Ruben Gonzalez
A challenge I overcame: Death
A dream for my future: To be recognised by my country as a veteran of the war.
A hope for the global community: Unity and peace
Ruben is one of the group of veterans Camp TOAS who have been camping in Plaza de Mayo since 2008, in a long-running struggle to demand recognition for their part in the South Pacific Conflict that we in the UK know of as the Falklands War.
The afternoon of this chance meeting with Ruben I had just left the office of la Memoria and was loaded up with their gift of books about the years of dictatorship in Argentina. Heading for the metro I noticed these huge banners hung around the nearby park and spent a good long while reading and photographing their screams for justice and recognition before finally gathering the courage to approach and chat to one of the blokes sat by the veteran's camp. I say I had to gather courage because I have to be honest, seeing that this was a group of Falkland War veterans and being British I was nervous of a bad reception (goes to show just how powerful cultural guilt can be).
Thankfully (and perhaps not so surprisingly) the welcome I received was open. Giuerman was informative and happy to answer all of my questions and that of the local Argentinian lady who'd approached just after me. We were all equally indignant (me freshly so and the veterans all-too familiarly so and still their indigence is deep and raw) at the absurdity of a government able ignore this group of ex-soldiers so blatantly. Here in the square the camp is screaming out its message on the doorstep of governmental palace Casa Rosada and yet their demand for recognition has been ignored for five years... FIVE YEARS of rotations of ex-soldiers trying to balance family and work life with this struggle with their comrades camping in the Plaza.
Ruben joined in with our conversation and spoke in depth about the conflict and the veteran's struggle. These are soldiers who fought on the mainland, and have tales of deaths on both sides that have been hidden from the records, believing that the true number of fatalities was much higher than officially reported. Articles about the war that were printed in papers at the time had disappeared from public records, until in their struggle for recognition the veterans unearthed them, presenting to the government as evidence in support of their cause.
Ruben and Giuerman theorised that they are being ignored for political and economic reasons.
How can it be that all too often political and economic motivations override humanitarian issues of basic human rights? This struggle for recognition by the ex-soldiers is very clearly one of human rights - the right to have their participation recognised. This recognition has far reaching emotional implications for the ex-soldiers. How can they be expected to lay to rest the trauma of the conflict if it is not publicly recognised that they were even involved. Ruben and Guierman spoke of how at the end of the war in 1983 as their fellow soldiers who had fought on the islands or at sea were welcomed back and celebrated as heroes, their troops had been 'snuck' back in, hidden, as though something of shame, unacknowledged by locals and certainly neither celebrated nor thanked.
30 years on and tensions are seemingly still running high between Argentina and the UK. Legally this archipelago of islands known to us Brits as the Falkland Islands (it also strikes me as a clear sign of the depth of the conflict that the two opposing countries have different names for these islands that Argentina knows as las Malvinas) has been considered British overseas territory since 1833 and at the end of the 72 day conflict in 1983 continued so. Current issues stem from British investigations into the islands rich oil supplies that are provoking anger in Argentina and accusations of 'violations of international law' from President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner who still maintains the islands are Argentinian.
Strange then that a president who is so keen for this territory to be recognised as part of her country cannot grant her fellow countrymen the recognition they so sorely need. Guierman says that they receive more support from foreign solidarity groups such as French l'ARAC (Association Républicaine des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, des Combattants pour l'Amitié, la Solidarité, la Mémoire, l'Antifascisme et la Paix) than from within their own country. They appreciate all forms of solidarity, whether simply folk stopping off to talk, listen and understand, or like the letter written to the Argentinian embassy in France that you can see in a photo below. Perhaps more of us could be writing letters of solidarity like this on their behalf to the embassies in our own countries? Considering the current tensions I wonder the reaction such a letter would receive at the Argentinian embassy in London right now?
Below are some of the signs in the square that the windows of Casa Rosada look out onto. How can President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner ignore this on a daily basis?:
The afternoon of this chance meeting with Ruben I had just left the office of la Memoria and was loaded up with their gift of books about the years of dictatorship in Argentina. Heading for the metro I noticed these huge banners hung around the nearby park and spent a good long while reading and photographing their screams for justice and recognition before finally gathering the courage to approach and chat to one of the blokes sat by the veteran's camp. I say I had to gather courage because I have to be honest, seeing that this was a group of Falkland War veterans and being British I was nervous of a bad reception (goes to show just how powerful cultural guilt can be).
Thankfully (and perhaps not so surprisingly) the welcome I received was open. Giuerman was informative and happy to answer all of my questions and that of the local Argentinian lady who'd approached just after me. We were all equally indignant (me freshly so and the veterans all-too familiarly so and still their indigence is deep and raw) at the absurdity of a government able ignore this group of ex-soldiers so blatantly. Here in the square the camp is screaming out its message on the doorstep of governmental palace Casa Rosada and yet their demand for recognition has been ignored for five years... FIVE YEARS of rotations of ex-soldiers trying to balance family and work life with this struggle with their comrades camping in the Plaza.
