How Songs Dreamed Up War: The Malvinas Islands and Popular Music in Argentina (1941-1982)

**Please do not reproduce without the author’s permission**

bySebastiánCarassaiUniversityofBuenosAires

NationalHumanitiesCenter

Introduction

In April 1982, an archipelago of approximately 4,700 square miles located in the

southernmost part of the Atlantic Ocean gained international notoriety, especially after May

1st, when it became the primary setting of a war between Great Britain and Argentina. The

Falkland Islands to the British, the Islas Malvinas to the Argentinians, have been part of the

overseas territories controlled by the British crown since 1833. Since that year, the islands’

sovereignty has been claimed by the Republic of Argentina, whose rulers have considered

British control of the islands to be the consequence of an illegal invasion carried out against

the then Governorship of Buenos Aires, legitimate heir to the territories formerly belonging

to the Spanish colony.

The war lasted a total of 45 days. On June 14th, the Argentine military began the

evacuation of the islands, with a sum total of 649 deaths and more than 1000 injured, and as a

result they were forced to restore the democratization process in Argentina, which had been

under military rule since 1976. The “Malvinas War” is a topic that has been widely covered

by journalists, essayists, and scholars, all of whom generally reduced the “Malvinas issue” to

the armed conflict and its aftermath. A vast majority of those works focused on the analysis

of the political causes that impelled the Argentine military to occupy the islands, the

memories of the survivors or, in general terms, the role of the officials, institutions or

2

stakeholders that had any role in the conflict (Armed Forces, press, chancellery, party leaders,

the Vatican, etc.).

Over time, the views shared by a large part of the Argentinian society were

crystallizing, among them that the war was an absurd adventure entered into by a military

dictatorship in decline and trying to prolong its power by invoking a national cause. “Justified

cause, unjustified war” is the concept that best synthesizes the widespread feelings among

Argentinians about Malvinas. This commonplace puts society in the role of a passive

spectator of a drama which, in the best case scenario, was simply a supporting actor without

historical relevance. On the other hand, it omits reference to the place Malvinas occupied in

the imagination of the Argentines before the conflict—crucial for understanding the massive

and enthusiastic endorsement that the occupation of April 2, 1982 received among the

population. Finally, it converts a conclusion constructed by social memory into an historical

fact, ignoring the several ways in which the armed conflict was understood for over 30

years—until the present day.

In this work, I propose to interrogate the “Malvinas cause”—not just the war and its

consequences—seeking to recreate the points of view of several ordinary Argentinian

citizens, most of them unknown, through the analysis of the traces that Malvinas has left in

the Argentine songbook. The Argentine Society of Authors and Music Composers (SADAIC)

contains in its registry more than 150 musical works with titles that include the word

“Malvinas.”1 The majority consist of not just melody but also lyrics. Only a minor percentage

of this material has been formally edited and made known to the public through a record

label, whether commercial or independent. The rest of the works remain unpublished.

The compositions belong to a variety of musical genres, although the predominance

of folkloric rhythms (zamba, chacarera, chamamé, triunfo and milonga) shows that, in most

1 For this same reason, the body of musical works considered doesn’t exhaust the list of existent ones. A majority of the songs not including the word Malvinas in its title or subtitle are not part of my analysis, not for

3

cases, the authors came from the “interior” of the country (which in Argentina means that

they live somewhere other than the city of Buenos Aires). In them, we are able to trace a

social sensibility about the “Malvinas issue”—diverse, complex, sometimes coinciding but

often different from the ideas that have prevailed in both the media and the discourse of

public institutions (such as schools). The purpose of this work is to present a first-hand map

of this archive by identifying the elements that these compositions share and the most

outstanding characteristics that outline such sensibility.

Due to the nature of this presentation, I will not mention the many secondary

readings, nor will I use a conceptual framework to interpret these poems. I will provide

biographical information on the compositions’ authors only for those to which I had access.

Regarding the historical context of the compositions, I will introduce the information I

consider most prominent for comprehending the text without extending too much into a

political or social contextualization that might distract from the main focus of this

presentation. My purpose is to share a first impression of an archive until now unknown, an

archive that in my view reveals the strong connection which, during a large part of the 20th

century, linked the “Malvinas cause” to ordinary Argentines, throughout the entire country.

Reason Over Force

Founded in 1936, SADAIC began its massive registry of musical works in the late

1940s and early 1950s. My work, based fundamentally on that archive, focuses on poetic-

musical compositions from the second half of the 20th century and the first decades of the

21st.2

The most famous anthem about Malvinas, “La Marcha de las Malvinas,” by poet

Carlos Obligado and musician José Tieri, was registered at SADAIC on March 9, 1978; its

2 Some of the poems written in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century can be consulted in José da Fonseca Figueira, Cómo los poetas les cantaron a las Malvinas (Buenos Aires: Plus Ultra, 1978).

4

composition, however, dates from 1941. The song achieved major recognition when it won

the official contest announced by the Recovery Board of the Malvinas, created in 1939,

among whose presidents were Antonio Gómez Lagenheim and Alfredo Palacios.3 “Behind

their blanket of fog we shall not forget them / Malvinas, Argentinian! cries the wind and roars

the sea,”4 say its famous first verses. Widespread in schools, this anthem raised early on

several topics that persisted well beyond that time, some up to the present day. First, that

geography itself shouts the argentinidad, or how fully Argentine the archipelago is (“cries the

wind and roars the sea”) and expresses in its landscape the national colors (“its white is in the

mountains and by its blue the sea is stained”).5 Secondly, that Argentines feel emotionally

tied to these islands (“no other land more dear than homeland’s territory”)6 and their rights

are so inalienable that their usurpation is unforgivable (“The Malvinas, Argentinian!, in

dominance already immortal / Who speaks here of forgetfulness, resignation or

forgiveness”).7 Finally, the anthem speaks of a stolen and lost national territory (“the lost

southern pearl”),8 a necessary condition for an eventual recovery.9

The first musical composition whose title references “Malvinas” was registered at

SADAIC on April 30th, 1954, towards the end of the second term of the Peronist

government, and its author is Alfonso Luque Cabrera. He refers in this work to a conviction

3 José da Fonseca Figueira, Cómo los poetas les cantaron a las Malvinas (Buenos Aires: Plus Ultra, 1978), p. 91. For more on the initiatives of Alfredo Palacios regarding Malvinas, see Rosana Guber, ¿Por qué Malvinas? De la causa nacional a la guerra absurda (Buenos Aires: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2012), pp. 75-82. 4 “Tras su manto de neblinas no las hemos de olvidar / ¡Las Malvinas, argentinas!, clama el viento y ruge el mar.” 5 “Su blanco está en los montes y en su azul se tiñe el mar.” 6 “Ningún suelo más querido de la Patria en su extensión.” 7 “!Las Malvinas Argentinas!, en dominios ya inmortal / Quién nos habla aquí de olvido, de renuncia o de perdón” 8 “La perdida perla austral.” 9 The image of a mutilated Argentina will eventually take on other metaphors. The one derived from its analogy with the family, for example, in the famous composition “La hermanita perdida,” of Atahualpa Yupanqui (composed in Paris in 1971, registered at SADAIC as a song jointly with Ariel Ramírez, on May 29, 1980). Another refers to Malvinas as a dismembered human body’s limb that still maintains its Argentine soul, such as the famous chamamé of the correntino native Avelino Flores, “Homenaje a las Malvinas” (registered on July 17, 1973). Atahualpa’s poem, in a soft and almost lamenting mood, begs for the return of the Malvinas to the family (“Oh, lost little sister, little sister, come back home”) (“Ay, hermanita perdida, hermanita, vuelve a casa”). In the poem of Flores, he refers to the Malvinas as belonging to “the large body of this beloved Argentina” (“al cuerpo largo de esta Argentina que tanto amamos”).

5

that will also be seen in future compositions, “Malvinas are Argentinian and have always

been since the birth of this homeland of mine.”10 This ontological dimension implies that the

Malvinas were “born” Argentinian or, more precisely, that Argentina was born with the

Malvinas as a part of its being. “Our rights are completely legitimate and an abundance of

proof can be given,” says the poem, “that these have already transcended a century and a half

without finding an echo in their cry.”11 In this poem (as in others),12 the events of May 1810

had already found an archipelago south of the Atlantic to be as Argentine as the rest of the

territory that would finally carry this name.13

To England, the usurping nation, the usurped nation Argentina is opposed. The first

one has the power and the second, reason. “The reason of force that they give us is a weak

argument and worthless; only those who come from this homeland of mine carry the power

of reason.”14 Perhaps the most outstanding aspect of this composition is the early allusion that

Luque Cabrera makes to Argentine “patience,” a historical attitude that could be approaching

its end: “this noble and worthy homeland of mine is or was patient without repelling all the

English who take pleasure in it without rights or law.”15 The topic of “Argentine patience”

possibly coming to an end will be seen on more than one occasion throughout the following

two and a half decades of the Argentinian song book.

One year later, in January 1955, Carlos Vassallo edited his song “Malvinas

Argentinas,” in which the claim of sovereignty over the islands emerges under the command

of a second Independence (“strident clarion of history / advances from the memories of the

10 “Las Malvinas son argentinas y siempre lo fueron desde el nacer de esta patria mía.” 11 “Los derechos nuestros son bien legítimos y abundantes pruebas se pueden dar, que ya han trascendido el siglo y medio sin encontrar eco en su clamar.” 12 In 1966, Ríos and Vettori registered a song in which the same is affirmed: “Argentina, many years to England claimed, the inheritance of Spain that my homeland inherited/ This was the month of May in one thousand eight hundred ten, we inherited the Malvinas that was usurped later on.” 13 See also “Queremos nuestras Malvinas,” of Salvador Llamas, registered at SADAIC on September 14, 1964. 14 “La razón de fuerza que ellos nos brindan es argumento pobre y sin valor; sólo los que brinda la patria mía llevan la fuerza de la razón.” 15 “Esta patria mía que noble y digna es o era paciente sin repeler (a) todos los ingleses que las usufructan (sic) sin derecho alguno de uso ni ley.”

6

patriots, the legion”).16 The mention of Belgrano and San Martín, “redeemer” of the land

under the colonial Spanish domain and “father of the Argentine homeland,” reinforced that

meaning. This second Independence is not the wild idea of just a few. For the author, “it is

the being of the Argentine people, lovers of the land that bequeathed to us the leaders who

embraced their dreams by breaking chains in pursuit of freedom.”17 However, as in Luque

Cabrera’s composition, it is emphasized that “only the power of reason will affirm our

unparalleled rights.”18 In another composition registered towards the end of the fifties,

Manuel Wilkinson and Jorge Calandrelli wrote that “Argentine honor immediately demands

that our islands be covered by the national flag” and they emphasize the “martial

affirm[ation] [of] our rights given by Spain as inheritance.”19 In “Nuestras Malvinas,” a tango

composed by Gabino Coria Peñazola and Luis Teisseire that was composed around the same

time, the “homeland’s cry” that Malvinas represent leads them to beg: “we vow, all

Argentines, one day to give them their redemption.”20 In this last composition, the usurpation

takes the violent form of a rape (“Our islands were raped off the coasts of the national sea”),

and the order not to forget, already evident in earlier songs, now encounters a specific order:

“the homeland commands, the homeland wants, the homeland demands its redemption,”

justified on the grounds that “our Malvinas are suffering over one hundred years of

usurpation.” 21

16 “Estridente clarín de la historia / avanza del recuerdo de patriotas, la legión.” 17 “Es el ser del pueblo argentino, amante del suelo que nos supieron legar las figuras señeras, que abarcaron quimeras rompiendo cadenas en pos de libertad.” Registered on October 1964, a zamba also uses the analogy with the fights for Independence by bringing up the “rejection of the English invasions” in the early nineteenth century in Buenos Aires. See “Las Islas Malvinas,” with lyrics by José Adolfo Gaillardou and music by Mario Valdéz. 18 “Solo la fuerza de la razón es la que afirmará nuestros derechos sin par.” 19 “El honor argentino exige ya que cubra nuestras islas la enseña nacional” and “afirma[ción] marcial [de] nuestros derechos recibidos de España por heredad.” See Manuel Wilkinson and Jorge Calandrelli, “Malvinas argentinas,” SADAIC register #162424. 20 “Juremos todos los argentinos un día darles su redención.” 21 “Fueron violadas las islas nuestras frente a las costas del patrio mar;” “la patria manda, la patria quiere, la patria exige su redención;” “nuestras Malvinas están sufriendo más de cien años de usurpación.” Gabino Coria Peñaloza and Luis Teisseire, “Nuestras Malvinas,” registered at SADAIC on May 30, 1974.

7

The zamba “Nuestras Malvinas,” composed in the early sixties by the musical

marriage of Guillermo Pelayo and Amelia Cabeza, summarizes some of the most salient

topics mentioned above.22 First, the British usurpation of the islands (“broke the silence of

the far south / the powerful voice of England”); second, the affirmation of Argentine

domination and the claim for recognition (“Patriots of Argentina shout / Give them back!

How Argentinean they are!”); and finally, most importantly, the conviction that the way to

move forward is not with weapons, but with rights (“Not by weapons, not by force / Our

rights demand justice / Because Malvinas are not English and the people shout: give them

back!”).23

Words as Weapons

On September 8, 1964, Miguel Lawler FitzGerald landed his single-engine Cessna

185 plane—named “Don Luis Vernet” in honor of the first military governor of the Malvinas

Islands, according to the Argentine narrative—in Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands,

raised the Argentinian flag on a pole, and made an announcement directed towards the

“English government representative in Malvinas Islands, Sir Edwin Arrowsmith,” demanding

that the occupation cease. Among the recognitions and honors achieved by FitzGerald, there

is a chacarera written by Fernando José Panet, known as El Chacarero, registered under the

title of “The Gaucho of Malvinas” just two months after FitzGerald’s feat.

The chacarera compares the aerial audacity to the daring of a gaucho and uses the

gauchesca poetry to express it: “Unexpectedly / he arrived at the Malvinas / riding a small

22 “Nuestras Malvinas,” lyrics by Guillermo Pelayo Patterson and music by Amelia Cabeza, was registered on November 15, 1964 at SADAIC. The latter, popularly known as Amy Paterson, is the composer of the song “Gloria a Salta,” shortly afterwards turned into a provincial anthem. 23 “Quebró el silencio del Sur lejano / la poderosa voz de Inglaterra;” “Griten patriotas de la Argentina / ¡Que las devuelvan! ¡Qué nuestras son!;” “No por las armas, no por la fuerza / Nuestro derecho pide justicia / Pues las Malvinas no son inglesas y el pueblo grita: ¡que las devuelvan!”

8

plane / and occupied the islands.”24 Both the form and the style of the verses written by Panet

inscribe the Malvinas’ issue in the traditional way of Argentine literature: “Malvinas and the

Pampas,” “Malvinas and the Gaucho.” If the first association “Argentinizes” the Malvinas

landscape, the second grants island citizenship to the character of the pampas, mythically

linked to determination and bravery in the face of injustice.25 FitzGerald, the Argentinean

son of Irish immigrants who arrived in South America in the early 20th century, is seen by

Panet as a son of the pampas: “A gaucho of pure breed / who by taking the lead / placed on

them the blue and white / in the center of a field.”26 The British reaction is caricatured,

aesthetically and morally: “Out came a fellow with a little beard / asking what he wanted.”27

Later on, the opposition “brave gaucho vs. coward gringo” is reaffirmed in a different light:

“Beautiful gaucho of my land / valuable and courageous / who shook up the manes / of the

lions on the shield.”28 The answer of the Argentine hero-gaucho, says the chacarera, was “a

manifesto: I want the memory to remain / of this brave one who once / proved that he was not

dumb / in this upside down world.”29 Here we find several elements that will become a part

of the tradition of vindicating the “Malvinas cause:” actions taken to ensure a future memory

(“I want the memory to remain”), the bravery of those who carry out the actions (“of this

brave one”), the direct action over long-term options, such as the diplomatic ones (“proved

that he was not dumb”), and the absurdity of a Malvinas under British rule (“in this upside-

down world”). In addition, in this poem the theme of running out of patience reappears.

Malvinas are under British control because the Argentineans are very patient people, and in

some sense they let this happen; but if one day they were to grow weary, they have plenty of 24 “Como peludo e’ regalo / a las Malvinas llegó / jineteando una avioneta / y las islas ocupó.” 25 See, for example, “Zamba de las Malvinas,” de Juan Pueblito y Ramón Casal, registered in SADAIC July 1, 1966. In “De Maracaibo a Malvinas,” of Chinnici, the gaucho here is associated with the Malvinas and with San Martín, as the plainsmen are with Venezuela and Bolívar, all united in their anti-colonial fight. 26 “Un gaucho de pura cepa / que haciéndoles la pata ancha / les plantó la azul y blanca / en el medio de una cancha.” 27 “Salió un ñato de barbita / preguntando qué quería.” 28 “Gaucho lindo de mis pagos / valeroso y corajudo / que hizo temblar las melenas / de los leones del escudo.” 29 “Quiero que quede el recuerdo / de este bravo que una vez / demostró que no fue lerdo / en este mundo al revés.”

9

courage to do whatever is necessary. “If up until today we left them [Malvinas] / and eased

up on the brakes / it is because we are calm / and we have audacity in abundance.”30

The following year, Teté Vedoya registered his song “Las Islas Malvinas,” in which

to a variety of topics previously mentioned (e.g., the analogy to the process of independence)

he added, on the one hand, the idea that Argentine sovereignty over the islands is not just an

Argentine conviction but also a fact of which “the entire world is aware,” and on the other the

belief that it is time to “follow the example of this Great Argentine [San Martín] who bravely

risked his life.”31 Giving your life for the independence of Malvinas is also mentioned in a

song registered in June of 1966 by Francisco Aureliano Ríos and Juan Domingo Vettori,

“Son Nuestras Malvinas,” whose chorus claims: “To insist, to insist, to insist / that they give

Malvinas back to us, give Malvinas back / To demand, to demand, to demand / Motherland

urges us / To die for her.”32

That same year, on September 28, a group of young Argentine nationalists led by

Dardo Cabo hijacked the airplane Douglas DC-4 LV AGG, which was flying a domestic

route for Aerolíneas Argentinas from Buenos Aires to Río Gallegos. As they approached

Puerto San Julián, the group forced the aircraft’s commander to deviate the plane towards

Malvinas. Once it landed, the group delivered a message saying: “Today, we consider it time

for those civilians who are former soldiers of the Nation, to demonstrate what they have

30 “Si hasta aura se las dejamos / y le aflojamos el freno / es porque estamos tranquilos / y nos resobra el terreno.” The entire national press covered FitzGerald’s feat and Panet read without a doubt the details of the manifesto left by his hero to the English governor of the islands. It stated that “almost 132 years have passed since the act of hijacking and oppression of Argentine sovereignty over the islands that England symbolically occupied… Today, when my homeland wakes up from a long sleep, aware of its moral and material greatness, it will be determined to recover this insular territory… For that reason I am the outpost of this just and patriotic ideal that will grow, no doubt, like a tremendous avalanche. Argentineans are determined not to allow England to continue occupying an archipelago which, for geographical, historical, political and juridical reasons, belongs to the Republic of Argentina.” The poet Miguel Tejada also dedicated some verses to this event. See José da Fonseca Figueira, Cómo los poetas les cantaron a las Malvinas (Buenos Aires; Plus Ultra, 1978), p. 168. 31 “Imit[ar] el ejemplo de ese Gran Argentino [San Martín] que con gran valentía se jugó la vida.” 32 “Insistir, insistir, insistir / Que nos devuelvan, nos devuelvan / Las Malvinas / Exigir, exigir, exigir / Nos exhorta la Patria / por ella morir.”

10

learned during their journey through military life.” 33 Covered by the national and

international press, the incident achieved even greater popularity than FitzGerald’s feat two

years earlier. The writer Miguel Tejada turned the event into a poem: “The fact that it waved

[referring to the Argentinian flag] / for 36 straight hours / is an act that has shown / what we

can do in life / Now the land made holy by the flag / which we will recover / at any given

moment.”34

In the second half of the 1960s, especially after Argentine diplomacy led to the

recognition by the United Nations (UN) of a dispute between the United Kingdom and the

Republic of Argentina regarding the islands,35 the metropolitan press began publishing

auspicious articles indicating a favorable outcome for the Argentines.36 Songs also registered

the sense that, finally, the final diplomatic steps toward sovereignty were being taken. Verses

from the same Tejada song about Operation Cóndor—the name used by the young

nationalists to refer to their plan—stated: “Maybe tomorrow or the day after / it might be

even today / the growing dream / will become reality.”37 A zamba that was popular that same

year of 1966 and which soon after was included in the repertoire of the Police and Air Force

Band (first recorded by Los Changos de Anta and later by the famous group Los Tucu-Tucu),

proclaimed that the islands “surrounded in nostalgia for their country…are ours, are

Argentine [and] redemption is bound to reach them.”38

A little over a year after Operation Cóndor, César Jaimes and Isidoro Juan Dávila

registered a triunfo, a musical genre of Argentine folklore, which they called “El Triunfo de

33 “Hoy, consideramos les corresponde a los civiles en su condición de ex soldados de la Nación, demostrar lo aprendido en su paso por la vida militar.” 34 “El hecho de haber flameado [refiriéndose a la bandera argentina] / 36 horas seguidas / es hecho que ha demostrado / lo que se puede en la vida / Ya quedó santificada / la tierra por la bandera / y será recuperada / en un momento cualquiera.” 35 In its resolution 2065, passed in December 1965. 36 See no. 310 of the influential magazine Primera Plana, on December 1968, which states in its cover, written in upper-case letters: “Great Britain gives back the Malvinas.” 37 “Será mañana o pasado / quizás hoy mismo está siendo / en que será concretado / el sueño que está creciendo.” 38 “Envueltas en la nostalgia por su país (…) son nuestras, son argentinas [y] ha de llegarles la redención.” “Zamba de las Malvinas,” de Juan Pueblito y Ramón Casal, registrada en SADAIC el 1 de julio de 1966.

