Las Malvinas Argentinas:

A critical study of the

importance of the Falkland

Islands in Argentine national

discourse

Andy Martin

This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfilment of the

requirements of the BA (hons) in Spanish and Politics,

11th April 2014.

2

In memory of the fallen soldiers of the 1982

Falklands/Malvinas conflict.

Dedicated to my beloved grandparents.

Contents

Acknowledgements ii

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Historical and political background 6

2. The everyday representation of the

‘Malvinas Argentinas’ in the Argentine

Republic 10

3. Playing the ‘Malvinas’ card: dictatorship,

conflict and the return to democracy 16

4. A case of territorial nationalism? 23

5. Argentine irredentism and the perception

of territorial losses and gains 29

6. The Falklands in Argentine education

practices: a case of patriotic indoctrination? 35

7. A Post-Malvinas discourse? 43

8. Conclusion 47

Glossary of Terms 50

Appendices 51

Bibliography 63

1

1. Introduction

This study will look to analyse how the continued dispute over the

sovereignty of the Falkland Islands (Las Malvinas) plays a key role in

the formation and maintenance of historic and contemporary

Argentine national identity and political discourse, through the

exploration and deconstruction of the different strands of

nationalism, and the incorporation of the key constructs of national

identity in the Argentine Republic. This paper does not aim to

perpetuate the debate over the sovereignty of the islands; instead it

is intended to provide greater comprehension of their importance to

the Argentine people, to identify why the Malvinas Argentinas play a

pivotal role in the collective identity of the Argentine nation. It will

analyse the complexity of the issue and attempt to explain how, and

why, successive Argentine governments have continually placed the

recovery of the islands as a high priority on the national agenda, a

primary objective of the Argentine nation as outlined in the

constitution:

“The Argentine Nation ratifies its legitimate and non-prescribing

sovereignty over the Malvinas, Georgias del Sur and Sandwich del Sur

2

Islands and over the corresponding maritime and insular zones, as they

are an integral part of the National territory.

The recovery of these territories and the full exercise of sovereignty,

respecting the way of life for its inhabitants and according to the

principles of international law, constitute a permanent and

unwavering goal of the Argentine people.”

(CONSTITUTION OF THE ARGENTINE NATION, FIRST TEMPORARY PROVISION,

1994, P.27) 1

Whilst this constitutional amendment is only twenty years old, the

important role that the islands have played in the development of

Argentine nationalism and national identity as a whole is not. The

re-conquest of the islands, ‘occupied by the British in 1833 and

claimed back ever since by Argentina’ has consistently been used as a

corner-stone of Argentine identity, and subsequently as a

multifunctional tool within the domestics politics of the nation

(Crawley, 1984, p.xv). Indeed, the significance of the islands is most

evident in their role as a key element in the production, maintenance

and integrity of argentinidad and the Argentine nation. For well over

a century, Argentina’s claim to the islands has provided a ready-

made, easily identifiable ‘cause’ around which a vast array of

Argentines from all socio-economic strata can unite and combine

1 “La Nación Argentina ratifica su legítima e imprescriptible soberanía sobre las islas Malvinas, Georgias del Sur y Sandwich del Sur y los espacios marítimos e insulares correspondientes, por ser parte integrante del territorio nacional. La recuperación de dichos territorios y el ejercicio pleno de la soberanía, respetando el modo de vida de sus habitantes, y conforme a los principios del Derecho Internacional, constituyen un objetivo permanente e irrenunciable del pueblo argentino.” (CONSTITUCIÓN DE LA NACIÓN ARGENTINA, PRIMERA DISPOSICIÓN TRANSITORIA, 1994, P.27)

3

(Phipps, 1977, p.5). The long term goal of the ‘recuperation of the

national rock’2 has become deeply intertwined with the Argentine

nation and her people, to the extent that they themselves have

become implicated in the search and desire for society in face of

extreme political, economic and social challenges. The Falklands,

according to Argentine born sociologist Ronaldo Munck; ‘matter to

everyone regardless of political leaning or socio-economic status …

their loss symbolised the loss of Argentina itself, and their recovery

symbolised Argentina’s rediscovery itself (2013, p.152).

Therefore, the key questions in explaining and delayering the

complex role that the Fakland Islands play in Argentine national

identity and discourse are the following:

- What is the role of nationalism in Argentine political

ideology?

- How does the Argentine dogma of the Malvinas Argentinas

interact with this, and vice versa?

- What effect does this have on the Argentine social and

political environment?

To decipher the question of nationalism, one first has to define the

nation. In its simplest form, the nation is ‘a large aggregate of people

united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a

particular state or territory’ (Oxford English Dictionary, 2002,

p.949). Nevertheless, there exist several lines of debate as to which

2 ‘recuperación del rock nacional’

4

of these components is the most important for the creation and

subsequent existence of a nation. Benedict Anderson (1991)

explains how the concept of the nation is that of an ‘imagined

political community [which is] inherently limited and sovereign’

(p.5), a ‘deep horizontal comradeship’, a ‘fraternity’ which, over the

past two centuries has been the cause ‘for so many millions of

people, not so much to kill, as willingly to die for such limited

imaginings’ (p.224).

Czech historian and political theorist, Miroslav Hroach, builds upon

Anderson’s suggestion of fraternity, describing the nation as a

‘collective consciousness’ with three core characteristics;

‘1) a 'memory' of some common past, treated as a 'destiny' of the

group - or at least of its core constituents;

2) a density of linguistic or cultural ties enabling a higher degree

of social communication within the group than beyond it;

3) a conception of the equality of all members of the group

organized as a civil society’ (1996, p.79)

Hroach also notes that the formation and later evolution of national

movements are based around the core phases of creating, projecting

and, subsequently, maintaining a feeling of collectiveness, playing a

critical role in Argentine actions and reactions surrounding the

islands.

In more quotidian terms, and in line with the contemporary works of

Anderson, it is understood that nationalism assumes that humankind

5

is ‘naturally divided into distinct nations’, and that, encompassing

ideology which can be traced back to historic uprisings such as the

French Revolution and Bolivar-led revolutions in Latin America, said

nations should be their own masters (Heywood, 2007, p.143-145).

The first half of this paper will examine how the Malvinas Argentinas

dogma has become a central and readily identifiable component of

the popular national movement in Argentina. It will analyse the

1982 Falklands/Malvinas conflict and the return to democracy in

relation to national memory, media and symbols of identity in

tandem with the three core characteristics outlined by Hroach.

Additionally, it will look at how the above is affected and influenced

patriotic, populist and post-colonial ideology in Argentina (Dune &

Schmidt, 2011, pp.87-88; Phipps, p.7). Latterly, the concept of

Argentine irredentism and territorial nationalism will be explored.

The perception of territorial losses and gains will be examined to

analyse how the various components of nationalism and national

identity shape national policy and opinion towards the Islands, and

indeed, how the latter is affected by the former.

The second half of this report will contextualise how the nation,

nationalism and the Malvinas Argentinas, are deliberate constructs of

the Argentine state, exploring educational practices in Argentina

using the thesis of Hobsbawn, who argues that, whilst it is of certain

significance, the expression of a ‘national ideal’ is all of a construct

used to rationalise the irrational (1990, pp.8-9). Finally, it will also

6

examine how the above has sprouted a ‘post-Malvinas’ mood

amongst certain intellectuals in Argentine society (Munck, p.156)

looking at what effect this had on the contemporary Malvinas cause.

It will explore how the potential access to the natural wealth of the

seas and seabed that surround the archipelago plays a contemporary

role in keeping Argentine interests in the islands high upon the

national agenda, and also to what extent this interacts with the

nationalistic ideology and sentiment over the islands (Debat &

Lorenzano, 1984, pp.45-50; Halliday, 2004).

1.1 Historical and political background

Situated in the Southern Atlantic Ocean around 500km from the

coast of Patagonia, the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) first

appeared on Portuguese maps as early as the 16th century, and over

the following two centuries various European landings were

recorded (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014; Cawkell, 2001, p.15).

Between 1764 and 1811 they were occupied by French, British and

Spanish forces before being abandoned for almost two decades. In

1828, Franco-Argentine, Louis Vernet, established a settlement on

the islands, and, following a visit from US vessels in 1832, the British

re-established control of the islands in 1833 (pp.17-18). When

Britain re-established her colony on the Islands, the men of Vernet’s

mission were given the option of returning to Buenos Aires or

7

staying on the islands. It is believed that 12 of the Argentines –

around half of Vernet’s expedition – elected to stay. Those who

stayed were integrated into the community of British settlers that

arrived over the following years (p.19).

Since 1833, except during the Argentine military occupation of 1982,

the islands have continued under British dominion and are currently

administered as a British Overseas Territory. Islanders are

considered legal subjects of both the British crown, under the British

Nationality Act of 1983, and of the Argentine Republic under

Argentine law 26,552, which also lays out the country’s territorial

claims and political commitment to the islands as part of the

Province of the Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and the South Atlantic

Islands3 (Casa Rosada, 2011).

Whilst the above is a basic version of the history of the Islands, it is

intended to be balanced and accurate, and to demonstrate how

Argentina (as the successor of the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de

la Plata), as well as the United Kingdom, both have arguable cause for

legitimate claims to the islands. When Britain withdrew her

settlement from the islands in 1774, a plaque was left asserting her

sovereignty and claiming the Falklands on behalf of the British

crown. A similar plaque was left by Spain after her withdrawal in

1806 (Pascoe & Pepper, 2008, pp.6-8). Accounts of the history of the

Islands before 1833 are often contradictory and remain somewhat

3 ‘Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur’

8

ambiguous due to a lack of concrete records. Unsurprisingly, the

Argentine connection is relatively underplayed in British literature

and the same is to be said for the British connection in Argentine

publications.

Since 1833, the Argentine Republic has continually claimed the

islands, with successive governments pressing such claims in

international dialogue, namely within the United Nations. The

Argentine claim was formally reasserted before the United Nations

Committee on Decolonisation in September 1964 (Honeywell, 1982,

pp.37-38). During the subsequent two decades, Argentina became

increasingly impatient over the slow progress in talks over the

islands whilst British politicians continually dragged their heels on

the subject, to the extent that it was noted in 1977 that the

‘significance of the [Falklands] issue in Argentinian politics is not

widely appreciated in Britain’ (Phipps, p.5).

In 1982, the depth of the ‘nationalistic feeling over the Malvinas …

held almost universally in Argentina’, along with declining popularity

of the military dictatorship, created an environment that was strong

enough to support Argentine military intervention in the islands

(Honeywell, p.51). In the succeeding months, the United Kingdom

and Argentina entered into armed conflict which resulted in the

surrender of the Argentines in June of the same year. Nevertheless,

since 1982, the Islands have continued to be a huge symbol of

Argentine national identity and an integral part of being Argentine:

9

argentinidad. Indeed, there is little doubt that the Argentine claim to

the Islands, the Malvinas Argentinas, continues to be an emotive and

poignant national question (Mercopress, 2014).

10

2. The everyday representation of the ‘Malvinas

Argentinas’ in the Argentine Republic

The Argentine people have spoken of how the Falkland Islands were

stolen from the Argentine patria and colonised by the English 1833 for

generations (Honeywell, p.37). Indeed, in response to whether current

president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, is right about her stance that

the Falkland Islands have been, are, and will continue to be Argentina’s,

the general consensus – regardless of what course of action should be

taken – is that yes, ‘she is right, the Malvinas are Argentina’ (Lloyd-

Roberts, 2013). Dr Jorge Castro from the country’s Institute of Strategic

Studies adds that the islands form and integral part of Argentina’s

national identity; they are ‘the only thing that unites this divided

country’ (in Lloyd-Roberts, 2013).

It is no accident that many Argentines hold a profound conviction that

the Falklands are Argentine. To understand the primary causes of this

conviction it is necessary to understand the important role of banal

nationalism in the Argentine Republic. According to John Agnew

(1989), ‘nationalism is never beyond geography’ (p.167), it is to say that

all nations – and indeed all nationalist movements – are rooted to some

form of territory or physical place. Nevertheless, Michael Billing, in a

similar manner to Anderson in Imagined Communities, notes that said

11

geography is not restrained to physical geography nor physical setting;

‘the national place has to be imagined, just as much as the national

community does’, stressing that such a sense of territory and belonging

is by no means reliant on physical links (1995, p.74-75).

Certainly, nationalism is a political ideology that consistently shapes the

individual’s consciousness and the way they constitute their place

within the world (Özkirimi, 2000, p.4), and it can be said that

nationalism is a result of the everyday reproduction of the nation and

national identity: banal nationalism. So how does this relate to the case

of the Malvinas Argentinas? In its simplest form, Argentines are subject

to, and moved by, multiple banal ‘reminders’ (some obvious such as the

example in Appendix A and some more subtle such as Appendix B) on a

daily basis, to the extent that the assertion that ‘Las Malvinas son

Argentinas’ (‘The Falklands are Argentina’s/are Argentine’) becomes so

regularised that all citizens are ‘drilled to act’, to respond, in a

homogenous manner (Edensor in Benwell & Dodds, 2011, p.442). This

is further supported by Billig who argues that said forms of banal

nationalism are a ‘form of life which is daily lived in a world of nation

states’ (1995, p.68).

Furthermore, taking into account the official reproduction of the

Malvinas Argentinas as an integral part of the Argentine state, the

potency of their official state representation becomes apparent, for

example in the anthem: ‘March of the Falklands’4 . According to

4 ‘Marcha de las Malvinas’

12

sociologist Karen Cerulo, patriotic symbols, and anthems in particular,

provide one the clearest and strongest statements of national identity,

reaffirming so called ‘identity boundaries’ (1993). Since its composition

in 1948, the March of the Falklands has been used as a demonstration,

arguably an assertion, of the Malvinas Argentinas as a historic part of

the national homeland, the patria. The first verse set to an upbeat score

gleefully claims the islands as Argentine, and defies that they be

forgotten:

“Behind their misty quilt

we will not forget them!

"Argentine Malvinas!"

the wind cries out and the sea roars.”

MARCH OF THE FALKLANDS (ARGENTINE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, 2014C)5

Thus, as such patriotic anthems are employed by governments and

organisations across the world to create bonds and to reinforce national

goals amongst each individual citizen a certain circular logic is created:

a nation or territory is legitimate because it has an anthem, and because

it has an anthem it must be a particular nation or territory (Kyridis,

2009, p.4). Additionally, the two ‘logically’ become identifiable with,

and indeed part of, one another. This is certainly the case of Argentina’s

5 “¡Tras su manto de neblinas,no las hemos de olvidar! ¡Las Malvinas, argentinas! clama el viento y ruge el mar.” MARCHA DE LAS MALVINAS (MINISTERIO DE EDUCACIÓN DE LA NACIÓN)

13

Falklands anthem which cements the islands on the map as Argentina’s

and also grounds them as a national issue which should be cared about.

Moreover, under Billig’s notion of banal nationalism, ‘the unwaved flag

which is so forgettable, is at least as important as the memorable

moments of flag waving’ (1995, p.10). Whilst The March of the

Falklands therefore provides ceremonial legitimacy to the Malvinas

Argentinas cause, one must also examine the more mundane and

quotidian form in which this is expressed; the daily productions and

reproductions of the Argentine nation which are by no means

ceremonial nor explicitly provocative (Benwell & Dodds, 2011, p.443).

An example as such would be the official cartographic representation of

Argentina. Argentine law 26,651 establishes the ‘bicontinental’ map of

the Argentine Republic (see Appendix C), which shows the Falklands

along with the Sandwich Islands, South Georgia, and the Argentine

Antarctic claim as integral parts of the nation, as the only map to be

used in education at all levels and in public use by all national and

provincial bodies (Institutio Geográfico Nacional, 2010). With such

profound and unquestionable inclusion it is overwhelmingly clear that,

from the everyday to the most ceremonial reproductions, the Argentine

claim to the Falklands is firmly placed on the official national agenda

Furthermore, Hobsbawn (1990) notes how, from a governmental

perspective; it has historically been in the interest of the state to create

and reinforce, whenever possible, the construction of the imagined

community as the national narrative ‘whenever and however they

14

originated’ in order to achieve the greatest form of consensus from its

citizens. As a consequence, governments use the ‘powerful machinery’

of the state – most notably the process of primary education of its

citizens – to create an inculcating image of the nation, employing the

symbols and sentiments of said imagined community to create a

national image and history: the patria (pp.91-92). In the case of

Argentina, the importance of constructing a collective national narrative

has been a consistent objective of nearly every historical Argentine

government. This is due to the Argentine national political environment

being characterised by both its ‘strained relationship between citizen

and state’ as its ‘disunity and tensions’ – a consequence of the

confrontation of liberalism and the legacy of personal dictatorship

which stems from the Spanish system of caudillismo (Dijkink, 1996,

p.75). Successful and profound national integrity has therefore been

paramount; the collective construct of argentinidad must be protected

to ensure a degree of national consensus and unity.

Subsequently, the Falklands play a one size fits all role in a politically

divided society which fosters a national ‘cause’ founded upon the

ideological value of the retroversion of the sovereignty to the people:

popular sovereignty (Luna, 1994, pp.65-66). Indeed, at all levels of

everyday life within Argentina, the Falkland Islands and their perceived

importance to the Argentine nation are present, and seldom questioned.

The Malvinas Argentinas movement provides a ready-made ‘them’ and

‘us’ situation which incorporates post-colonialist, constructivist and

15

populist ideologies which underpin the construct of the patria as

outlined by Hobsbawm. This is also highlighted by Goebel (2011) who

notes that a persistently volatile and unstable political situation in

Argentina since the Second World War has increasingly given rise to a

nationalist agenda. This has been manifested across the political

spectrum, from the populist governments of Perón and the Kirchners to

various military dictatorships, most notably the administration of 1976

to 1983, named under the nationalist banner as the ‘National

Reorganisation Process’6 (pp.181-183). Certainly, is can be seen that

the role of nationalism in the Argentine Republic is both a complex and

vital part of national political discourse and identity; of which the

Malvinas Argentinas plays a key role. The next chapter will therefore

look to analyse how the islands have consistently featured on an erratic

national agenda over the latter half of the twentieth century.

6 ‘Proceso de Reorganización Nacional’

16

3. Playing the ‘Malvinas’ card: dictatorship,

conflict and the return to democracy

With the Malvinas Argentinas playing such a grounding role in

argentinidad and the Argentine nation, it is unsurprising that the

national reception to the dictatorship’s ‘recovery’ of the islands in April

1982, described by Goebel as a ‘jingoistic celebration’ (p.181), engaged

Argentine society in its entirety. The scenes witnessed at the Plaza de

Mayo in Buenos Aires on 2nd April 1982 provide a near textbook

example of the profound emotion and social mobilisation that is carried

by the nationalistic pan-Argentine movement encompassed by the

Falklands question. The Plaza de Mayo, heart of Argentine political life,

attracted an ecstatic crowd of tens of thousands of people upon the

announcement that the Malvinas Argentinas had been ‘re-incorporated

into the national territory’ (Robben, 2005, p.313). It was the successful

binding of populist and nationalist agendas by General Galtieri that

appealed directly to the Argentine people. The nationalist card of hopes

of the recuperation of the Falklands was combined with the populist

representation of the British as a repressing force which allegedly

expelled the Argentine population from the islands 150 years

beforehand (Robben, 2005, pp.312-313). As pointed out by Heywood,

both nationalism and populism advocate the existence of an ‘other’ to

17

which people are encouraged to stand up against (2007, p.291), thus it

can be seen how the Malvinas Argentinas cause allows both ideologies

to simultaneously work together to create a near unanimous

environment of consensus, mobilisation and collaboration of everyday

Argentine citizens.

Certainly, it can be argued that the co-existence of populist and

nationalist tendencies in Argentine politics leads to the conclusion that

‘the Argentinian mind can easily switch to new national goals that

satisfy the need for national dignity but do not particularly serve the

national interest in other ways’, the persistent and resilient Malvinas

Argentinas movement being a primary example (Dijkink, 1996, p.85).

Without a doubt, the islands form an integral part of the constructed

argentindad; thus, in Argentina, the point of discussion regarding the

Falklands does not revolve around whom they belong to, yet how to put

right an injustice served to the entire nation by the British occupation of

national territory.

Furthermore, Dabat and Lorenzano note how the Falklands debate in

Argentina is an ideological war of ‘national liberation against

imperialism’ (1984, p.39), thus, even with the complete collapse of the

dictatorship in the aftermath of the conflict of 1982, the Malvinas

Argentinas movement in Argentina was able to be reshaped to support

the new political system. Whilst under the dictatorship, military action

over the islands was sanctioned by a government which had the

Argentine people ‘looking for their satiety’ in the fascist junta (Pauls,

18

2008), the revised vision of argentindad – now championing peace and

democracy – still maintained the Malvinas Argentinas as a key national

issue, a notion which can be explained by the theory of democracy and

democratic peace; ‘in a diplomatic sense Argentina is making a

concerted effort to draw very clear distinctions between the past and

the present, from the ‘hot/irrational’ aggressor to the ‘cool’ pacifist’

(Benwell and Dodds, 2011, p.446).

Certainly, even though political ideology in the new Argentina still relies

on the Malvinas Argentinas as a support for nationwide unity and

consensus, the post 1983 dogma has been reworked into a

contemporary and international post-colonial discourse, presented and

manifested through the forms of peaceful diplomacy and democratic

peace, as outlined by Doyle (1995, pp.180-184), thus serving to

champion and endorse the return to democracy in Argentina.

Democracy is presented as a vital component of the recuperation of the

Falklands and, in turn, the Malvinas Argentinas movement has helped

support the cause for sustained democratic governance. Furthermore,

post-colonial ideology has enabled the populist battle between the

oppressed and the oppressor to be transferred from one between the

pueblo and the dictatorship to one of a united Argentine nation against

continued British colonial oppression; a marriage of populist and post-

colonial ideology. Moreover, the national search for dignity outlined by

Dijkink (1996, p.85) has played a role in sustaining and maintaining the

stability of the Argentine nation. In a post-conflict and post-dictatorship

19

environment the Malvinas Argentinas cause proved remarkably buoyant

in grounding a popular national consensus.

Additionally, Billig’s theory of banal nationalism can also be found in the

popular culture from the transition era. Luis Puenzo’s 1985 film, The

Official Story7, provides a clear example of the Malvinas Argentinas

rhetoric being used to aide Argentine political transition. The film,

which centres on the search for truth and justice by the Argentine

people in light of the forced disappearances that occurred during the

dictatorship, addresses the need to ‘denounce the past’ in the newly

democratised Argentina (Aguilar, 2008, p.20). It also provides an early

example of post-dictatorship memory in a nation that had been

‘humiliated’ by the actions of the military junta in its final years in

power; corruption, economic decline, and gross violations of personal

freedoms that culminated in the failed 1982 campaign to retake the

Falklands, and the subsequent restoration of democracy in Argentina

(Falicov, 2001, p.123).

It is of great interest to analyse the role of the Malvinas Argentinas in

such a narrative. When a young middle-class Argentine woman

comments to her partner that it ‘seems outrageous’8 that her maid is

still waiting for news on her cousins who were sent to fight in the

Malvinas conflict9 despite it being ‘over a year since the war was lost’10,

7 La historia oficial8 ‘parece injusto’9 It is common knowledge in Argentina that there remain over 100 unmarked graves of Argentine servicemen who died in the Falklands conflict of 1982. These men are believed to have been ‘disappeared’ by the Military regime and subsequently sent to fight in the islands (El Día, 2012) 10 ‘ya hace un año que se perdió la guerra’

20

her partner responds saying ‘a battle was lost, not the war’11. Indeed, in

a film which focuses on putting right the wrongs of the dictatorship, the

banal portrayal of the Falklands conflict of 1982 as an ongoing fight

which must continue as part of the Malvinas Argentinas dogma provides

a stark contrast to the open and rampant criticism of military

repression, also highlighting the importance that the collective long-

term goal of the recovery of the islands is a vital component of the

survival of the Argentine nation (Femenia, 1996, p.207).

