A few days after the 41st anniversary of the Malvinas War, the CECIM will honor the fallen soldiers with an agenda full of activities. In the morning, at precisely 11 a.m., an event will take place in the Plaza Islas Malvinas, with recognition of outstanding personalities and in the afternoon, a festival with the presence of great artists.
As part of a new anniversary of the Malvinas War, ex-combatant Miguel Martínez and his friend Juan Manuel Ruiz spoke with EL DÍA and recalled a feat that meant their first return to the Malvinas Islands in May 2011. Miguel and five ex-combatants set foot on the Falklands and offered the fallen a flag with the image of Diego Armando Maradona.
Miguel and Juan met while working at the Albert Thomas School in 2009, they shared hours of work and extensive talks that transcended the facilities of the educational institution. The working relationship was relegated and they quickly formed a great friendship that included their families. Among the talks they shared, the Malvinas issue was always an issue that lasted for hours, recalling episodes and anecdotes. Among one of the many talks, Miguel told Juan that he was finally going to return to the Islands for the first time.
“The possibilities of traveling came from a long time ago, but over the years I decided to return. Doubts were left behind by the desire to set foot on those lands again and appreciate them,” said Miguel. After a great effort that involved coordinating work permits and document processing, he began to receive the traditional offerings from his fellow ex-combatants. He received rosaries and chains, but also from his friend Juan, an Argentine flag with the image of Diego Armando Maradona.”I bought the flag in 2010 and it was the only one that mobilized me among several because it has an image of Maradona in 1986. I felt that I had to buy it because it was going to be importantJohn mentioned.
“My children told me ‘tell Miguel to carry the flag’, I wrote him ‘Ruiz family – La Plata’ and gave it to him. I saw the emotion in his eyes, he looked at me and told me that ‘I didn’t know if it happened,'” Juan explained. clothing with Argentine identification, flags and above all, any element that identifies or represents Diego Armando Maradona.
Miguel Martínez was not traveling alone, but was accompanied by five other companions. Crossed by the fear of landing and what could happen to his belongings or what his future would be like in the Malvinas in the face of a possible discovery of the “forbidden” flag, he decided to tell the rest of his companions to prevent any surprises and hid it among his clothing inside the suitcase. “You can not take anything that identifies us as Argentines and therefore, Diego was most prohibited“, he added.
Upon landing at the military base, they were received by a group of soldiers who are in charge of controlling the belongings and documents of each passenger who arrives in the Malvinas Islands. Just in the town, he was able to open the suitcase and found, among all his scattered belongings, the mythical argentinian flag. “When we went out to visit the town again, it was unrecognizable, The vision that all ex-combatants have is white and gray. Seeing the landscape, the sea, the colors shocked me.” In addition, Miguel pointed out: “The emotions that one finds by going to the place where I was, looking and thinking about what happened as an adult. When I traveled, I had a son my age when I traveled and I thought that I would not have let him go crazy, if he knew, he would drive me crazy.” “Between the five of us who traveled, we held on and managed to rebuild our lives after so long“, he recalled.
About the mixed feelings for having to travel to the Malvinas, Martínez mentioned: “I got angry being there, I killed myself studying and working to support the family at that time. I had a project, I studied at the university and worked at the Shipyard, but from soon the Military Service that was unnecessary and later Malvinas, where he could lose his life. I don’t mean I didn’t want to fight, I had no choice but to do it and I was with my friends, so to go back we had no choice but to fight“. He also added: “We learned things in life that only we can understand, to be together and not abandon anyone. I would have decided not to have gone, but when you are there you reconstruct the negative to transform it into a positive. Despite the fact that it seems that we are separated, some here and others there, we emphasize that a family bond was created that rescued despite everything that Malvinas meant“.
About the trip of his friend, Juan, almost through tears he assured: “Miguel’s trip means something special, the last contact was before he got on the plane and then he told me what he had done with the flag. They made a tribute to that flag, with my name and that of my children, which is there with the ex-combatants who have fallen in combat. If Diego could make a mincemeat with them, hopefully he could have told them about the great goals he scored against them“. Likewise, Miguel recalled: “When we had to leave the flag and hide it, which I am not going to say where it is despite being tortured, we did it with all due respect and it causes great emotion.”
Also, when asked about the interest of the youth about Malvinas in their talks, Miguel assured: “there is a new generationwithin the talks we gave 25 years ago, they took the Malvinas issue as their own issue. They feel a curiosity to know what happens with us, what we were like or what we did. The work of teaching over the years is very noticeable, where the interest and questioning of the boys is noticeable “. In this sense, he indicated that:”What comforts us the most are the daily recognitions that one can receive. They are worth more than a medal or whatever comes from official organizations, which generates the simple and simple people who come up with offers. We think about the flag, we think if the boys had seen the World Cup and since Diego left, we think they are together and singing.”
In the run-up to the World Cup in Qatar and during, the Argentine National Team was accompanied by an emotional song that recalled Diego and “the kids from Malvinas”, Miguel confessed: “At first, I didn’t like the song because I felt they were using us for soccer. Later when I understood that people sang it and talked about the ‘kids’ and not about the military, I was moved and tears fell.” Also, in reference to the recognitions and tributes that are carried out in the CECIM, he assured: “Everything we do is in recognition of the colleagues who did not return and their families, any action we take is subordinated to the thought of their families.”
“Society understands us perfectly, every place I go and the response from society is fabulous. Maybe the response from society is not known, but they always recognized us. For the survivors, Malvinas was a very hard time and difficult when we came back. Martínez stressed that it was very difficult to get a job in the private sphere because they were conceived as “war lunatics”, when they found out that he was an ex-combatant they evaluated him all the time, “we were scorned”, he sentenced.
About the end, Miguel reflected: “War is the most inhuman and ugly thing that a society can experience. Not only for the one who is there, but for those who remain and the pain they feel. We do not want any other young Argentine to go through what we went through.”
Schedule of activities:
11 am: Act of the CECIM La Plata, the fallen soldiers will be honored and the outstanding personalities in the commitment to Memory, Truth, Justice and Sovereignty will be recognized. In addition, they will receive the Rodolfo Walsh award from the Faculty of Journalism and Social Communication of the UNLP.
5:00 p.m.: a festival with free admission will be held with the participation of Nahuel Pennisi, Lidia Borda, Hijas de su Madre, Gonza Fernández and DJ Manos Livres.
