The Confederation of Malvinas Combatants of the Argentine Republic requested that the Ministry of Defense become the sole body responsible for issuing war veteran certificates .
The petition comes after a new war veteran was recognized for having taken part in the Malvinas conflict, fulfilling functions of “ operational and/or logistical support in the continental deployment zone .” This fact revived the discussion about the identification and validation of those who participated in the 1982 war .
In the statement issued by the Confederation , its president , Ramón Robles , criticized the Argentine Air Force for seeking to have members of the force included in the registry of veterans . He also asked the Minister of Defense “ to close the registers of war veterans .”
" We will not allow titles and honours to be usurped through the negligence of someone who does not know the horror of war ," said the official, adding that " with this certificate they then ask for tax exemption, municipal subsidies and confuse the population and the officials ."
For Robles and his organization, this is a substitution of the true meaning of being a war veteran and a lack of respect towards those who were involved in the fighting that took place on the islands .
The former combatant recalled that during the administration of Defense Minister Oscar Aguad , under the presidency of Mauricio Macri , between 2017 and 2019 , a Coordination of War Veterans was created. This measure was intended to unify the process and prevent different armed forces from issuing certificates independently .
The background of this problem can be traced back to laws and resolutions that have left legal loopholes, since Law No. 23,109 of 1984 , which grants rights and benefits to ex-combatants , the Argentine Air Force has shown a tendency to consider its members as a separate class , which has resulted in the creation of categories of veterans that exclude them from general legislation .
Robles pointed out that while " our veteran comrades are dying every day, these guys continue to create veterans who were not even close to combat ."
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