Furthermore, it is not just the banalities of Argentine culture that

reiterate the importance of the Falklands in post-dictatorship socio-

political discourse. The creation of a national holiday under Argentine

law 25,370, officially named ‘Day of the Veterans and Fallen of the

Malvinas War’12, carried the explicit intention of ‘raising the profile of

the Falklands question’13, in an attempt to pacify both the military and

the general public in the wake of the renunciation of the coup d’état of

1976 (Página/12, 2001). Anderson notes the importance of national

holidays and their banal notions, such as ceremonial raising of the

national flag and singing of the national anthem stating that; ‘no matter

how banal the words and mediocre the tunes, there is in this singing

and experience of simultaneity. At precisely such moments, people

wholly unknown to each other utter the same words to the same

melody. The image: unisonance.’ (1991, p.145). Thus, during

contentious moments in post-dictatorship political discourse, in which

11 ‘se perdió una batalla, no la guerra’12 Día del Veterano de Guerra y de los Caídos en la Guerra de las Malvinas13 ‘elevar el rango del tema Malvinas’

21

Argentine people find themselves on the verge of staunch division, if not

complete polarisation, the Malvinas Argentinas cause creates an

important opportunity and reasoning for a certain degree of political

consensus. The reinstatement of the national holiday, dedicated to the

‘fallen heroes’14 of 1982 and the continual project of the restoration of

the islands as part of the Argentine patria, highlight the key role of the

Falklands in creating a collective consensus in a socially and politically

sensitive and fragile nation in the processes of coming to terms with the

events and consequences of military rule. In the case of ‘Malvinas

Day’15, as noted by the socially progressive Argentinian newspaper

Página/12 (2001), it was a vital mean by which to pacify the diverse

Argentine political spectrum. The Malvinas Argentinas card and the

emphasis of their significance to the Argentina patria and argentinidad

were of great importance of achieving a near unanimous consensus

over the fragile issue of remembering the nation’s polemic and often

painful past.

Moreover, such processes highlight how the Malvinas Argentinas

movement incorporates elements of patriotism, providing the ‘effective

basis of belief that underpins all forms or nationalism’ (Heywood, 2007,

p.155). Love for fatherland, which in Argentine ideology includes the

Falkland Islands by default, creates an environment in which patriotic

civilians are prepared to collaborate with the nationalist movement

even though many patriots are by no means nationalists (Heywood,

14 ‘héroes caídos’15 ‘Día de las Malvinas’

22

2007, pp.144-147). Consequently, the Malvinas Argentinas credo

provides an extremely powerful way in which to unite divided fractions

of Argentine political society; if not under nationalist ideology, than

under the banner of patriotism.

23

4. A case of territorial nationalism?

‘All nations require a past to justify their current existence and to

provide a rationale for territorial claims’ (Storey, 2012, p.108), thus the

next chapter will discuss how the Malvinas Argentinas dogma is

manifested as a form of territorial nationalism and what effect that has

on the Argentine nationalist movement. Nationalism and the national

rhetoric are always linked to a perceived territory by default, forming a

key component in creating the concept of a ‘national geography’ which

plays the role of a visual and geographic anchor of the national vision

(Storey, 2012, p.107).

Consequently, the importance of territory within the discourse of

nationhood is paramount, argued by Herb to be the only ‘tangible

evidence of the nation’s existence’ (1999, p.10). Furthermore, not only

does territory facilitate the existence of the nation, the ideas of lost or

unrecovered territory are employed in a similar way to ‘remind people

that the nation is incomplete and will remain so until the ‘lost territory

is returned to the fold,’ creating an identifiable and easily mobilised

national cause (Storey, 2012, p.113). So how can this be applied to the

case of Argentina and the Falkland Islands?

Firstly, one must look at the way in which territorial nationalism has

been incorporated as a founding principle of the Argentine nation.

24

Since the 1830s, Argentine intellectuals, such as President Domingo

Sarmiento, have written of the Argentine national destiny of territorial

expansion and the civilisation of the South American continent, the key

doctrine behind the Conquest of the Desert of 1870s which, according to

Ray, marks a ‘fundamental milestone’ in the process of Argentine nation

building in nineteenth-century Argentina (2011, pp.144-145).

Furthermore, ideology behind Argentine territorial nationalism and

conquest is manifested in a cultural sphere through the portrayal of the

valiant gaucho in the notion of argentinidad. Leopoldo Lugones’ famous

publication El payador16 (1916) emphasised and praised the heroism of

the honourable gaucho, who has come to ‘represent the pure essence of

all that was good and noble about the Argentinean’ (Ray, 2011, p.150).

Thus, due to this romanticisation of the good Argentine gaucho and the

heroism of argentinidad, the Malvinas Argentinas have become a key

representation of the Argentine nation, fusing cultural and national

identity with a clearly defined territorial claim. The idea of the re-

conquest and civilisation of the islands from the ‘barbaric’ British

pirates therefore provides ideological grounds on which to ground the

Argentine nationalist cause. The ‘brave’ gauchos expelled by the British

serve to represent the argentinidad which are subsequently bound with

the islands themselves to make use of the nationalist-territorial

ideology. Indeed, it is the symbolic significance of said territory which

allows leaders to incorporate it into nationalist-territorial rhetoric even

if few – or even no – citizens inhabit said place (Storey, 2012, p.120)

16 A payador is a gaucho minstrel.

25

Furthermore, it is not just in the historic and somewhat folkloric

Argentine doctrine of conquest and civilisation that the islands have

been used to bind national territorial ideology. Incorporating the banal

constituents of nationalism explored in the previous chapters,

Hobsbawm notes that the particular importance of specific places seen

as key parts of the national territory and their prevalence in national

songs and anthems, highlight the way in which the a geographic sense of

place is integral to creating and also sustaining a national imagination

(1990, pp.92-93). Indeed, the March of the Falklands anthem explored

in chapter 2 also provides a clear example of the importance of the

territorial imagery that is used in the Malvinas Argentinas rhetoric. The

second verse of the anthem places firm importance on the inseparable

mix of the Argentine nation and her lost islands saying;

“Nor from those horizons

Shall our ensign be stripped

As its white is on the hills

And its azure tints the sea”

MARCH OF THE FALKLANDS (ARGENTINE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION,

2014C)17

Indeed it is this strong imagery of the nation and her territory which is

alluded to by David Storey, who notes that not only do such anthems

17 “Ni de aquellos horizontes, nuestra enseña han de arrancar. Pues su blanco está en los montes y en su azul se tiñe el mar” MARCHA DE LAS MALVINAS (MINISTERIO DE EDUCACIÓN DE LA NACIÓN)

26

elevate ordinary landscapes into ‘something extraordinary’, they more

importantly serve as a means by which politicians can make ‘territorial

illusions’ of the nation that bind the national discourse with political

consensus; with ‘ideas then put in the service of political leaders, a

proletarian territorial rhetoric may also be found’ (pp.115-116). In the

case of the Malvinas Argentinas, it can be seen that the March of the

Falklands, banally evokes nationalist engagement of the Argentine

people through the imposition of the white and azure of the national

flag onto a physical territorial space. In a similar manner, the

cartographic outline of the islands (as seen in Appendix C) provides a

similar reminder of the lost Malvinas Argentinas through the territorial

representation of the islands.

Moreover, it is the striking manner in which the banal representations

of the nationalist-territorial rhetoric of the Malvinas Argentinas which

serves to demonstrate the powerful role the islands play in the

formation and maintenance of national political consensus. A new fifty

peso note, strategically announced on April 2nd 2014 – Malvinas Day – is

to feature a map of the islands along with the ‘heroic’ Gaucho Rivero,

was claimed by current president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, to

show a ‘historic, social and political vindication of Argentina’s sovereign

rights over the disputed territories’, claiming that the new note

represents ‘a peaceful claim in a sovereign element in all the extension

of the word, as is a currency of legal tender in Argentina’. Certainly, this

banal show of territorial nationalism represents a blatant use of the

27

Malvinas Argentinas rhetoric in order to create a populist political

consensus; ‘it will compel every Argentinian to keep alive on a daily

basis the flames of love for our islands which are and always will be

Argentinian’ according to the Argentine President (Perry, 2014).

Additionally, it has been pointed out by several Argentine intellectuals

who openly criticise the populist nature of the Kirchner administration

that the President is, once again, using the nationalistic-territorial

rhetoric to overshadow certain failings of the political administration.

In the aftermath of the announcement of the new fifty peso note,

Argentine economist Gastón Utrera suggested that the ‘new fifty peso

note is missing a zero’18 (2014), noting how, whilst he is not against a

banknote featuring the Falkland Islands, it is a shameless attempt by the

president to bring the Falklands question directly into the economic

sphere. By producing a banknote featuring the islands, the president is

implicitly converting the economic failings of the Kirchner

administration into the national question of the lost islands.

Utrera also highlights how the ‘high inflation’19 which Argentina has

been suffering in recent years is a much more important national

priority than Kirchner’s persistent positioning of the Malvinas

Argentinas rhetoric in seemingly unrelated political and economic

questions. Nevertheless, this is arguably the case; the Falklands

rhetoric binds together nationalist, post-colonial and populist ideology

which, once converted into territorial strategies, as in the case of the

18 ‘nuevo billete de $ 50 le falta un cero’19 ‘inflación alta’

28

Malvinas, creates a sense of ‘national wellbeing’ which can be used to

‘attain broader political goals’ (Storey, 2012, p.136).

29

5. Argentine irredentism and the perception of

territorial losses and gains

Whilst it has been argued that nationalist ideology supported by a

populist post-colonial rhetoric grounds the importance of the Malvinas

Argentinas in Argentine political discourse, there exists argument to

suggest that the Malvinas Argentinas rhetoric is a manifestation of a

strand of nationalism described by Escudé in his writings on Argentine

territorial nationalism as a ‘national superiority complex’ (1988, p.161).

It has been suggested that territorial claims to the Falkland Islands,

along with South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Chile’s

Patagonian ice fields and the Argentine Antarctic, known as Argentine

irredentism, the ‘restoration of the Viceroyalty’20 (Cavaleria, 2004,

pp.17-18), form a distinctive outcome of a form of nationalism which, in

Latin America, is unique to Argentina (Escudé, 1988, p.162). Also

described as Argentine ‘exceptionalism’ by Tulchin (1996, p.194),

Escudé theorises how certain nationalistic features of argentinidad,

identified by a series of polls undertaken by the IPSA (see Appendix H),

are the basis for Argentine territorial nationalism and also the reason

why perceived territorial losses and gains are of amplified importance

to the Argentine nation and her people.

20 ‘La restauración del virreinato’

30

Certainly, in relation to Argentine rhetoric surrounding the Falkland

Islands, it is suggested by Escudé that ‘governments are caught in a

perverse cultural and political trap’ which consists of several variables,

most importantly public opinion and the opinion of the elites. He

argues that far from using territorial ideology such as irredentism to

manipulate public opinion and gain political consensus, it is the intrinsic

national convictions held by the people, particularly the bourgeoisie and

elite segments of society, who pressure governments to be seen to be

acting in the interest of the long-term territorial aims of the nation in

the name of the patria (1988, p.164).

Furthermore, in a second paper by Escudé, it is noted how – under the

political and social pressure created by irredentism and the belief in

Argentine greatness – territory was systematically ‘added’ to the

imagined nation through the incorporation of the territories outlined in

the restoration of the viceroyalty into the socio-cultural dimension of

Argentine society (1992, pp.5-6). Indeed, in the decade between 1938

and 1948, over one million square kilometers of territory was ‘added’ to

Argentina through their incorporation onto the official map of the

nation and into the textbooks of Argentine schoolchildren (p.37).

Nevertheless, Escudé calls upon a report conducted by the US Council

on Foreign Relations from 1951 which notes the following:

"Argentina has rather consistently lacked the proper

perspective of her position in the world. The Argentines

31

(have) tended to think themselves the rivals of the United

States, but they (are) no such thing."

(in Escudé, 1992, p.38)

This incorporation of such vast amounts of territory over which

Argentina exercised no de facto control, along with the increased

perceived importance and weight of the Malvinas Argentinas dogma

during the latter half of the twentieth century, can be through the

application of the economic theory of perception of losses and gains: the

prospect theory (McClure, 2004, p.5-6). Applying this economic theory

to the case of the Falklands, McClure describes how the ‘ardent

nationalism’ created by the national superiority complex outlined by

Escudé fostered a political environment which lead to the systematic

governmental inclusion of such a vast amount of territory into the

Argentine consciousness because, naturally, perceived territorial

expansion is seen as a gain. Due to the nature of the territorial

ambitions which played a key part of argentinidad, the political benefits

of perceived expansion were to be of great use to the governing political

parties (Escudé, 1992, p.35).

Nevertheless, in the case of the prospect theory, a loss is unacceptable if

it differs from the perceived status quo, even if the reality of the

situation remains unchanged. More importantly, any losses must be

recuperated in order to return to the ‘rightful position’ (McClure, 2004,

p.4). Whilst the majority of the territories included in the expanded

national territorial concept are uninhabited and maintain a neutral de

32

facto status quo (the vast Antarctic territories being a primary

example), the Falkland Islands are not. As a consequence, whilst the

islands began reappearing on Argentine maps as a territorial gain, the

de facto situation remained a loss. Worse still, once they had – on paper

– been cemented into the imagined territory of the nation, continued

British sovereignty over the islands presented a political faux pas;

‘coming to grips with the fact that these imaginary territories were not

part of Argentina would be computed as a loss’ (McClure, 2004, p.3).

Through the application of the prospect theory to the idea of Argentine

irredentism, it can be argued that the Malvinas Argentinas rhetoric

creates a situation in which territorial nationalism is advocated by

Argentine civilians, and that any formal rendition over their sovereignty

would be a betrayal of argentinidad, of the nation (the patria), and of the

people (the pueblo). Certainly, in a newly democratised Argentina, the

constitutional government, whilst ‘far removed’ from the military

regime in terms of ideology and practices, never ‘dared’ to renounce any

Argentine claim to the islands or officially accept that the conflict ended

(Escudé, 1988, p.163), a practice which has been continued by every

Argentine government since the conflict of 1982. Even the Menem

administration of 1989-1999, which re-established diplomatic links

with the United Kingdom and solved twenty minor border disputes with

Chile, whilst having showing a certain degree of remorse for the bloody

conflict which took place, kept a firm stance on the Malvinas rhetoric.

Menem’s affirmation that ‘Argentina would continue to assert its claim

33

to sovereignty over the islands’ (BBC, 1998), demonstrates how

Argentine politicians are themselves restrained by the Falklands

questions due to the sentiments of the Argentine people.

On the contrary, Benwell and Dodds criticise certain national

governments, such as the Kirchner administration, for intentionally

pursuing a nationalistic-territorial rhetoric (2010, p.445), claiming that

there exists ‘variations in the political performances of Argentine

politicians in regional and international forums such as the United

Nations, which can bring themes of territorial nationalism to the

forefront of public consciousness at particular moments’ (p.448). They

also call on controversial television adverts such as the 2012

commercial which featured an Argentine athlete training on the islands

followed by the proclamation ‘to compete on English soil, we train on

Argentine soil’21, to demonstrate how banal territorialism and the

Malvinas Argentinas dogma can be used to politicise almost every

element of everyday life, if so desired (p.444).

