel to safety reach the Falklands. Nobody onboard knew where to land the plane on the Falklands. There was no airport for Port Stanley in those days, though this little detail did not deter the invaders. So they had little choice but to land at the town's racetrack. This event was noticed by an amateur Falklands radio operator, who broadcast the first stages of the invasion. The transmissions were picked up in several Argie cities and retransmitted to Buenos Aires, where straitjackets were hastily prepared. Authorities in Britain as well as throughout the Falklands also received the amateur broadcast. It did not take long for the islanders to prepare a welcoming party. The little pistols carried by the hijackers were dwarfed by the many shotguns that came out of the closets of the islanders. Visiting British teachers were given quick weapons training and then received WWII-era .303 rifles, then sent to the "front" to maintain the cordon around the Argentines.

The ringleader of the Argie hijackers was a character named Dardo Manuel Cabo, a 25-year-old journalist with ties to the Argentine Metalworkers' Union. His sidekick was 21-year-old Alejandro Giovenco, while the third in command was quite literally a Drama Queen -- a 27-year-old actress trying to remake herself in the mould of Evita. Her method acting during the time on the ground near Port Stanley convinced some of the observers that she was the actual leader of the movement. The other hijackers ranged in age from 18 to 32.

The invaders had planned to take the Government House and the armoury, but their plans -- like their aeroplane -- were quite literally stuck in the deep mud, for which the Falkland Islands are well known.

Les Gleadell, acting governor of the Falklands, promptly made contact with Whitehall as the nature of the Argentine visit was made known. For the next two days, they would be in almost constant contact as the invasion wore itself out.

It did not take long for the two dozen Royal Marines and the Falkland Islands defence force to cordon off the crazies and keep them around their aeroplane as they installed Argentine flags in the mud and rain. Accounts published later in the Argentine press revealed that the hijackers were surprised to see that nearly every islander showed up with a gun, and that a hundred or so of them surrounded the plane. Onboard the aircraft there was little to eat and not much to drink, save for a bit of Argentine alcohol. They did have enough to drink to provisionally baptise the Falklands racecourse as "Aeropuerto Antonio Rivero." The invaders along with their countrymen-hostages then prepared to spend the night on the aeroplane. One of the hijacked was the Argentine governor of the Tierra del Fuego territory. He was not amused. The hijackers allowed him and a few others to be released to the Falklanders, who put them up in their homes. The conspirators remained onboard for a very cold and hungry night, the better to consider the nature of their crimes.

Being Argentines, and it having finally dawned on them how they had thoroughly buggared themselves, the hijackers started casting about for a Catholic priest. One was found in Port Stanley. He came aboard the aircraft to arrange a Mass and eventually to set the stage for a peaceful conclusion to the invasion.

At about 5 pm local time on the 29th of September, the conspirators held another round of Argentine patriotic songs and attempted flag raisings, then promptly surrendered their weapons to the captain of the aeroplane. It was almost over, save for two days and nights under armed guard and then the boat ride home.

Arrangements were made between the British Crown and the Argentine government to send the Argie ship “Bahía Buen Suceso” to pick up the hijackers, the hijacked, and the crew. On 1 October they were taken in a Kelper coal ship to the Argentine ship which was required to remain offshore.

Argentina did not regard aircraft hijacking as a specific crime at the time, and so the charges against the conspirators were in other categories, including piracy and possession of weapons of war, along with “crimes against the peace and dignity of the nation.” Most of the hijackers were jailed for nine months. Dardo Cabo, Alejandro Giovenco y Juan Carlos Rodríguez, who by this time already had police records, got three years. Maria Cristina Verrier, the blond who helped plan and then attended the hijacking, married Dardo Cabo while they were in jail. Incarceration taught the invaders little, and they went on to increasingly confrontational political roles. Five of the 18 died violently in the years after the Falklands escapade.

Ringleader Dardo Manuel Cabo was not content with making a fool of himself in the 1966 invasion. His politics changed from affiliations with ultra-Catholic, anti-Semitic, anti-democratic organizations as he transitioned to leftist activities. Other members of the organisation to which Dardo Cabo belonged at the time of the hijacking, Movimiento Nueva Argentina, attempted to murder Britain's Prince Phillip by firing a machine-gun into the British embassy in Argentina. Dardo Cabo himself went on to aggravate the military junta in the seventies by joining the Montoneros guerrillas. As a result, he was executed by the Argentine military in 1977.

