By jtmanley
On April 2, Argentina observed the Día del Veterano de Guerra y de los Caídos en la Guerra de las Malvinas (Day of the Veterans and Fallen of the Malvinas War). President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner gave an impassioned speech where she reiterated the Argentine position that the Malvinas/Falkland islands (currently under a sovereignty dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom) belong to Argentina and that the dispute should be resolved through diplomatic dialogue. But just six days later, news from the United Kingdom put the issue back in world headlines.
On April 8, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died at the age of 87. Prime Minister Thatcher, the first woman to hold the position, led the Conservative government from 1979 to 1990. On April 2, 1982, Argentina and the United Kingdom went to war over the Malvinas/Falklands islands. The two-month war, which resulted in a British victory, was decisive in the downfall of the Argentine military government and the re-election of Thatcher Ministry the following year. But for Argentines, the loss of 650 of its young men, many of whom were forced by the military government to fight, has not faded from memory.
In Buenos Aires, there were no outward signs of grief. Porteños went about their daily routines, but I am sure that many reflected on the former British leader's death through the lens of the ongoing back-and-forth between the two countries over the sovereignty dispute. There was no dancing in the Avenida 9 de Julio, and, unlike in the UK, "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" could not be heard blasting from cars in rush hour traffic. In this predominantly Catholic country, while there was no celebration of her passing, there was no grief either, a reminder of how history is never too far away.