Furthermore, it is acknowledged that the islands have the capacity to be

used to manipulate public opinion; Escudé (1988, pp.164-165) and

Tulchin (1996), argue that irredentism has become such a ‘firmly rooted

dimension’ of Argentine political culture, to which ‘rulers and ruled

alike are subject’ (pp.163-166). This could suggest that the political

power held by Malvinas Argentinas is due to the Argentine people

placing the islands on the political agenda through the irredentist

21 ‘para competir en suelo inglés entrenemos en suelo argentino’

34

ideology and the historical importance of national exceptionalism.

Likewise, there is much evidence to suggest that Argentine irredentism

is another ideology which has been instilled from above.

35

6. The Falklands in Argentine education

practices: a case of patriotic indoctrination?

Now that is has been established how the Argentine vision of the

Malvinas Argentinas constitutes a complex mix of nationalist, populist,

post-colonial, territorial, irredentist and – arguably – democratic

rhetoric, it is important to address the following question:

Is the relentless claim of the islands as an integral part of

national territory a doctrine? If so, to what extent could it

be described that the Argentine people are indoctrinated

by nationalist discourse surrounding the Falklands?

Thus, the purpose of this chapter will be to critically analyse how the

various strands of nationalism explored in the previous chapters could

be presented and reproduced by the Argentine state as a political

doctrine.

In order to do so, the sociological process of indoctrination will be

applied to the case study of Zamba’s Amazing Adventure in the

Falklands22, an episode from a series of cartoons entitled The Amazing

Adventures of Zamba23 created by Paka Paka; an Argentine television

channel wholly owned and administered by the Ministry of Education,

22 ‘La asombrosa excursión de Zamba en las Islas Malvinas’23 ‘La asombrosa excursión de Zamba’

36

aimed at providing a variety of shows and original programming for

children between the ages of two and twelve years (Argentine Ministry

of Education, 2014).

The Amazing Adventures of Zamba consists of three series, each of a

dozen twenty minute episodes, centred around the different journeys

through history of the protagonist, Zamba, created to educate Argentine

schoolchildren about the history of the nation. The series were aired on

national television channel, Paka Paka, between 2010 and 2012 and

have been periodically rerun in succeeding years (Argentine Ministry of

Education, 2014c). During the episode based around the Malvinas

Argentinas and the conflict of 1982, Zamba, an Argentinian schoolchild

from the northern province of Formosa, is transported in a fighter jet

back in time to the islands at the time of the 1982 military invasion. He

subsequently learns why the islands are Argentine with the aide of the

song ‘Why are we going to war?’24 which explains how English pirates

stole the islands and that it is an ‘injustice which has to be put right’ (see

Appendix F).

Indeed, this particular episode received notable criticism from within

Argentina for the inaccurate legitimisation of history and the intent of

the state to create a standard verification of political discourse (Gullino,

2013, pp.8-9). The use of patriotic songs and the emotive expression of

the ‘pathos’ and the portrayal of the Fakllands conflict as a ‘painful

fact’25 are simultaneously taken advantage of in order to ground the

24 ‘¿Por qué vamos a la guerra?25 ‘hecho doloroso’

37

Falklands issue in Argentine national identity (Guillino, 2013, p.4; see

Appendix F and Appendix G). Furthermore, psychologists Carretero and

González highlight how the Falklands debate is transformed by the

cartoon into a present-day problem, thus being used to prematurely

politicise the nation’s youth (pp.221, 2013). Marcos Novaro, sociologist

and doctor in Philosophy condemned the series stating that; ‘the state

cannot provide such low-quality programming with so many defects

and, above all, broadcasting particular ways of thinking’26 (in

Struminger, 2012). Could this be described as the Malvinas Argentinas

as an example of educative indoctrination?

Philosopher of ethics and education, Richard Peters (1965), writes that

education is centred on the teaching of modes of thought and awareness

– knowledge – described as the ‘public inheritance’ (p.53). He also

points out how primary education in society is an active process of

socialising children into the ‘citadel of civilisation’ (p.107).

Furthermore, it has been noted that the introduction of the process of

assimilation into education makes the whole process vulnerable to

potential indoctrination (Kazepides in Thiessen, 1985, p.233). Thus, in

applying this to the case of Zamba’s Amazing Adventure in the Falklands,

there exists a line of argument to suggest that the Argentine state

indoctrinates schoolchildren to follow the Malvinas Argentinas

conviction from an early age through the simultaneous process of

education and socialisation in order to instill a nationalist consensus.

26 ‘El estado no puede dar productos de tan poca calidad, que tienen tantos defectos y que encima transmiten formas de pensar’

38

Certainly, it is not to say that the representation of the historical facts

surrounding the sovereignty of the islands are untrue, yet they are

presented in such a way that embellishes the historical truth,

exaggerating the huge injustice that has been served to Argentina by the

British (Struminger, 2012; Appendix G). Thus, if we compare this to

Moore’s theory of indoctrination, which highlights one of the key

strands of indoctrination as the ‘one sided or biased presentation of a

debatable issue’ (1972, p.93), also supported by Thiessen (1985) who

states that ‘indoctrinatory methods involve inculcating a higher degree

of certainty and conviction than is warranted by the evidence’ (p.235),

there is evidence to suggest that there exists a degree indoctrination in

Argentina regarding the Falkland Islands which provides an overly

nationalistic Argentina-centric historical account thus amplifying their

importance in Argentine national identity, ideology and discourse.

This is of particular importance when applied to the findings of BBC

journalist, Sue Lloyd-Roberts (2013). Upon asking various Argentines

born after the 1982 conflict what the islands mean to them, she notes

the following:

‘“When we are very young, we are told about them at

school," 25-year-old Julia says. "We know that the islands

are ours."

"Children are brainwashed," says 30-year-old Federico,

"they are taught about the islands before they are old

enough to understand."

39

But his contemporary, Jeremias, responds angrily to this

notion saying: "I was not brainwashed. I know that Las

Malvinas are Argentine, for two reasons - historical and

geographical."’

Examples such as The Amazing Adventures of Zamba, and their

particular representation of Argentine history, show how the state

continually presents a particular belief onto its citizens, to the extent

that they are ‘drilled to act’, and respond in a homogenous non-

interrogative manner (Edensor, 2002, p.20). Thiessen also indicates

that indoctrination is typically prevalent in primary education before

the child reaches a stage of active and grounded questioning; ‘there is

an aspect of the learning process which involves simple trust and

unquestioning belief’ (1985, p.240). As Julia in Lloyd-Roberts’ report

states, Argentine children are told when they are very young that they

the islands are theirs. Furthermore, it is recognised by the second

interviewee, Federico, that the Malvinas Argentinas dogma is taught to

children before they are old enough to question or comprehend the full

complexity of the issue, further endorsing the theories of indoctrination.

Nevertheless, it is the response from Jeremais in the report that

provides the most interesting conclusion. Whilst Moore (1972)

concedes that it is necessary that primary learning begin with an

‘authoritative and indoctrinative situation’ (p.97), Theiseen highlights

how it is doubtful that those indoctrinated at a young age ever emerge

to truly question said doctrine (1985, pp.240-241). Thus, intent on

40

asserting that he is not ‘brainwashed’, the thirty-year-old Argentine

refers to his acquired knowledge – the ‘public inheritance’ described

earlier in this chapter – that he has been taught to provide historical and

geographical reasoning for their being so. Indeed, this knowledge is

arguably a call upon state-administered indoctrination which has been

manifested by successive Argentine governments who have maintained

a firm and continuous hold over national educational practices since the

mid-nineteenth century (Gvirtz, 2008, p.3).

Moreover, it is argued that the Malvinas Argentinas cause is employed to

prematurely politicise Argentine youth in a partisan society (Carretero

and Gonzalez, 2008; Gullino, 2013), with such deliberate and persistent

educative practices serving to emphasise how the Argentine political

class have found there to be great political leverage provided by the

Malvinas Argentinas sentiment. Furthermore, in parallel with the

constructivist governmental nature of nationalism outlined by

Hobsbawm, the way in which the Falklands question is taught could be

described as form of national educational indoctrination of successive

generations of Argentine children which serves to provide on-tap

political consensus. Indeed, the relentless and particular manifestation

of the Malvinas Argentinas to the youngest of citizens demonstrates the

central role that the islands play in the Argentine socio-political sphere.

Hobsbawm himself suggests that all nations need a ‘suitable’ past and

that, if one does not exist, ‘it can always be invented’ (1998, p.6).

7.

41

7. A Post-Malvinas discourse?

The post-colonial rhetoric of territorial nationalism presented by the

Falklands question is a complex dialogue between the citizen, the state

and the diverse multinational socio-political sphere in which it lies. As a

consequence, it is ‘not fixed but negotiated, the subject of dialogue and

creativity [is] influenced by the contexts in which it is produced’

(Edensor, 2002, p.17). Therefore, this chapter will look at the

importance of the islands in the twenty-first-century Argentine social

and political context, with the aim of establishing whether the pressure

to conform to the longstanding assertion of the Malvinas Argentinas

remains relevant in the contemporary Argentina. Indeed, whilst the

systematic exposure to the multiple forms of nationalism outlined in the

previous chapters is inevitable, the concept of nationalistic discourse

ultimately lies in the complex everyday situation and the perception of

the individual (Müller, 2008, pp.330-331).

In February 2012, several well-respected Argentine public figures

published a document entitled The Falklands: an alternative vision27 in

national newspaper Pagina/12. The document, which bears the

signatories of seventeen of the nation’s prominent intellectuals, openly

criticises the ‘climate of propelled national agitation’28 and the

‘obsessive affirmation of the principle that the Falklands are

27 ‘Las Malvinas: una visión alternativa’28 ‘clima de agitación nacionalista impulsado’

42

Argentina’s’29. They argue that such attitudes hinder bilateral

discussion over the management of the islands resources, asserting that

‘we need to abandon the agitation of the Falklands cause and develop an

alternative vision which overcomes conflict and supports a pacific

resolution’30. Certainly, in twenty-first century Argentina where the

wounds of war and dictatorship are slowly beginning to heal, the

Falkland Islands – far from fostering an outright nationalist rhetoric –

seem to increasingly reflect an internationalist political agenda, outlined

by Goldmann as a ‘set of beliefs to the effect that if there is more law,

organisation, exchange, and communication among states, this will

reinforce peace and security’ (1994, p.2).

Furthermore, even though the scars of the 1982 conflict remain

‘extremely raw’ in Argentina, there is almost unanimous consensus

reflecting the strong desire to avoid the repeat of actions of the

dictatorship on ideological grounds, including military action in the

Falklands (Benwell and Dodds, 2011, p.446). After interviewing an

extensive sample of Argentine youths from different provinces, Benwell

and Dodds noted a significant indifference towards the islands. Whilst

responses weren’t unanimous, the following was noted: ‘young people

seems to both reproduce and resist aspects of Argentine territorial

nationalism as constructed by the government… many respondents did

not place symbolic importance on the Islands as sovereign Argentine

territory’ (2011, p.448). Indeed, it could be argued that whilst the

29 ‘la afirmación obsesiva del principio “Las Malvinas argentinas”’30 ‘necesitamos abandonar la agitación de la causa-Malvinas y elaborar una visión alternativa que supere el conflicto y aporte a su resolución pacífica’

43

islands remain an important patriotic symbol of the nation, their

importance on the populist nationalistic agenda is beginning to wane as

the effects of an internationalist agenda promoted by the values held by

the Western democratic peace theory erodes the most pronounced

areas of outright nationalism (Baylis, 2011, pp.230-232; Doyle, 1995,

p.181)

Moreover, this increased post-Malvinas sentiment, even in the face of

the staunchly populist-nationalistic administration of current president

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (Finchlestein, 2014), also suggests that

the Malvinas Argentinas rhetoric is more a patriotic anecdote than an

national doctrine, as Crittenden writes, indoctrination in education is

the failure to cultivate ‘intellectual virtues’ (1972, p.141), and it is

evident that there do exist a high degree of such virtues in Argentine

society. Nevertheless, it could equally be argued that the public

condemnation of government policy which takes advantage and

continues to promote the Malvinas Argentinas cause highlights the lack

of a critical approach towards the role and function of the Islands in

Argentine society and politics.

However, whilst internationalism may be the argument that is used by

some Argentine intellectuals over the contemporary political

environment surrounding the Islands, the publication was sufficiently

polemic to provoke several other prominent intellectuals, such as

political scientist Edgardo Mocca, to brand such critics as unpatriotic,

using the opportunity to criticise the Argentine progressive social

44

movement stating; ‘some of the signatories have invested a lot in the

democratic culture of our country. This document is definitely not one

of them’31 (Mocca for Revista Debate, 2012). Thus, whilst there does –

to a certain extent – exist an increasing number of Argentines who are

seemingly less bothered about the national claim to the islands, the

Falklands question has the potential to be used as a pawn in a divided

Argentine political establishment. The Peronists will embrace the

Malvinas Argentinas and their national rhetoric, whilst their opponents

will deliberately employ the internationalist democratic rhetoric

surrounding the islands, with the aim of embracing and promoting a

new progressive national discourse and actively discrediting the

Peronist movement (La Nación, 2010; Mocca, 2012).

Nevertheless, the fact that the Malvinas Argentinas represent such

strongly held political ideologies, which are manifested by various

fractions of nationalist ideological discourse, demonstrate how, even to

a generation of politically exasperated Argentines, the Islands play an

important role to the nation. Even the act of being seemingly

disinterested in the issue, a conscious reaction to the status quo of the

Malvinas Argentinas dogma, shows how their symbolic political and

ideological value continues to underwrite their importance in the

twenty-first century.

Additionally, contemporary discourse over the Islands has also seen the

emergence of a new dynamic which has the potential to polarise

31 ‘algunos de los firmantes han hecho aportes importantes a la cultura democrática de nuestro país. Este documento, decididamente, no es uno de ellos’

45

ideology: the islands’ natural resources. Indeed, the confirmation of

significant oil reserves in the waters surrounding the Falkland Islands

has put a significant economic value on the islands to which the

Malvinas Argentinas rhetoric has to adapt. Unsurprisingly the populist

Kirchner administration has continued to apply the post-colonial cause

to the Falklands question, the British are now held culpable for stealing

not only territory from Argentina and her people, yet precious natural

resources (as seen in Appendix A) (Mercopress, 2014c). Certainly, it

could be suggested that the economic value of the islands plays into the

hands of the nationalist Malvinas Argentinas rhetoric, as it adds yet

another fuel to the well-established fire.

Nevertheless, the economic resources also have the potential to create a

notable divide in opinion over the Malvinas, as demonstrated by the

Alternative Vision. The potential economic value of the islands presents

a new situation in which the realist ideological foundations, from which

the components of nationalism derive, are increasingly openly

challenged by the Argentine pueblo searching for practical solutions to

national problems. It could be argued that a constructivist movement is

slowly gaining ground as the nationalist movement become more

objectively questioned (Goldstein, 2004, pp.113-114). The Malvinas

Argentinas, which used to serve as a near unanimous symbol of

nationalistic discourse, have taken on a new international post-realist

dimension of internationalism and democratic peace. The recovery of

the islands, just like the nation-state itself, is subject to a constantly

evolving international system in which the nationalist paradigm is

46

becoming increasingly less fashionable. As Hobsbawm (1990) writes;

‘nationalism today may mean very little indeed’ (pp.8-9). If this is to be

the case, the Malvinas Argentinas may begin to follow suit.

47

8. Conclusion

"For us the Malvinas are part of our identity, a symbol, we learn about it

at school from a very young age. There is no town, no matter how small,

that hasn't got a monument, a street, a square or a school called Islas

Malvinas, or Malvinas Argentinas."