Much is made these days of the plight of the Argie veterans of the later 1982 Falklands conflict, and newspapers lament that many are impoverished today and unable to find work, having been failed by Argentine social justice. Yet in characteristically Argie fashion, their government has awarded hero (and ñoqui) status to the reckless invaders from the 1966 invasion of the Falklands. Those who are still alive, and surviving family members of the others, are now on a special dole (as of 2009 - that is, awarded by the Cristina Kirchner government).

It is revealing that nationalist Argentines essentially invented armed hijacking as a geopolitical terrorist tool, that the Argentine government failed to take meaningful measures to punish the practice, and in fact the Presidenta Kirchner regime ended up making heroes of the terrorist hijackers. Such is the Argentina that we have to deal with today.
---------

PanAmerican wrote: A nuclear sub can take out anything that floats from 200 miles out and never be detected.... game over.

You may wish to update your edition of Jane's before sending it to Cristina. The cruise missiles on the British submarines in the South Atlantic have a minimum admitted range that is considerably greater than your 200 miles. The Block II TLAM-A Tomahawk missiles with nuclear warhead are open-press discussed as having 2500 km strike range. Non-nuclear Block III and Block IV Tomahawk systems are reported to have 1600 km strike range using a 400 kg conventional warhead.

I know; these are just details. But keeping up the chatter serves a purpose.

I was living just outside Buenos Aires before and during the war. I remember a couple of days before they invaded, one of the local police warned me not to go to the Capital becasue there were going to be anti-government demonstrations going on. A couple of days after the invasion he was telling me not to go to the capital becuase of the pro-government demonstrations going on and thus I learned the power of "wagging the dog"

Well this has been on the back-burner for quite a while...
Out of sight, out of mind?
Obviously no wars in sight...
So better heat up the diplomacy/lobbying efforts in the "neighborhood" - at home and abroad

Malvinas: Argentina working for more than “a gesture of support” from Unasur

Argentina is working with Unasur (Union of South American Nations) so that in the future the South American forum offers more than “a gesture of support” to Argentina’s claim over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands and helps bring the United Kingdom to the sovereignty negotiations table, said Argentine ambassador before United Nations, Jorge Argüello.

“Argentina is pushing to increase the level of commitment of the region with this historic claim”, said Argüello during a meeting at the UN offices in Buenos Aires to brief journalists on next month’s UN annual General Assembly agenda of activities.

Argüello revealed that Unasur is addressing ‘hypothesis scenarios’ which are in line with Argentina’s interests and expects to receive “something more concrete than a gesture of support” in the dispute with the UK over the South Atlantic islands.

He considered as positive and beneficial for such a stance the recent experience of Unasur in helping defuse the Colombia/Venezuela conflict.

“The successful participation of Unasur in the Colombia/Venezuela crisis is a very important fact for the United Nations General Assembly which begins September in New York”.

“I believe that Presidents Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Lula da Silva (Brazil) and even Barack Obama will mention the issue in their speeches”, said the Argentine diplomat. He added that Unasur secretary general Nestor Kirchner played a “key role” in bringing together Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Colombia’s Juan Manuel Santos.

Argüello was also upbeat about Argentine prospects for its Malvinas claims because of the new found support of English-speaking Caribbean countries (including in the UN Decolonization Committee chaired by St. Lucia) and the adverse impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil environmental disaster on the British South Atlantic oil exploration begun early this year.

“Similar deep-sea drilling in uncontrolled and disputed waters”, Argüello pointed out. He then went on to reject the right of a (Falklands) “implanted population” to self-determination.

Donatus Keith from Santa Lucia and president of the Decolonization committee or C-24 is scheduled to visit Argentina next October.

Mrs. Kirchner is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly 24 September.

greg~judy wrote:Well this has been on the back-burner for quite a while...
Out of sight, out of mind?
Obviously no wars in sight...

