April 2 – Malvinas Day

Posted on April 2, 2019

April 2, in Argentina, is Day of the Veterans and Fallen of the Falklands War. The shorter name, Malvinas Day, takes its name for the Spanish name for the Falkland Islands.

The Falkland Islands (or Islas Malvinas) are really close to Argentina, which is why that nation has claimed them as Argentinian territories.

But most of the Falkland Islanders are of British descent, and almost all of them wish to to remain a U.K. overseas territory, as they have been since 1833. They like the fact that they have self-rule for internal issues, but they can rely on the much larger and more powerful United Kingdom for defense and foreign affairs. Which is why the U.K. continues to claim the islands as British territories.

After about 150 years, Argentina got sick of having their claims ignored, and on this date in 1982, Argentinian forces attacked and occupied the islands. British forces fought back, of course. After 74 days of conflict, the Brits won.

Almost 650 Argentinian soldiers died in the war, compared with only about 250 British soldiers. Their loss prompted the Argentinian people to protest and then overturn their military government. But...

...Argentina still claims those islands!

Check out some of the beautiful landscapes of the Falklands/Malvinas: