" imagine a land of Capulets and Montagues for a long time but also of Romeos and Juliets who need not die and maybe “live happily ever after”." This is what I had written in my last comment and now nearly two months later I come back to it. I just talked to an art teacher in the school where I work in Bs As. He is from Malvinas and married to an Argentine! and today I think that my idea could so easily become true...

I think Simon Jenkin´s article in The Guardian to be not only lucid and knowledgeable as the editor mentions but also sensitive to the Argentine current situation and shows respect towards the Argentine position. On the other hand the same cannot be said about The Economist. The Economist has, in general, a very patronising view towards Argentina and this article is no exception. As a matter of fact I find that the British media seems to be exploiting this issue a lot deal more than the Argentine. I strongly believe that the Malvinas case is not a “populist flag-waving jingoism”, it is a profound feeling of a different nature, and that, in a way, appears in Jenkin´s words. However it is true that some realistic agreement should be sought but that should not be only economic. “…get at least some of the Marbles sent home” means much more than that I guess. I imagine a future in which Argentines could live there as well, as Argentines (and British as such). I imagine a land of Capulets and Montagues for a long time but also of Romeos and Juliets who need not die and maybe “live happily ever after”.

It is to be remembered that Perón won democratic elections on three occasions so I think that the term "Argentine dictator" used by the New York Times is quite arguable however contradictory he may have been. Anyway here is a link to one of the last interviews given by Eloy Martinez: http://www.elargentino.com/nota-76361-Adios-al-maestro.html Worth reading!!!! (google translation version is perfectly readable - ed.)

A few interesting details may be found at http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-132314-2009-09-24.html http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-131334-2009-09-07.html Ed: This should have been added earlier but I failed to "double confirm" in the new TypePad software...

Hi Mr Editor, maybe this link answers your question: http://www.entrerios.gov.ar/bovril/bovrillimitada.html Hope it is useful!!!!!!!! Best wishes!!!!!

I wanted to say this but Eduardo Galeano, the author of the book "Las venas abiertas de América Latina" which Hugo Chavez gave Barack Obama as a present in the last UNASUR meeting, expressed it far better than what I could ever do: http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/ultimas/20-124185-2009-05-01.html

It is interesting to discuss the significance of San Martin and Bolivar in Latin American history but that is not the reason for my comment. After reading the full article in The Economist what I would like to comment is that what struck me more than the discussion of these two men and their relevance is what I saw as "the hidden agenda", I thought that the point was to criticize Hugo Chavez as he has become one of the Latin American leader who more defiantly confronts the great powers. In Argentina the figure of San Martin has been used by different ideologies showing one aspect or another according to the needs. I also want to mention, as it was also mentioned by some comments to the article in The Economist that calling "fratricidal wars" to the wars of independence is quite inadequate (sadly enough there was a response from an Argentine criticising our country so I myself felt the urge of sending a comment!!)

This article in today´s Página 12 by Laura Ginsberg,a Jewish member of the "Agrupación por el Esclarecimiento de la Masacre Impune de la AMIA" is an excellent response to this post I believe... http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-119220-2009-01-30.html Editor: This can be googled into English using the page translate facility if your Spanish is not quite up to it. It does not read perfectly but it is good enough to see how apt it is .....

I don´t really understand why Eva Perón is mentioned in a post dedicated to Augusto Pinochet. Peronism is certainly contradictory but cannot be possibly compared to such a dictatorship. When I read this moving article in revista Veintitrés I thought it would make an interesting response. A group of soldiers defending a democratic government during the bombing of Buenos Aires in 1955. http://www.elargentino.com/nota-21385-Los-Granaderos-de-Peron.html

Este entramado sorprendente de hechos,lugares y personas... A beautiful article by Osvaldo Bayer: http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/contratapa/13-92917-2007-10-13.html

