Falklands and Patagonia: the good old neighbourhood

Abstract

The Falklands War was experienced in Patagonia differently to the rest of Argentina. The Patagonian people have the impression of having "lived" the war, whilst in the rest of the Argentine it was a distant show to watch on TV and did not prevent football on Sundays. Due to the geographical proximity the war was a palpable experience for Patagonians, who experienced it through blackouts, the daily count of war-planes coming back, the restrictions on access to the coast, changes in radio programming, and finally, after the defeat, the landing of the POWs at Puerto Madryn, Chubut, and to a lesser extent at other Patagonian ports. This article argues that the Patagonian feeling of closeness to the war, stems not only from geography but also from old socio-historical links between Patagonia and the Falkland Islands; which had been partially reinstated in the 1970s but were destroyed by the war. These links go back to the beginning of the integration of Patagonia in Argentina, a century before the war, and developed around sheep colonization of the region from 1880 onwards.