11

las Malvinas.” This song, besides highlighting the slowness of the negotiations—a familiar

theme of previous songs—reaffirms the hope that good news will soon come. “The case that

had been so slow is moving / through the silence of a century slept the agreement / It is

approaching the day of great glory, now greeting victory.”39 As in every triunfo, this chorus

is repeated many times throughout the song.

Although the historical context favors seeing this triumph as exclusively diplomatic,

the text implicitly alludes to another kind of victory. Soon after stating that “the wind has

already taken away many words,” in reference to the diplomatic requests that Argentina has

long been making, the last verse says: “The dagger of dispossession that remains / with

courage and reason will be pulled out.”40 Victory, then, does not come merely as the result of

a peaceful negotiation. It is about removing from the body of the homeland the dagger that

has pierced it, and both reason and courage are needed to do so. Very similar are the verses

from “Brumas Malvineras (Fog of Malvinas),” a song registered by Eduardo María Díaz

Blasco and Enrique Herbert Flocken in November 1968, in which an emotional Malvinas, on

the verge of tears, will be “very soon…taken away” and recovered by the Argentines

(Malvinas… Malvinas… / Of emotion you will cry / When we take you away from the

thieves / That stole you a century ago!”).41

The UN resolution had an impact on the expectations of the Argentines. And in 1968,

Juan Carlos Pérez Corrado registered a work entitled “Nuestras Malvinas,” in which he

alludes to it implicitly. “Malvinas Islands are Argentine / now no one can deny that they are

and have always been / to the whole world our national land.”42 However, that impact on

expectations depended on interpretation. The UN’s decision recognized an existing conflict

39 “Se está moviendo el pleito que fue tan lerdo / que al silencio de un siglo durmió un acuerdo / Ya está cercano el día de mayor gloria, con dianas a la victoria.” 40 “La daga del despojo que está clavada / con coraje y razones será arrancada.” 41 “Malvinas… Malvinas… / Tú de emoción llorarás / ¡Cuando te arranque de los corsarios / que te robaron un siglo atrás!” 42 “Islas Malvinas son argentinas / ya nadie puede negar que son y que siempre fueron / para el mundo entero suelo nacional.”

12

of dominance and framed it as a colonial issue, but never affirmed that it was unquestionably

Argentine soil, and did not fail to mention the inhabitants of the islands. In fact, it demanded

that their interests be taken into consideration. Pérez Corrado’s song omits this important

detail. Instead of referring to the islands’ inhabitants, the song humanizes the Malvinas

themselves (as do other compositions). They have a personality and also a will, both

coinciding with those of the Argentinians. “White of snow, blue of sky, pleas for its freedom

/ Colors of our flag that free and austere today wants to wave.”43 While the malvinero

landscape affirms that the islands are Argentinian, and have been at least since 1941, this

same landscape also, twenty years later, longs for and demands its emancipation. Its colors

are those of the Argentinian flag.44 There are no people with interests or desires in the

Malvinas, but “foreign hosts” who, when “Justice” triumphs, will have to “take down their

flags” and “give back” the islands. It is important to highlight that, however, in this song, the

Malvinas islands still are “a land of peace.”

Return of the Gaucho Rivero

Near the end of 1968, Orlando Punzi and Orlando Zanier registered a song entitled

“Islas Malvinas” in which they reiterate some themes already analyzed: sovereignty will be

regained (“the far away Malvinas resonate with the echoes of a triumphal anthem”), it is the

very nature of the Malvinas that cries for freedom (“Freedom, freedom, cries the wind”), and

all will return to its rightful place (“auspicious sun illuminating the foggy islands / detached

from the homeland’s constellation”).45 The novelty that the work of Punzi and Zanier

introduced, however, is that the Malvinas are not a land of peace. As in other songs, the

43 “Blanco de nieve, azul de cielo, reclaman su libertad / Color de nuestra bandera que libre y austera hoy quiere flamear.” 44 In other songs, such as the chacarera of Zuleima Nanci Tolosa, the Malvinas await that the Argentine flag will once again wave in it. See “Mi bandera en las Malvinas,” registered at Sadaic on April 7, 1978. 45 “Las Malvinas lejanas resuenan con los ecos de un himno triunfal;” “Libertad, libertad, clama el viento;” and “sol augural que ilumine las islas brumosas / desprendidas del patrio solar.”

13

islands cry for freedom, but in contrast with the majority of the poems analyzed thus far, this

cry is directed towards a warrior people (“Laurel branches stolen by the red banner from the

shield of a martial people”).46 Argentinians appear here as brave people and, in the chorus,

even the Malvinas intone a “war march,” reminiscent of the early 19th century battles for

Independence: “With wings opened to the sky / The Malvinas seem to sing / With the voice

of the sea breeze / or the roar of the storm / A war march invoking / The deeds of the

immortal May / With the Argentine triple demand / Freedom, freedom, freedom!”47

Similarly, in the “Malvinera Cautiva” (Captive Malvinian) and in “Las Malvinas Son

Nuestras” (The Malvinas Are Ours), registered towards the end of 1968 and in early 1969,

respectively, the topic of the recovery takes the form of an imperative that announces

imminent success. In the second, María Elena Damiano writes that “the continent asks for

them [and] Argentina will have them,” in a way that “soon these simple verses / will turn into

an anthem in sweet union,” ending by ordering all Argentinians to recover them: “Let’s win

back the islands / for the honor of the Nation.”48 In the former, a zamba in which the

Malvinas are a captive little girl, Federico Mittelbach and Gabino Correa sing that “to not see

you a prisoner / they will assemble the squads” and that, as “the day [in which] your hand and

my hand / will raise our flag” arrives, the islands must be ready for freedom and the singer

for the war (“Get ready lovely girl / put on your Sunday dress / your courage and my sword /

are more than enough to kick out a gringo”).49

The analogy to the wars of Independence also supported those who wished to close

the diplomatic path. After all, the Spanish-speaking nations of Latin America nations did not 46 “Gajos de laureles que el rojo pendón hurtó del Escudo de un pueblo marcial.” 47 “Con las alas abiertas al cielo / las Malvinas parecen cantar / con la voz de las brisas marinas / o el bramido de la tempestad / Una marcha guerrera que evoca / las hazañas de Mayo inmortal / con el triple mandato argentino / ¡Libertad, libertad, libertad!” 48 “El continente las pide [y] Argentina las tendrá;” “pronto estos versos sencillos / se harán himno en dulce unión;” “Reconquistemos las islas / para honor de la Nación.” 49 “Por no verte prisionera / montarán los escuadrones;” “viene el día [en que] tu mano y la mano mía / izarán nuestra bandera;” “Apronta niña adorable / ponte prendas de domingo / que tu coraje y mi sable / sobran para echar a un gringo.” The allusion to the anthem and the emancipation of the Spanish Crown refers to the conflict with the United Kingdom as of a colonial issue, such as UN’s decision argued.

