Falklands : Argentine NOK to Visit Graves in March
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 28.01.2005 (Article Archived on 11.02.2005)

After a year’s wait, a twenty-four strong party representing Argentine next of kin will be visiting the Falklands to officially open the Argentine War Memorial at Darwin.

ARGENTINE NOK TO VISIT GRAVES IN MARCH

By J. Brock (FINN)

After a year’s wait, a twenty-four strong party representing Argentine next of kin will be visiting the Falklands to officially open the Argentine War Memorial at Darwin.  The visit by the party, which includes a priest and an interpreter, will make their pilgrimage in March.  H. E. the Governor, Mr. Pearce (HP), confirmed this today for FIBS.  He said:

HP:  The dedication ceremony will be taking place on the 16^th of March.  The Argentine Families Commission and next of kin of those who were killed in the conflict in 1982 will be included.  They will be travelling on the scheduled LanChile flight and will be joining the flight in Rio Gallegos – one of those scheduled monthly flights that stops there.  They will be returning to Rio Gallegos the following Saturday.  I understand that Mr Eduardo Yurinecia, the Argentine businessman, who has largely funded the memorial, plans to come over for the ceremony itself on March 16^th.  But he will be coming in his own aircraft under the private flights arrangements that we have with Argentina.  It’s also likely that the visiting party, the representatives of the Families Commission, will be talking, while they are here, about long-term arrangements for the maintenance of the Memorial.  And, I understand that they will be talking to one or two local firms, with a view to putting those arrangements in hand, in order to ensure that the Memorial is kept in good condition.

According to the report on FIBS, Governor Pearce confirmed that there will be no Argentine political figures travelling with the group.

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