Once again... time to check in... see wot's newz?
Wow... no moss on this rolling stone!
The Falklands/Malvinas are anything but on the back-burner?
1st - LOTS of action on the oil exploration + political front...
g~j have compiled these over the last few days...

http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/21/uruguay-bans-docking-permit-to-royal-navy-vessel-heading-for-the-falklands
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/20/malvinas-pending-issue-for-united-nations-says-argentine-ambassador-arg-ello
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/15/argentine-militants-demand-return-of-falklands-war-booty-docked-in-buenos-aires
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/13/argos-confirms-falklands-waters-exploratory-oil-drilling-for-second-half-of-2011
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/13/falklands-desire-exited-about-prospects-plans-to-drill-four-more-wells
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/07/flow-tests-begin-to-probe-commerciality-of-falklands-oil-discovery
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/03/falkland-islands-oil-activities-still-remain-encouraging
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/15/argentina-confirms-drilling-in-malvinas-basin-for-next-december
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/14/falklands-oil-and-argentina-the-potential-prize-made-the-risk-worth-taking

And reminders to the Argies - not to whine too much...
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/13/falklands-challenge-is-argentina-s-desire-to-steal-what-is-ours

Hell... even the fish want their 15 min. of fame.
Maybe "Fish Wars" are next...
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/13/falklands-rock-cod-finds-its-way-into-the-spanish-market
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/21/argentina-denies-innocent-pass-to-spanish-trawler-sailing-from-falklands


Remember g~j said a while back...

OK... anyone perverse enough to start dabbling in the stock plays here.
Let's see some money, where mouths are...
Who will be the first to jump into the UK exploration market -
- to declare short/long positions on any/all of the players below????

Well look again...
http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/17/rockhopper-declares-falklands-oil-discovery-will-be-commercially-viable

In London, Rockhopper shares jumped over 20% to 400 pence on the news, valuing the company at around £ 770 million (1.21 billion USD).
Desire Petroleum (DES.L) which also has prospects in the North Falkland, rose 16% to 137 pence.

It was sometimes said of the George Bush presidency that the US had lost the support of the major nations save for the UK. And now that President Obama's administration has been publicly referring to the islands as the Malvinas, it seems that the US has alienated even its last remaining ally.

----

Later edit - from The Daily Express

Concerns that America could betray Britain over the future of the Falklands were growing last night after a senior US official referred to the islands by the name used for them by the Argentinians, “the Malvinas”.

US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley used the Spanish name for the islands during a series of ill-tempered discussions between British and American diplomats.

It is understood that British officials now fear that President Barack Obama’s White House administration is becoming increasingly sympathetic towards Argentina in the tense dispute over oil drilling rights in the South Atlantic.

Supporters of the Falklands Islanders’ right to self-determination were yesterday furious that, despite Britain’s steadfast support and military sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan, senior US chiefs appeared unwilling to repay the loyalty.

xxx

el puelche wrote:jajajajaja...i think that patagoniax is the "new" puelche.

El Patagoniax responde: No hay nadie que pueda reemplazar el original y legítimo don puelche, jamás.

Well, we've seen how the oil play is the evolving economic~political theme...
On the social side... seems devolution is the theme.
The Argies winning hearts and minds...?
NOT!

Post-82 Falklands generations ever more distant from Argentina

The “belligerent” policy of Argentina towards the Falklands/Malvinas Islands has only harvested the antipathy of the young generations of the Islands born since the 1982 conflict said elected Member of the Legislative Assembly Roger Edwards

“Instead of trying to win our support, they’ve done exactly the opposite”, said MLA Edwards interviewed in Manchester where he attended the annual Labour party conference.

“The Argentine government has tried to corner us socially, politically, environmentally and any other way they can think of”, added the Falklands’ MLA.

Edwards warned that this attitude “has created a new strong-minded generation of Falkland Islanders contrary to Argentina” and any links with Argentina, which is “negative and totally counter productive”.

“We would like to have a normal good-neighbours relation with Argentina”, pointed out MLA Edwards.

“We could even be the best of trade partners and neighbours you can imagine; but as long as they continue with this nebulous claim over the Falklands, we simply can’t be neighbours, which is regrettable”,

An interesting perspective offered here - by a former insider.
Worthy of dredging up this old dog...
For a bit of a run down the index page.

Getting around sovereignty
Few people in Argentina, or Britain for that matter, are aware that in the years leading up to the war that was fought over the possession of the Islands that Argentina calls the Malvinas and Britain the Falklands, the British government was trying to integrate them with the mainland. Out of deference to the islanders — the Kelpers as they are called — I will not be so bold as to write that Britain was intent on giving the islands and their inhabitants to Argentina, but that was the general idea.

http://en.mercopress.com/2010/11/09/getting-around-sovereignty

When the British offered to return the bodies of the Argentinean dead soldiers killed in the conflict to their native land Argentina didn’t want them. Now who do you suppose the Islanders would be preferred to be governed by? An Argentinean or a UK administration?