Historical documents prove sovereignty over the Falklands before the British occupation of 1833 – 04/01/2019

A document is like a swallow, only it does not make summer. The document is still waiting to be unearthed. To wait for historians to make him speak, in a context and in a historical narrative. With similar words, Graciela Swiderski, head of the library and written documents of the General Archives of the Nation, defines the value of the items that it publishes Clarin for the anniversary of the beginning of the war with the United Kingdom for the Malvinas Islands. The documents clearly show the exercise of national sovereignty prior to the British military occupation of the disputed archipelago, which occurred on January 2, 1833, against which Argentina routinely protested throughout the year. year.

Among the documents obtained by this newspaper are: an obituary in which British captain Henry Jones, owner of the English brig "El Rastrero", asks for a license in Buenos Aires for hunting sea lions in the Falkland Islands, dated in Buenos Aires on January 30, 1813. It was the year of the first draft constitution for the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, which failed but served as a precedent for the Argentine constitution of 1853. For the Argentinean jurists, The territory of the Malvinas is an integral part of the territories inherited from the Spanish crown when it became independent.

In the folder Malvinas del General Archives of the Nation There is a copy of appointment of Luis Vernet as the political and military commander of the Malvinas. It is also dated to Buenos Aires on June 11, 1829. In this text, they are listed under the name of Luis Bernet, with "b" long. This document is the first decree ordering the establishment of the political and military command of the Malvinas Islands and its adjacent islands. Born in Hamburg, but of French origin, Vernet was badociated with Jorge Pacheco and got the right to exploit fishing and control the depredation of the islands fishing resources. it was uncontrollable and this generated friction between Buenos Aires and the United States.

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The proclamation of the first flag raising from Buenos Aires to Malvinas This is undoubtedly one of the most valuable documents, perhaps as much as the one in which Vernet baderts, when he took up the post of governor of the military commander at Malvinas in Puerto de Soledad on August 30, 1829, that "in accordance with the decree of June 10 of this year," to exert a new act of formal domination of the Republic of Buenos Aires on these Malvinas Islands, those of Tierra del Fuego and its adjacent territories and other territories where ends the commander of the Patagones at Cape Horn, "ha"raised this day the flag of the Republic saluting it in the best way that allows the nascent state of this population"

There, Vernet says that "he expects each of the inhabitants to submit at all times to the laws that live fraternally in union and harmony," so that with the increase of the expected population and that the higher government has promised to encourage and protect "born on its southern territory a population that honors the Republic and whose domain we recognize"It ends with" ¡Viva la Patria!

In turn, in a document where Vernet details the promotion of a colony on the island of Soledad de Malvinas – dated March 23, 1831 – he emphasizes a deep dedication and praise to the place and is willing to provide " interesting information about the other parts of the southern territory of the Republic ".

The archives also contain documents in which Vernet clearly orders the detention of several foreigners who fished illegally. One of these documents is dated Port LouisOn September 8, 1831, the capital that the British soon christened as Port Stanley and the Argentine Army in 1982 as Argentine Port. This control of Vernet in the waters was at the origin of many clashes. One of them was very serious with the United States, whose Lexington corvette had bombed the islands in 1831 after the arrest of illegal fishermen. The attack destroyed the colony.

The first civil marriage contract dated to the Falklands, is another valuable document. On June 22, 1830, they married Victoria Enriques and Gregorio Sánchez, under the signature of Luis Vernet, "Political and Military Commander of the Malvinas Islands".

"The Falklands war was a huge tactical and strategic mistake that took us away from a diplomatic triumph that would happen sooner or later, because Argentina's rights were very firm, as you can see. in the many documents which are in the archives of the General Archives of the nation, "said the director of the Archives, Emilio Perina, a Clarin. "As Juan Bautista Alberdi has shown in his book" The War Crime ", war is always a crime and a mistake, whoever turns to the violent solution forsakes the right," Perina said.

Among the documents in the archives are several maps and plans of houses and a future chapel of the colony that has been tried to build in the Malvinas since the time of the viceroyalty, and some texts even reflect the very moment of the beginning of the British occupation. It is archived, by case, the convocation of the commander of the English corvette "Clío", J. Onslow, January 2, 1833, which for Swiderski is "An important example of how the British, when they forcefully take possession by force, recognize that it was someone else who exercised sovereignty."

In this document, the Commander-in-Chief of His Britannic Majesty's Naval Forces states: "I must inform you that I have received orders from the Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's Naval Forces stationed in South America to exercise sovereignty over these islands on behalf of their S.M.B. That's my intention tomorrow lift the national flag of Britain on a piece of land where I ask you, serve to lower hisand withdraw your strengthtaking with him all the belongings belonging to his government. I am, sir, your most obedient and humble servant. "

Another document that publishes Clarin Here is the list of troops, families and pawns of the Soledad Island of Malvinas who embark on board the schooner "Sarandí" under the command of Lt. Col. José María Pinedo, after being expelled by British force. Dated in Buenos Aires on January 16th, 1833, there is all the staff. Among others, "a battalion of artillery with corporal and soldiers". "A battalion of the Rio de la Plata with a second sergeant and soldiers, Patricians with soldiers, an Argentine guard, corporals and soldiers" and five "foreigners". They also ship women – mostly military spouses – and with them their children. Swiderski does not hesitate to say that the self-determination thesis of the islanders "collapse" by showing that the British population of the islands is "fully implanted" and as such does not govern the principle d & # 39; self-determination.