14

become free of the Spanish Crown’s rule at the negotiating table, but on the battlefield. In

early 1970, Catalino Domínguez registered “Barajando las Malvinas.” With a milonga’s

arpeggio, its gaucho payada in the style of the famous poem Martín Fierro explicitly states

that the archipelago must be taken by force. “I will enter without much buzz with this creole

milonga / asking for cooperation and to cease the fuss / Enough with the hesitations and

playing around with them / let’s end the conversation about the topic of the Malvinas / if they

are Argentine land there’s no need to notarize them.”50

Diplomacy appears in these verses, more soundly than in past compositions, as a

waste of time. “I don’t agree with the opinion of being around so many compliments /

because for the bold intruder reason won’t do / if yesterday we won Independence by poncho

and knife / why so much satisfaction with foreign mediation / we are finished with chains and

with patience too.”51 The idea that the Malvinas must be recovered by fighting [“a lo

guapo”], with the courage of a gaucho, appears in this song more explicitly than in earlier

ones. “Those who feel courageous follow me in truth / to sing out freedom you must first win

it by fighting / Let the foreigner start gritting his teeth, the Homeland in its destiny / a source

of light and greatness, has more than enough bravery in its Argentine blood.”52

Before the end of 1970, Hernán Ríos and Julio Riveros registered a poem which, now

with a zamba beat, reflects the verses of the milonga of Domínguez. “Singers and poets of

my people / it is time to press our Malvinas,” they start the first verse, and towards the end of

the second, twice repeat: “and if the singing is not enough, damn it! We will attach a spear to

50 “Voy a entrar sin bordoneos con esta criolla milonga / pidiendo que se disponga se terminen los rodeos / Ya basta de tituveos (sic) y de tanto manosearlas / terminemos con la charla sobre el asunto Malvinas / si son tierras argentinas no hace falta escriturarlas.” 51 “Yo no soy de la opinión de andar con tantos cumplidos / porque al intruso atrevido no lo ampara la razón / si ayer a poncho y facón ganamos la independencia / pa’ qué tanta complasencia (sic) con mediaciones ajenas / se acabaron las cadenas y al diablo con la paciencia.” 52 “El que se sienta valiente que me acompañe en verdad / pa’ cantar la libertad hay que ganarla de frente / Vaya apretando los dientes el extranjero ladino, que la Patria en su destino, fuente de luz y grandeza / le está sobrando guapeza en su sangre de argentino.”

15

the guitar.”53 “Con sabor a Malvinas” (With the Flavor of Malvinas), the name of this zamba,

invokes feelings such as “sovereign rage” and reasons, such as those from “history;”

however, the poem underscores the Argentine duty to recover them with courage and without

delay. “Let’s raise our voices, the moment has arrived,” it says at the end, “to throw

ourselves completely into the rebellion / may they know once and for all that our people /

when the moment arises are ready to fight.”54

The symbols of this courage and bravery are not so much the heroes of the

Independence, but the gaucho Antonio Rivero—a farm worker born in Entre Ríos province

and taken to the islands by Luis Vernet in 1827--- who in August 1833, eight months after

the arrival of the English, led a rebellion of a few creoles against the occupiers.55 “Gaucho

Rivero, brave warrior,” writes Pérez Corrado in “Nuestras Malvinas.” In “Baranjando las

Malvinas,” Domínguez dedicates his final verses to Rivero: “Enough of stories and

diplomatic advice / if there is only one flag waving its glories / Honoring the memory of

those genuine lands / the Malvinas Islands are rightly and legitimately ours / with the soul of

Rivero let’s shout they are Argentine.”56

In 1972, the tucumano poet Mario Ponce, joined by musician Carlos Di Fulvio,

registered a southern milonga entirely dedicated to Rivero. “To the gaucho Antonio Rivero / I

summon from heaven / and my throat shouts / bending light with the scream / On his feet he

mustered his courage / Surly colt of the pampas / Like an urge in the veins / of the man who

53 “Cantores y poetas de mi pueblo / ya es hora de pulsar nuestras Malvinas,” comienzan diciendo en su primera estrofa, y hacia el final de la segunda cantan dos veces “y sí el canto no basta, ¡qué caracho!, le atamos una lanza a la guitarra.” 54 “Alcemos nuestra voz, llegó el momento / de jugarnos enteros la patriada / que sepan de una vez que a nuestro pueblo / llegada la ocasión le sobra agallas.” 55 In any case, the invocation to the heroes of the Argentine Independence is still present in the Malvinero songbook, for example, in the chacarera already cited “Mi bandera en las Malvinas,” of Zulema Nanci Tolosa. Addressing the Argentine flag, that the Malvinas long to see waving, its chorus states “Let’s sing all together / until the clarion sounds / and from the sky greets you / the General San Martín.” However, and different to those referring to Rivero, this allusions don’t take the form of a battle-shout. 56 “Ya basta de tanta historia y consultas medianeras / si hay una sola bandera que está agitando sus glorias / En honor a su memoria de aquellas tierras genuinas / son nuestras islas Malvinas por derecho valedero / con el alma de Rivero gritemos son argentinas.”

16

is walking land / a thoroughbred’s fury guides him / without an army he is: Captain,” says the

first verse.57 This song, “Capitán de las Malvinas” (Captain of the Malvinas), traces the

legend that surrounds Rivero: “You started the fight / with men who little understood / any

issue without a knife.”58 That rebellion had cost the lives of some people who showed loyalty

to the British authorities—for that reason Rivero was extradited to the UK to be tried. The

poem recollects that event with “Antonio Rivero, strike! / Even until bones and agony.”59

These verses add a second title to that of Captain: “Redentor” (Redeemer). It is good to

remember that, in the Argentine narrative, these lands have been waiting for redemption since

1833. Rivero’s return is announced at the end of the poem, portraying him as a gaucho

Christ: “An autumn of seagulls / festival of gray and winds / You will come to Malvinas land

/ to address the punishment.”60 Another of Ponce’s poems, also dedicated to the gaucho

Rivero, portrays a landscape infused with his name. 61

The gaucho Rivero character also inspired the poet Héctor Marco. “Strongly flutter

the foreign colors / Rivero is sentenced to that injustice / why is not my flag on the Malvinas?

/ If they are Argentine, what does the empire want? / By lowering the flag of the intruder

Rivero has accomplished / that on the mast are now waving the colors of the sky [blue and

white, as the Argentine flag] / Finally taken prisoner due to such patriotism / Antonio Rivero

is on a boat to England.”62 With praise to the bravery of the Entre Ríos native and his

“indomitable blood” of a “patriot gaucho,” the verses of Marco share the same beliefs as

Ponce’s, that Rivero is not only part of the past but also of the future: “But the actions of that

57 “Al gaucho Antonio Rivero / convoco del infinito / y mi garganta golpea / quebrando luz en el grito / De pie se alzó tu coraje / Potro arisco de la pampa / Como un impulso en las venas / del hombre que es tierra que anda / Furor de raza lo manda / sin ejército es: Capitán.” 58 “Inauguraste la lucha / con hombres que poco entienden / de un asunto sin cuchillo.” 59 “Antonio Rivero, pega! / Hasta el hueso y la agonía.” 60 “Un otoño de gaviotas / festival de gris y viento / Vendrás por tierras Malvinas / A tutear el escarmiento.” 61 See also José da Fonseca Figueira in his book Cómo los poetas les cantaron a las Malvinas (Buenos Aires: Plus Ultra), pp. 137-8. 62 “Flamea en el fuerte la enseña extranjera / A tal injusticia sentencia Rivero / ¿por qué en las Malvinas no está mi bandera? / Si son argentinas, ¿qué busca el imperio? / Arriando a la intrusa Rivero ha cumplido / ya ondea en el mástil la enseña del cielo / Y al fin engrillado por tal patriotismo / va preso en un barco Antonio Rivero.”

