Thursday, May 22, 2014

Memorial to las Malvinas

Look at any world map from Argentina and you will not be able to find the Falkland Islands. You will find the Malvinas. 

La Guerra de las Malvinas was a 10-week war initiated by a military dictatorship to reclaim the islands for Argentina. The dictators were banking on Great Britain not responding with military action. They guessed wrong, and the islands are still British territory.  

There is a memorial to the young, ill-equipped conscripts who were killed during the war in the Retiro neighborhood of Buenos Aires. 

Monumento a los Caídos en Malvinas
Given that the war was just a little over 30 years ago, reference to Great Britain can bring out some strong emotions among some of the older generations of Argentines. So it is ironic that when you turn around to leave the monument to the fallen soldiers, this is what you see across the street:

Hiding behind trees, that´s a replica of Big Ben.
The clocks chime  na na na na boo boo.

No comments:

Post a Comment