Dozens of families of Argentinian soldiers killed during The Falklands war will return to the islands this week to pay their respects.
On Wednesday, a private charter carrying the next of kin of Argentine troops killed during the 1982 conflict is scheduled to arrive at Mount Pleasant Airport, a Royal Air Force Station in the British Overseas Territory, The Falkland Islands Government (FIG) has announced.
A ceremony will be held at the Argentine military cemetery near Darwin supported by local and visiting clergy, with families able to see their loved ones’ graves.
The FIG is managing the logistics of the trip, including customs and immigration requirements, Merco Press reports.
The families will return to Argentina later that day, with FIG officials on hand to help ensure that the visit runs smoothly, as per the outlet.
Tomorrow’s ceremony follows a new cooperation agreement between the UK and Argentina that was announced in September 2024.
The agreement makes no changes to the individual positions of the Falkland Islands, United Kingdom, or Argentina, where sovereignty is concerned.
Territorial or maritime jurisdiction over the Falkland Islands hasn’t been altered either.
But the deal does see the resumption of the weekly São Paulo–Mount Pleasant flight, and steps are also to be taken in fisheries conservation and improving connectivity for the islands, as well as the organisation of Wednesday’s trip, as per FITV.
An undeclared war broke out between Britain and Argentina over two British dependent territories including the Islands from April to June 1982.
It came after Argentina’s military junta ordered its army to seize the Falklands, which the country continues to call the Malvinas Islands, sparking the 74-day conflict.
The British government led at the time by Margaret Thatcher sent a naval task force to liberate the islanders from their Argentinian captors.
Argentina lost 649 soldiers, while 255 British Armed Forces personnel were killed and 777 were injured.
Leaders in Buenos Aires continue to claim the islands, which lie some 300 miles east of Patagonia in Southern Argentina.