A British admiral warns about the Malvinas with Milei as Argentine president: "Stranger things have been seen"

The controversial Javier Milei is already president of Argentina and one of the challenges he posed during his campaign had to do with the Malvinas (the Falklands, in English), the archipelago of the United Kingdom that confronted both countries in 1982 in a brief but bloody war. war.

Now, in the United Kingdom, although Milei's threats are taken with caution, some voices ask not to lose sight of the matter. This is the case of Lord Admiral Alan West, who was head of the Royal Navy and military advisor to Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the 2000s.

As reported by The Sun, West says there is no reason to worry, but admits that we should not let our guard down: “Stranger things have happened,” he said.

“There is no prospect of a military attack on the Falkland Islands. We are much better prepared than in the past and, anyway, the Argentine army is in very bad shape,” said West, 75, who participated in the conflict. of 1982.

However, Lord West warned that “you always have to pay attention, keep the intelligence services going and keep your guard up because stranger things have happened.”

“The UK has made it very clear that the issue of sovereignty is not up for discussion at all,” West added.. “To be honest, bringing it up again is pretty silly, but he's acting for his own audience,” the former military man said of Milei.

“If the population of the Falklands wants to belong to Argentina, then it could be different, but I don't see that ever happening,” the senior military officer added.

The war between Argentina and the United Kingdom lasted ten weeks between April and June 1982 and cost the lives of more than 900 soldiers and three civilians. British administration was finally restored after 74 days when Argentine military forces, which had invaded the islands, were forced to surrender.

“It was nasty and bloody,” Lord West recalled.. “It was unnecessary. Leonardo Galtieri (Argentina's military dictator) was very unpopular and used the Falklands as a way to divert people's attention,” the military man added.

“It was a very short war, but we lost more than 250 men from our army and the Argentines lost more than 600 from theirs,” Lord West recalls for The Sun.

While Admiral West insisted that the islands have recovered from the war, he acknowledged the difficulties in making the area safe again.. “Clearing the mines took many years,” he continued.. “We even have Argentine companies that helped us do it,” he said.

The islands “were declared clean four or five years ago, but you never know if there will be one or two (mines) left out there,” West says.. “The Argentinians placed them in the most gruesome way: you were supposed to place mines and know where they are so you could clear them at a later date,” he continued.

“The Argentines threw them everywhere and many of them were of the plastic variant that cannot be found very easily with detection equipment,” he adds.