The Spanish lecture ‘Las Malvinas: la cuestión de la legitimidad de la demanda Argentina’ was given by Dr William R Baugniet, Teacher of Spanish, on Tuesday 8 November. Review by Ricardo Mokhtari (Year 13):
The fourth lecture in the series was given by Dr Baugniet on the Argentinian claim to the Falkland Islands (Las Malvinas) and the controversial history of these islands. Dr Baugniet explained that the Argentinians believe that the British have wrongly claimed their lands and that the islands are the rightful property of Argentina, due to their geographical location and other important factors.
Dr Baugniet went on to say that the British occupation of the islands was not substantial enough for the British to have a real claim on the islands. The tensions surrounding this mentality are what led to the short, yet destructive, Falklands war beginning in April 1982. This war only lasted 2 months, ending in June of the same year. However, between both sides, almost 1000 soldiers were killed. Dr Baugniet also illustrated the impact of this war through a series of photographs that served to show that even though this was a relatively short war, it was still brutal and left a lasting mark on both sides and the islands themselves.
The lecture ended by looking at the current situation of the islands. Dr Baugniet explained that they are still under British control and to this day there is a still a British military presence there. We also got the chance to see a piece of propaganda in which it is made clear that the islands are the rightful property of Argentina. Dr Baugniet gave an excellent overview of a perhaps less well known issue in the Spanish world and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all present.