Ruben joined in with our conversation and spoke in depth about the conflict and the veteran's struggle. These are soldiers who fought on the mainland, and have tales of deaths on both sides that have been hidden from the records, believing that the true number of fatalities was much higher than officially reported. Articles about the war that were printed in papers at the time had disappeared from public records, until in their struggle for recognition the veterans unearthed them, presenting to the government as evidence in support of their cause.
Ruben and Giuerman theorised that they are being ignored for political and economic reasons.
How can it be that all too often political and economic motivations override humanitarian issues of basic human rights? This struggle for recognition by the ex-soldiers is very clearly one of human rights - the right to have their participation recognised. This recognition has far reaching emotional implications for the ex-soldiers. How can they be expected to lay to rest the trauma of the conflict if it is not publicly recognised that they were even involved. Ruben and Guierman spoke of how at the end of the war in 1983 as their fellow soldiers who had fought on the islands or at sea were welcomed back and celebrated as heroes, their troops had been 'snuck' back in, hidden, as though something of shame, unacknowledged by locals and certainly neither celebrated nor thanked.
30 years on and tensions are seemingly still running high between Argentina and the UK. Legally this archipelago of islands known to us Brits as the Falkland Islands (it also strikes me as a clear sign of the depth of the conflict that the two opposing countries have different names for these islands that Argentina knows as las Malvinas) has been considered British overseas territory since 1833 and at the end of the 72 day conflict in 1983 continued so. Current issues stem from British investigations into the islands rich oil supplies that are provoking anger in Argentina and accusations of 'violations of international law' from President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner who still maintains the islands are Argentinian.
Strange then that a president who is so keen for this territory to be recognised as part of her country cannot grant her fellow countrymen the recognition they so sorely need. Guierman says that they receive more support from foreign solidarity groups such as French l'ARAC (Association Républicaine des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, des Combattants pour l'Amitié, la Solidarité, la Mémoire, l'Antifascisme et la Paix) than from within their own country. They appreciate all forms of solidarity, whether simply folk stopping off to talk, listen and understand, or like the letter written to the Argentinian embassy in France that you can see in a photo below. Perhaps more of us could be writing letters of solidarity like this on their behalf to the embassies in our own countries? Considering the current tensions I wonder the reaction such a letter would receive at the Argentinian embassy in London right now?
Below are some of the signs in the square that the windows of Casa Rosada look out onto. How can President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner ignore this on a daily basis?:
Memory, Justice, Without Forgetting
Camp TOAS Plaza del Mayo Veterans of the War of the Conflict of the South Pacific / Why do we believe and trust the crazies we follow on foot / Enough of indifference against the years of denial... recognition now! / A tireless struggle for our identity / We are part of this same past - open the archives of '82 / Only with truth can you maintain a struggle so many years / The only struggle which you lose is one that you abandon - and that is not in our minds / How much more time will it take? /
Inclusion and Justice for all of us
(left, letter pinned to a noticeboard in Plaza de Mayo where the veterans are camping):
to the Argentinian Embassy in France /Paris 21st March 2011/ Sir Minister, / We address you with the aim that the attached statement will be sent by the official route in favour of the ex-soldiers conscripted by TOAS, who have been camping in Plaza de Mayo for three years demanding in a pacific manner their recognition as war veterans for their participation in the Falklands War. / We beg that this statement will be sent to the President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, to the Minister of Justice and Secretary of Human Rights and the Presidents of the Chambers of Delegates and Senators. / With thanks and respectful wishes, Raphaël Vahe, National President, Anrdé Fillere, Vice President of l'ARAC [Association Républicaine des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, des Combattants pour l'Amitié, la Solidarité, la Mémoire, l'Antifascisme et la Paix]
(right) After 31 years of denial and abandonment we continue being NN. 25th February 2008 - 25th February 2013. Five uninterrupted years of struggle in search of our recognition. Camp TOAS Plaza de Mayo Veterans of the War of the Conflict of the South Atlantic (in the UK we know this as the Falklands War).
Giuerman (far left, front), Ruben (holding poster) and fellow veterans including the sunglasses man who gave me three blue and white 'escarapelas' remembrance ribbons - one to wear and two to gift. Thank you.
In responding to the postcard project, Ruben explained why he answered that he had overcome death. I was moved by his choosing to share some of the painful parts of his personal story with me. He spoke of post-traumatic stress as a huge issue for all ex-soldiers, and of the impact it had in his own life. We recognised that PTS is heightened for these soldiers by being unable to lay in peace their memories and experiences because of the lack of recognition of their participation.
I felt that it was an honor that Ruben and Giuerman shared their story and knowledge with me and I sincerely hope that all the Veterans of TOAS soon gain the recognition that they are so long overdue.
Gracias Ruben y Giuerman y todos sus compañeros para compartir su historia conmigo. Fue un gusto conocerles y un privilegio escucharles.
Espero que tengan exito en su lucha tan pronto.
Con paz, solidaridad y amor.
:-)
No comments:
Post a Comment