In conversation with SomosTélam, Saúl Pérez -Malvinas veteran and focus of one of Télam’s most iconic photos of the war- reflected on the importance of the state news agency: “Télam is invaluable for the history of Argentina and for our democracy”.
Malvinas veteran Saúl Pérez is the focus of one of Télam news agency’s most iconic photographs of the Malvinas war, which began on April 2, 1982. Next Tuesday will mark the 42nd anniversary of the conflict.
The photograph shows one of the many trenches in Malvinas, where a soldier is reading Crónica newspaper, sitting next to other soldiers, waiting for battle.
“Télam’s role in Malvinas was patriotic, because journalists and photographers were ready for whatever may come, in the posts, in the streets, risking their lives to bring the news to our country and the world”, said the veteran to Somos Télam.
He remembered those days with pride: “Télam is a part of my life, because of that photo they took of me, which is well-known now. At that time, my parents knew I was alive thanks to that picture”, he said in his home in Merlo, province of Buenos Aires.
“That is why, to me, as a Malvinas War veteran, the importance of Télam is invaluable for the history of Argentina and for our democracy. Télam is our identity regarding the news in the world”, he added.
To Pérez, “Télam always had a leading role in the history of our country. Without Télam, many moments of the Malvinas War would not be known. Without Télam, democracy could have never flourished”.
Regarding the importance of federalism, when it comes to the state news agency, the veteran reflected: “Without Télam, the media in the inlands would have a hard time getting the news. The importance of Télam lies in it being a federal and plural agency that contributes greatly to the media, especially to the media in the inlands”.
The photograph of several soldiers sitting down, reading Crónica newspaper in an area close to the island’s airport, was taken by Télam photographer Eduardo Farré and it is one of the most famous pictures of the 1982 conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom.
The civic-military dictatorship, led at the time of the conflict by Leopoldo Galtieri, imposed strict control measures and Télam was the only agency authorized to cover the war from the islands. The Télam team was present in Malvinas from the landing to the surrender of the Argentinian troops. That is why most of the photographs of the war were taken by Télam photographers: “Pollo” Farré, Román “Polaco” von Eckstein and Eduardo Navone.
Pérez also reflected on the media and their coverage of the war: “I believe the media had an important role, but we were under a dictatorship, and during a war under a dictatorship, the first victim is the truth”, he emphasized.