17

Malvinian hero / will burn in my guitar for as long as I live.”63 Nelly Iris Penazzo, a writer

from Tierra del Fuego, asks in her poem “El Gaucho Rivero,” written in the first half of the

seventies: “What does history want from us? / The diplomacy, which gambles or laughs? / Or

that gaucho who made the Homeland in his own way?”64 A chamamé registered in 1975 will

call him, appealing to the Guaraní language, “Gaucho Rivero, gente porá,” meaning

“admirable people;” and also, as in the poems of Marco and Ponce, announces his return

“victorious from the cue time” i.e., from the past time.65

Attesting that the gaucho is a typical character not only of the pampas but also of the

rocky southern Atlantic Archipelago, these songs add the belief largely shared among

different Argentine poets that the gaucho Rivero, prophet of the Malvinas’ emancipation, set

an example: he “made homeland in his own way” in past times, and shall return to “hand

over punishment” in the future. José Luis Muñoz Azpiri, author of the three volumes of the

Historia Completa de las Malvinas (published by Editorial Oriente in 1966) and

representative of the Argentine government in several international engagements,

summarized the Argentine task in regards to the dispute with Great Britain, declaring along

the same lines as the poets: “A gaucho land has been taken captive. Its name is Malvinas.

Let’s set it free!”66

Singing Under The War

José da Fonseca Figueira, whose book “Cómo los poetas les cantaron a las Malvinas”

I previously mentioned, considered Muñóz Azpiri’s exclamation “romantic and somewhat

63 “Pero el gesto de aquel héroe malvinero / arderá en mi guitarra mientras viva.” 64 “¿Qué es lo que la historia exige de nosotros? / ¿La diplomacia, que si juega o ríe? / ¿O al gaucho, que hizo Patria a su manera?” 65 “Che Malvinas,” of Odín Eduardo Fleitas and Pedro Luca Ortíz, registered at Sadaic on March 18, 1975. 66 “Hay una tierra gaucha prisionera. Se llama Malvinas. ¡Liberémosla!”

18

demanding of a legacy that should not be left to future generations.”67 In the final part of his

book, written in 1978, da Fonseca states that he is forced to “forget some of the historical

faces to talk about the imminent necessity of recovering completely and permanently the

Malvinian archipelago and to incorporate it into the Nation’s progress.”68 The conviction that

the task should not be further delayed, oftentimes mentioned in the Argentine songbook from

the late sixties into the early seventies, to da Fonseca—among other things, himself also a

poet—takes the shape of an historical-cultural outcome. “The bells of the Argentine

consciousness indicate the time of sovereign judgment,” he wrote towards the end of his

book, “the time in which England peacefully gives the Malvinas back to us or we will recover

them by the power of weapons.”69

In the early morning hours of April 2, 1982, the Argentine Armed Forces arrived at

the Malvinas Islands. Three days later, Ismael Orozco and Juan José Galah registered at

SADAIC the march “Las gloriosas Malvinas” (The Glorious Malvinas), celebrating the

event. “Today under an open sky of glory, after 150 years, our soldiers and sons of the

Motherland with bravery and pride / had us wave our beloved blue and white flag / Real

praises to our soldiers, from the sky I bless them / and thanks to them today we have the

Glorious Malvinas!”70 The march ends with a recitation: “Thank you, soldiers of our glorious

Argentina, to the great Argentine people, cheers!”71 Besides stirring up interest for having

been composed in the heat of the news, this composition summarizes wishes of past poems

which, from that first week of April 1982, constituted a polyphonic prophecy: the dreamed-of

67 In fact, this sentence inspired da Fonseca to write a poem that can be found in this very book, José da Fonseca Figueira, Cómo los poetas les cantaron a las Malvinas (Buenos Aires: Plus Ultra), pp. 198-9. 68 Ibid, p. 203. 69 Ibid, p. 205. 70 “Hoy bajo un cielo abierto de gloria, después de 150 años, nuestros soldados e hijos de la Patria con bravío y orgullo / nos hicieron flamear nuestro pabellón querido azul y blanco / Glorias vivas para nuestros soldados que desde el cielo los bendigo / y gracias a ellos hoy tenemos las Gloriosas Malvinas!” 71 “Gracias soldados de nuestra gloriosa argentina, al gran pueblo argentino, salud!”

19

glory had finally arrived and ended more than a century of injustice, by the sheer courage,

decisiveness, and patriotism of the Argentine soldiers.

On the first morning of the occupation, while trying to bring about the surrender of

English dominance in the islands, Pedro Giachino, the Argentine captain of Corbeta, died,

immediately becoming the first hero of “the reconquest”—a symbol of the level of sacrifice

that Argentinians were willing to endure in order to recover the archipelago.72 On April 15,

Gerardo Ferradas registered his song “Soldadito que a Malvinas” (Little Soldier to Malvinas),

dedicated to Giachino. In that poem can be traced how some Argentines processed the events

that had transformed ordinary, daily lives throughout the country. “Little soldier who went to

Malvinas not to kill / and received in the chest that mortal bullet / little soldier a dove from

your cold soul flew away / and with its little white wings blew hurricanes of love.”73 The

song reverses the typical representation of prior poems. If past wishes were to convert the

guitar into a spear, filled with the spirit of the heroes of the Independence or fighting bravely,

like the gaucho Rivero, now the song portrays Argentinians’ pacifist spirit and the love that

encourages them. “Little soldier who is alive in our unusual despair / full of new joy, of faith,

pity, and love / Love that was asleep in these lands of God / without love it dies, and you

have died for love.”74 It is not referring anymore to the bravery of the gaucho Rivero, facing

his enemy to the point of agony, but of a pacifist soldier who, given the chance to kill,

decided not to do so, instead dying in the place of his enemy. “Little soldier of gentle eyes

who gave away your heart / and did not use the rifle because there is a better weapon / little

soldier in whose name we shelter the honor / of dying for noble causes, of not killing out of

72 Later on, Giachino would be denounced by the Human Rights organization for his participation in the illegal repression during the military dictatorship (1976-1983) in the Navy base of Mar del Plata and in the Mechanical School of the Armed (ESMA). 73 “Soldadito que a Malvinas fuiste para no matar / y recibiste en el pecho aquella bala mortal / soldadito una paloma de tu alma helada voló / y con sus alitas blancas sopló huracanes de amor.” 74 “Soldadito que estás vivo en nuestro raro dolor / lleno de nueva alegría, de fe, de pena y amor / Amor que estaba dormido en estas tierras de Dios / y que sin amor se muere y tu has muerto por amor.”

20

courage.”75 Finally, Ferradas’ poem found in the attitude of Giachino the hopes of the

Argentine people: “Little soldier in your steps a nation marches by faith / and fierce eyes

become calm and cannot believe what they see / little soldier it is hard to change our anxiety /

but that little dove has filled us up with love / Love that was asleep in these lands of God /

and without love it dies, and you have died for love.”76

On the very same April 15 on which Ferradas registered “Soldadito que a Malvinas,”

Domingo La Valle and Damián Ficarra did the same with their “Tango a las Malvinas”

(Tango for Malvinas), clearly composed in the glorious days after the arrival on the islands.