(Argentine war veteran in Schweimler, 2007).

This study has shown that the Malvinas Argentinas are an absolutely

integral part of the ideological construct of the Argentine nation. Indeed

they are represented throughout the nation as a founding part of the

patria, and this study has attempted to explain how and why they play

such a unique role in Argentine national discourse. Perhaps the most

striking fact that this paper has been able to highlight is how the unique

political environment in Argentina has given rise to such a potent and

complex dogma. Furthermore, as shown in the above quote, the

Malvinas Argentinas have themselves come to represent a part of what

it means to be Argentine; they represent the past pains and injustices

suffered by so many, yet the persistent hope of their recovery also

represents a longing for the future restoration of the former greatness

of the Argentine nation and her people.

48

The complexity of the political ideology of nationalism is reflected by

the Malvinas Argentinas, in a world where ‘nationalism cannot be

confined to the peripheries’ (Billig, 1995, p.5). Even as artificial

constructs, the nation and the concept of nationhood are formed by

banal everyday representations of the fatherland. In the case of

Argentina and the Falklands, the islands are fully, perhaps overly,

represented from their inclusion in the constitution, their obligatory

appearance in official maps, on ceremonious occasions, or even in the

most banal and everyday environment.

Similarly, the long-standing question over the islands is a flexible and

transferrable issue which becomes attached to the most pressing

diverse of national questions, even if there is no strong or obvious

relationship. Nevertheless, there is cause to argue that the Malvinas

factor can also be used to unite a staunchly divided nation. However,

the depth and breadth of the contentious issues represented by the

Malvinas Argentinas are grounded in the imagery of the Argentine

nation. This territorial grounding is itself a consequence of the belief in,

and the desire for, Argentine greatness, manifested in part by national

irredentism (McClure, 2004, pp.1-3).

Furthermore, whilst somewhat controversial, there are grounds on

which to question whether the Malvinas Argentinas dogma is

administered as a doctrine by the Argentine state, to the extent that few

people question the neutrality or factual accuracy of the Argentine

claim; highlighting the fine line between the national interests of the

49

people, and the representation of the islands to the people as an

emotive national priority.

In more recent times, the Malvinas Argentinas cause has provoked

increased criticism amongst certain Argentine intellectuals. Persistent

misgovernance in Argentina and mismanagement of the economy, even

in a now democratic state, have continued to highlight how – whilst

representative of so much – the Falkland Islands are not sufficient to

create a working national political consensus. Additionally, the added

dynamic of petroleum and other natural resources that the islands and

their waters demonstrate how the Malvinas Argentinas question

continues to be a cause for controversy, both nationally and

internationally.

Nevertheless, what is evident is that the islands have been, are, and will

continue to be an important and emotive issue for the Argentine people,

they represent so much to be won and, as an already ‘lost’ territory, so

little to lose. They represent the hurt and the hopes of an increasingly

anguished nation; ‘If the real Falklands, rather than the symbol, truly

mattered, a solution would have been found long ago. The crux is that

nationalist symbols matter so much’ (Goebel, 2012).

50

Glossary of Terms

Argentinidad Literally ‘Argentine-ness’; the qualities and characteristics of being from and belonging to the Argentine Republic.

Caudillismo The cultural phenomenon of revolutionary Latin America that fosters the ideal of a charismatic militia leader who advocates populist reforms.

Malvinas Argentinas Literally the ‘Argentine Falklands’, used to express the Argentine claim to the disputed islands.

Patria The fatherland. One’s native land; nation. Linked to its people by historical, legal and sentimental factors.

Pueblo The everyday people which make up the population of a certain place, region or country.

51

Appendices

Appendix A

An advert by the Administración

Federal de Ingresos Públicos

(Argentine Federal Administration

for Government Revenue) placed

at the port of Buenos Aires,

Argentina, which reads: ‘The

Falklands are Argentine. And

their natural resources are too’.

(Source: Author, April 2013)

52

Appendix B

A parked car at the Paso Internacional Los Libertadores border crossing

between Chile and Argentina bearing the cartographic outline of the

Falkland Islands stating that they are Argentine.

(Source: Author, August 2013)

53

Appendix C

The official ‘bicontinental’ map of the Argentine Republic including the

Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich

Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Sandwich del Sur) and the Argentine

Antarctic claim.

(Source: Instituto Geográfico Nacional)

54

Appendix D

A series of stills of footage recorded at the Plaza de Mayo on the day of the

Argentine Military landing on the Islands, 2nd April 1982, showing an elated

55

crowd brandishing banners celebrating the recovery of the islands as the

Malvinas Argentinas.

(Source: Iluminados por el fuego, 2005)

56

Appendix E

A photograph taken in Buenos Aires on the day of the Argentine recovery of the Falkland Islands, the banner in the foreground reads; ‘150 years under the control of pirates, finally they’ve been recovered’.

(Source: Clarin, 2012)

57

Spanish English

¿Por qué vamos a la guerra?

Hay una colonia en el medio del marQue Inglaterra ocupa de forma ilegalAsí las Malvinas hay que liberarFueron argentinas lo son y seránEs una injusticia que hay que repararPero con la guerra siempre sale mal

Las descubrió España siglo XVIFrancia e Inglaterra llegaron despuésGente prepotente la tierra ocupóPero con reclamos volvió el españolFue en el virreinato la gobernaciónIgual Inglaterra no se resignó

Invadió a Buenos Aires 1806Y otra vez lo hizo un año despuésCon fuerza y coraje dijimos adiósY con la independencia se fue el españolLa argentina libre su tierra heredóTres años más tarde el imperio volvió

Expulsó a los criollos, bandera plantóVuelta de obligado fue otra invasiónNo nos hace falta un emperadorNo hay más colonias la moda ya pasóEs una injusticia que hay que repararPero con la guerra siempre sale mal

Why are we going to war?

There’s a colony in the middle of the seaThat England illegally occupiesThat’s why we need to free the FalklandsThey were Argentina’s, they are, and they always will beIt’s an injustice that we need to put rightBut it always ends badly by going to war

They were discovered by Spain in the 16th CenturyFrance and England arrived afterwardsThe land was occupied by conceited peopleBut the Spainsh tactically came backThe viceroyalty was the governorBut England didn’t give up

They invaded Buenos Aires in 1806And they did so again a year laterWith force and courage we sent them packingAnd with independence the Spanish left tooFree Argentina, inherited her landsThree years later the empire returned

They expelled the criollos, they planted their flagVuelta de Obligado was another invasionWe don’t need an emperorThere are no more colonies, those days have goneIt’s an injustice that we need to put rightBut it always ends badly by going to war

58

Appendix F

The song used to explain which aims to explain the Argentina went to war over the islands, from The Amazing Adventures of Zamba: Zamba’s Amazing Adventure in the Falklands

(Source: La asombrosa excursión de Zamba, 2012; Translation: Author)

59

60

Appendix G

Stills from the The Amazing Adventures of Zamba: Zamba’s Amazing Adventure in the Falklands

(Source: La asombrosa excursión de Zamba, 2012)

61

“IPSA (Rise) polls of 1981, 1982 and 1984 show that a majority of the population think:

(1) that the world has a great deal to learn from Argentina;

(2) that Argentina has nothing to learn from the world;

(3) that Argentina is the most important country in Latin America;

(4) that in no country do people live as well as in Argentina;

(5) that Argentina deserves an important place in the world;

and (6) that Argentina's scientists and professionals are the best in the world.

Naturally, important differences are registered with respect to most of these perceptions when socio-demographic variables are taken into account: most university-trained people, for example, do not believe that in no country do people live as well as in Argentina. But adherence to the statements 'foreigners have a great deal to learn from us' and 'Argentina deserves an important place in the world'; is not associated with these variables: the majority in the first case and the very ample majority in the second support them no matter what socio-demographic segment is considered.”

Appendix H

Extract from Escudé’s book Argentine Territorial Nationalism

(Source: Escudé, 1988, pp.161-162)

62

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