Cabinet Chief Marcos Peña paid tribute to fallen British soldiers from the South Atlantic War this morning, laying a wreath at a service at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London as part of a two-day visit to the UK capital.
"This morning in London I was in Saint Paul [sic] to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers in the Malvinas War," Peña posted on his Twitter account, along with photos of the service.
The Argentine government official laid flowers at a memorial inside the crypt of the famous British cathedral.
“This is a sign of respect and [demonstrates] the importance of remembering all those who died in the Malvinas War, as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson did in Buenos Aires [recently],” Peña said in quotes reported by the Telam news agency.
Sir Alan Duncan, minister of state at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, praised the gesture on Twitter.
“Much appreciated Argentine Presidential Chief-of-Staff, Marcos Peña, laying a wreath this morning at St Paul’s Cathedral for those who died in the 1982 South Atlantic conflict. We welcome his visit to London in advance of the G20 meeting later this year in Buenos Aires,” he wrote.
Peña was accompanied at the service by Argentina’s Ambassador to London Carlos Sersale de Cerisano, Strategic Affairs Secretary Fulvio Pompeo and retired British Army colonel Geoffrey Cardoso, a veteran of the war who recently played a crucial role in helping to identify Argentine combatants buried on the islands in unmarked graves.
The British delegation included Duncan, Minister of State for the Armed Forces Mark Lancaster and the UK’s Ambassador to Argentina Mark Kent.
The gesture comes just 15 days after Johnson paid his own tribute to fallen Argentine soldiers in the South Atlantic War during his own trip to Buenos Aires.
On May 20, Johnson was joined by Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie and Defence Minister Oscar Aguad as he laid a wreath dedicated to the dead on both sides and paid his respects to the fallen at a brief ceremony at the Monumento a los Caidos en Malvinas (“Monument to the Fallen on the Malvinas”).
Meetings
During his visit, Peña – President Mauricio Macri’s influential Cabinet chief – will hold a series of meetings with British ministers and government officials, including Johnson, Secretary of State for International Trade Lia Fox, Economy Minister Phillip Hammond, Secretary of State for the Environment Michael Gove and Cabinet Minister David Lidington.
Peña will reportedly visit 10 Downing Street (where he will meet with Prime Minister Theresa May’s private secretary, Peter Hill), the Houses of Parliament (where he will meet an Argentine parliamentary group) and number of government ministries during his time in London. He is also expected to give interviews to financial media outlets, including The Economist and The Financial Times.
He will also take part in an event at Chatham House entitled ‘Argentina: Political Change and the G20 Presidency.’
Peña will then head to New York for a brief visit to the United States.
- TIMES
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