La Valle and Ficarra picture Malvinas joined to Buenos Aires by a 2 x 4 rhythm that would

even please the inhabitants of the islands, respectfully referred to for the first time as the

“Malvinense people”—away from usurpers, intruders, foreigners, and colonialists, terms

more commonly used until that time. The lyrics of this tango are certainly extraordinary, in

the literal meaning of the word. They say: “A legendary bridge crosses the sea suspended

among clouds of illusion / and along the blue rope of the pentagram go the tango and its song

/ From the proud Obelisco in Buenos Aires to the majestic Malvinas Islands / the tango unites

through a compass two cities kissed by the green of its sea / For more than a century the spell

of its notes / failed to arrive with sweetness and emotion / A century and a half during which

for the Malvinense people / the tango did not bring joy to their hearts / With its rhythm that

delighted the senses / to embrace the city with its urban charm / and embrace both beating

cities / united by a musical bond.”77

75 “Soldadito de ojos mansos que entregaste el corazón / y el fusil no utilizaste porque hay otra arma mejor / soldadito que en tu nombre abrigamos el honor / de morir por cosas nobles, de no matar por valor.” 76 “Soldadito con tu paso hoy marcha un pueblo a la fe / y ojos torvos se hacen mansos y no creen lo que ven / soldadito es duro cambiar nuestra desazón / pero aquella palomita nos ha llenado de amor / Amor que estaba dormido en estas tierras de Dios / y que sin amor se muere y tu has muerto por amor.” 77 “Un puente de leyenda cruza el mar suspendido entre nubes de ilusión / y entre el cordaje azul del pentagrama va transitando el tango y su canción / Del altivo obelisco en Buenos Aires hasta las Islas Malvinas señorial / el tango une en compases dos ciudades besadas por el verde de su mar / Más de un siglo que el hechizo de sus notas / no llegaba con ternura y emoción / Un siglo y medio que al pueblo malvinense / el tango no le alegraba el corazón / Con su ritmo que embriaga los sentidos / para arruyar la ciudad con su arrabal / y abrazar las dos ciudades que palpitan / unidas por un lazo musical.”

21

The Malvinas and their people appear here “aporteñados” (made to seem like people

from Buenos Aires), bound to the Obelisco by a tango which, after a century and a half,

brings joy to Malvinenses who are now rejoining the place from which they should never

have been separated. The time between the arrival and the war, then, brought changes in

some of the Malvinas’ songs. In this tango, for example, the earlier years are not referred to

as the time of “usurpation,” but of “constru[ction] [of] this bridge of brotherhood” that finally

now, in April 1982, joins “the city in front and my city.” From the English as the usurpers, to

the islanders as brothers.78

Some of these songs, composed between the initial arrival on the islands and the

beginning of the armed confrontation, constitute an atypical and original testimony of

something already well known: the enormous emotion that took over Argentine cities during

those weeks. Manuel and José Abrodos registered on April 23 the song “Cielito de las

Malvinas” (Little Sky of the Malvinas), where the vindication of the soldiers, especially the

fallen Captain (“in Malvinian land / a soldier has fallen / his holy body has fallen / but there

his flag remained / they entered firmly, head-on / those creoles of my soil / and left galloping

/ because there it stayed waving / the flag the color of the sky”) was joined by a verse

detailing the joy of the people (“Second of April and Argentina / woke up jubilant / knowing

that the Malvinas / had already been recovered”).79

In this last sense, no other song surpassed that of Cacho Castaña—a famous composer

and popular singer, who in those years was also a movie star.80 In his compositions, Castaña

78 There was one song, however, registered a few days after those just mentioned, that at the same time it celebrates the “recovery” also refers to the previous history as of “bossy pirates” of “wily customs” that “took over the Malvinas…for one thousand eight thirty three.” See “Cielito de las Malvinas,” register number #270473. 79 En las tierras malvineras / cayó un soldado argentino / cayó su cuerpo divino / pero ahí quedó su bandera / entraron firmes, de frente / esos criollos de mi suelo / y se fueron galopando / porque allí quedó flameando / la bandera color cielo” / “Dos de abril y la Argentina / amaneció alborozada / sabiendo que las Malvinas / ya fueron recuperadas. 80 Castaña defines himself as a singer of the people, who brings to the lyrics and the melody popular feelings and thoughts. Shared with other singers, this fantasy has probably never been closer than in April 1982.

22

always aimed for authenticity, appealing to the empathy that his songs generated in the

public. “Oé, oé, oé, las Malvinas son nuestras” (Oé, oé, oé, the Malvinas are Ours), annotated

at SADAIC on May 27, consists of a typical song for soccer supporters, accompanied by a

simple but contagious melody. Castaña’s choruses involuntarily portrayed much of the

environment of April 1982, at least for a majority of Argentineans. “Oé, oé, oé, the Malvinas

are ours / my people are celebrating, let’s dance,” said the first part; “oé, oé, oé, the Malvinas

are ours / the people are celebrating, let’s sing,” it said at the end.81 Popular celebrations on

the streets, town squares filled with people, the sound of horns honking around the cities and

villages, local organizing and thousands of volunteers to help in different ways with the

soldiers that the press and the people had already called “heroes.” In a very honest and

concise verse, to his recurring topics (women, alcohol, Buenos Aires city) Castaña then

added soldiers: “Because I am proud of being Argentinian / and walk the way of dignity / I

sing to my women, my land, my wine / and to those who fought for freedom.”82

Although when referring to a Just War, songs favored the figure of the soldier, some

also allude to the Armed Forces, which by then had been in power for six years. In “Malvinas

Heroicas” (Heroic Malvinas), registered in June 1982 by Demetria Rodríguez, Ángel

Bassani, and Nicolás Costantino, the spirit of unanimity reaches civilians and military (not

only the soldiers), just as the military regime had hoped. “Our heroic Armed Forces, grasping

justice and reason / detained the fatal enemy, showing ability and courage,” they wrote at the “Because I always sing when my people sing / because I dance when I have to / Because when we cry we keep it quiet / and today I feel that everyone wants to celebrate,” he says in one of the choruses of this song. 81 “Oé, oé oé, las Malvinas son nuestras / mi pueblo está de fiesta, vamos a bailar / oé, oé oé, las Malvinas son nuestras, el pueblo está de fiesta, vamos a cantar.” 82 “Porque estoy agrandado de ser argentino / y voy por el camino de la dignidad / le canto a mis mujeres, mi tierra, mi vino / y a los que lucharon por la libertad.” Although no other transcended like this Castaña song, other works such as “Oda a las Malvinas” (Ode to the Malvinas), by Guevara, and “Malvinas tierra de nuestra Argentina” (Malvinas, Land of our Argentina), by Ramos, also took into account that April [¿]. The last one, for example, in the rhythm of chamamé, says in one of its verses: “In April, in the early morning hours, the people shouted / the Malvinas, Argentine and a great party erupted / It was a patriot Captain, whose blood shed / to raise our flag, which Belgrano left to us.” Aunque ninguna trascendió como esta canción de Castaña, otras obras como “Oda a las Malvinas,” de Guevara, y “Malvinas, tierra de nuestra Argentina,” de Ramos, también dieron cuenta de aquel abril. Este último, por ejemplo, en ritmo de chamamé, dice en una de sus estrofas: “En abril, de madrugada, el pueblo entero gritó / las Malvinas Argentinas y una gran fiesta estalló / Fue un capitán patriota, cuya sangre derramó / por izar nuestra bandera, que Belgrano nos legó.”