I think that what follows, part of an article from Página 12 has to do with this and some other posts (eastern Europe, Germany) which have appeared lately in the café... "Por Osvaldo Bayer Todo es posible en nuestro querido país argentino. Sin exageraciones: nos podemos comparar con Estados Unidos. Por ejemplo, en el caso de ignorar y sentirnos inocentes en nuestros crímenes como sociedad. Hace poco comenzó la discusión entre Estados Unidos y Alemania con motivo de un artículo del periodista alemán Markus Günther. En él se afirma que en Estados Unidos hay innumerables monumentos recordativos de los genocidios o crímenes sociales ocurridos en otras partes del mundo. Pero no hay ninguno que recuerde la esclavitud americana, ni tampoco referente al crimen cometido contra los pueblos originarios por los conquistadores, los colonos y los buscadores de oro. Por ejemplo, en territorio estadounidense hay ya más de cien monumentos recordativos del Holocausto nazi-alemán contra el pueblo judío. Y existen 27 monumentos que recuerdan el genocidio turco con el pueblo armenio (aunque estos monumentos sí son muy pequeños y demasiado discretos para no interferir en las buenas relaciones comerciales con Turquía). También hay ya un monumento –inaugurado por Bush– a las víctimas del comunismo ruso y chino y varios –en Florida, claro está– contra la Revolución Cubana de Fidel Castro. El periodista Markus Günther dice textualmente: “A los americanos les gusta recordar las víctimas de otros países, pero se olvidan de los cadáveres que tienen en el propio sótano”. Principalmente de las víctimas de todos los golpes militares que financió y respaldó Estados Unidos en Latinoamérica. Para no hablar de Vietnam, Afganistán, Irak. Los argentinos también tenemos nuestros cadáveres en el sótano. De eso no se habla. Todo lo contrario, a los autores de quitar la vida y la tierra les hacemos monumentos. Más todavía, se niegan hechos históricos. Ni siquiera reconocen sus grandes errores los partidos políticos que participan de la democracia, para los cuales el debate y la autocrítica tendrían que ser dos armas para el avance sobre las equivocaciones. Y no la negación absoluta. Por ejemplo, el radicalismo, con las tres represiones obreras más sangrientas de un gobierno elegido por el pueblo. Y el peronismo, con Ezeiza, las Tres A, el nombramiento y dominio de López Rega. Para quedarnos en sólo tres cosas, porque podríamos llenar la página con pecados y transgresiones a los derechos y las libertades. … Tengan los políticos la valentía de reconocer los errores. Sólo así el país podrá entrar en los verdaderos caminos de la democracia y el respeto a la vida."

Allá lejos y hace tiempo definitely rang a bell. I had seen Manuel Antin´s (my uncle) film in the 70´s and I have been moved by it. I felt the urge to see it again. I couldn´t find it in any video store so I rung him up and asked him for a copy. He gave me one on DVD as a present and I watched the film this weekend. It moved me again. Here is a comment that I found from the New York times, "Given the financial deprivations and rampant censorship bedeviling the Argentine film industry of the 1970s, it is positively miraculous that top-rank films like Far Away and Long Ago continued to emerge. Directed by Manuel Antin, whose 1970 Don Segundo Sombra was sung praises at the Cannes Film Festival, this 1974 release was adapted from the autobiographical novel by Guillermo Hudson. Covering his youth and adolescence in Argentina, Hudson deftly juxtaposes fact with fantasy--the latter category including many of the superstitions common to his people. In Felliniesque fashion, both the novel and the film touch upon the author's earliest sexual yearnings. Far Away and Long Ago has occasionally surfaced on Spanish-language cable TV channels, but a widespread US distribution is long overdue." It can be found with subtitles in English!

http://www.clarin.com/diario/2007/03/25/sociedad/s-01387256.htm These stories as the ones on The Independent reflect so similar experiences that the language they were writen in or where they come from suddenly mean so much less...

Buenos Aires has started off the New Year with its ritual & populist demand on discussions about the South Atlantic islands. London has responded with its aloof & well practiced refusal to acknowledge any renewed issue at all. I looked up the word populist and found several definitions. Among others: “In Polish political vocabulary the word populist has a negative meaning. It implies the use of crowds, popular emotions, and mass activities which violate the law.” On the other hand it was also defined as “an advocate of democratic principles”. For populism, “In the Latin American context, it is described vaguely as a "syndrome rather than a theory that takes a mythologized notion of "the people as its central point of reference. In political discourse, its use is often synonymous with authoritarian and corrupt governments that pander to public opinion.” In general, I believe it has a negative connotation. However, the claim for sovereignity in Malvinas is far from that, even if politicians may sometimes use it incorrectly. Last December The Times published this letter. Even though it published it under the title: Falklands folly, the message is quite interesting, considering specially where it comes from. If the war was wrong, diplomacy is definitely, the only way to go. Lost battles should not be given up. One day they might be won. The Times December 06, 2006 Falklands folly Sir, As the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict approaches, our Government should take steps to resolve this long standing dispute which damages our trade and relations with Argentina and other South American countries and is vastly expensive in the maintenance of a garrison force. We could start by offering West Falkland Island, which has a very small farming population, who were stated at the Franks inquiry to have been in favour of transfer to Argentinian sovereignty. The Argentinian claim to the islands, which we took from them by force some 170 years ago, is supported by virtually all the United Nations and will never be dropped. The islands are indefensible. Unless agreement is reached we shall never get any oil from the resources which are believed to exist in the seas around. After any war, the only sensible policy is to make your enemy your friend before worse befalls. CAPT E. P. CARLISLE Owner of San Carlos, East Falkland Island