23

beginning of the song; “the Argentine commotion reaches the sky, in close national unity /

everyone together, civilians and those who are armed, until the end, tireless will fight,” they

stated towards the end.83

In the litoral region, the area in which most compositions to the Malvinas were

dedicated (and from where most of the soldiers came), Ramón Méndez and Leopoldo

Francisco Almada registered “Sapucay a las Malvinas” (Sapucay to the Malvinas), a

celebratory chamamé of the “reconquest.” Once the war started, this region was extremely

aggressive towards the enemy.84 “An extension of the Homeland with continental roots /

cannot bear to see his orphan sister in the middle of the sea / with burning pleas he asks for

its orphan state to cease / dear land split off with unpunished arrogance / Malvinas, Malvinas,

Malvinas, it was a pirate traitor / who robbed from Argentina a piece of its being / Our

coveted Homeland under great pressure / and the pack of crows want to grab their piece.”85

Once the war starts, the inhabitants of the Malvinas vanish from the Malvinian poetry, the

English pirates, traitors and usurpers return to the picture, but the immutable certainty of an

ontological belonging of the Malvinas to the Argentine soil persists.

This certainty not only does not cease, it becomes stronger during the armed conflict.

The compositions written during those weeks contend that the negotiations following the

conflict will find unquestionable the fact that the Malvinas belong to Argentina. The

occupation of the islands on April 2nd established—at least until the surrender—that there

was no turning back regarding an Argentine presence in the islands, no matter the cost. The

Corrientes natives Méndez and Almada stated in their chamamé: “But the Malvinas are ours, 83 “Nuestras Fuerzas Armadas heroicas, empuñando justicia y razón / contuvieron fatal enemigo, demostrando destreza y valor / Puebla al cielo el fervor argentino, en estrecha unidad nacional / todos juntos, civiles y armados, hasta el fin, sin cansar, lucharán.” 84 The chamamé “Malvinas, tierra de nuestra Argentina” also highlights that the song is from the litoral. The lyrics twice mention its geography. The second time it says: “The Argentine northeast with guitars and accordion, will eternally celebrate, the great recovery.” 85 “Un apéndice de Patria con raíz continental / no concibe verla paria a su hermana allende el mar / con sus ruegos encendidos pide cese su horfandad (sic) / caro suelo escindido con soberbia impunidad / Malvinas, Malvinas, Malvinas, un traidor pirata fue / que robó a la Argentina un pedazo de su ser / Nuestra Patria codiciada sometida a gran presión / y los cuervos en bandada quieren lograr su girón.”

24

we have already learned the lesson.”86 Isaad Ricardo Sued gave another version in his

“Zamba a las Malvinas” (Zamba to the Malvinas), registered on May 6th. Soon after

revealing in his own biography just when in his life he had become certain (“Since I was a

child I’ve learned that they were Argentine”) and depicting the enemy (“more and more I

knew that my flag did not exist there / because the intruder pirate settled there one day”), the

chorus shouts: “Get out, get out, intruder! Don’t play with my Nation / We have always

fought for peace and with great bravery for freedom / the Malvinas are and will be

Argentine.”87 The awareness that the war is being carried on by very young soldiers does not

diminish but rather enhances the emotions of the poet: “How great is the emotion that takes

me over, to see that our soldiers / fight and lose their lives when they have barely started /

defending my Nation, my flag, and my brothers / Get out of these islands, English! Shouts all

of Argentina.”88 In “Malvinas Queridas” (Dear Malvinas), registered in that same month by

Demetria Rodríguez, José Sala and Benito Eduardo Cáceres, the belief that the Argentine flag

will “wave forever” on the islands restates the idea that there is no turning back. And

“Malvinas, dos de abril” (Malvinas, April Second) a zamba registered by an author named

Medina exclaims: “The intruders that arrive / won’t be able to handle us / The islands are

Argentine / We won’t hand them over / With faith we will defend them / And no one will

take them up / We, Argentines / Here we will stay.”89

86 “Más son nuestras las Malvinas, ya aprendimos la lección.” 87 “Desde niño aprendí que eran argentinas” / “más yo sabía que allí mi bandera no existía / porque el pirata invasor se instaló allí un día” / “¡Fuera, fuera, invasor! No juegues con mi Nación / Siempre luchamos por la paz y con gran valentía por la libertad / Malvinas son y serán argentinas.” 88 “Qué enorme emoción me embarga, al ver que nuestros soldados / luchan perdiendo la vida cuando recién la empezaron / defendiendo mi Nación, mi bandera y mis hermanos / ¡Fuera ingleses de esas islas!, grita toda la Argentina.” 89 “Los invasores que llegan / con nosotros no podrán / Las islas son argentinas / No las vamos a entregar / Con fe las defenderemos / Y nadie nos va a sacar / Nosotros, los argentinos / Aquí nos vamos a quedar.” See also “Conquistadas las Malvinas,” of Ángel Pace, registered at SADAIC on May 28, 1982, and “De Maracaibo a Malvinas,” of Chinnici, registered on June 4, 1982.

25

Conclusion

During a substantial part of the 20th and 21st centuries, the Malvinas cause has been a

truly national cause, perhaps the only one. The fact that, throughout at least four decades,

each region of the country has imagined the Malvinas, their loss and recovery, in their own

rhythms and verses, conclusively demonstrates that this is the case. Each region has

addressed the cause from the perspectives of its own geography and culture. With varying

sophistication, through zambas, chacareras, chamamés, triunfos, milongas and tangos,

ordinary Argentinians have left in the popular songbook an atypical but substantial

documentation of the depth of this cause during the recent past. As we have seen, the

recovery of the Malvinas, peaceful or not, was a collective desire—which explains the

spontaneous support sparked after the arrival of the military there on April 2, 1982.

However, it was not only the certainty that the islands should be recovered but also

the appeal to Argentine courage and bravery, the remission of the legal, historical, and

hereditary rights that accompanied the national arguments, the omission of the interests and

wishes of islanders, the standardization with the fights for independence of the 19th century,

and the need to follow the footsteps of the Gaucho Rivero, all these elements were part of a

social sensibility democratically dispersed throughout the entire country when the Armed

Forces decided to transform words into actions.

Once the Argentine troops left the Malvinas, the songs turned into a poetry of defeat,

which in several cases maintained intact the vindication of the cause, changed views on the

soldiers (from patriots to cannon fodder), and identified the Argentine military, especially

General Leopoldo F. Galtieri (then the country’s President de facto and Commander-in-Chief

of the Armed Forces), as the only guilty one. “For the fallen ones and for those waking up /

26

troubled in dreams of bullets and misery / Drunk with power, among absurdities and shit /

Don Galtieri and his ego sent them to war,” Federico Pecchia later wrote.90

In the post-war period, rock music has come to be the favorite genre of younger

generations when reflecting on the war and its consequences. Famous musicians of the

constellation of national stars, such as Charly García, Raúl Porchetto, León Gieco, Alejandro

Lerner, Andrés Calamaro, Fito Páez, and Los Redonditos de Ricota, among many others,

dedicated songs to the war, oftentimes seen as a military adventure that forced a defenseless

nation to send their sons to die on some remote rocks, ill prepared and poorly equipped.

These songs are very well known and together shape a constellation of images and ideas that

distills the contemporary common sense of a large part of Argentine society at the present

time. The brief history of the Malvinas issue in the Argentine songbook that was traced here

challenges this common sense, contrasting it to another equally or even more common, but

from a perhaps forgotten age, one in which the Argentine song dreamed up the nightmare that

future songs would later on denounce.

90 “Por los que han caído y por los que despiertan / turbados en sueños de bala y miseria / Embriagado en poder, entre absurdos y mierda / Don Galtieri y su ego, los mandó a la guerra.”