Esteban Vilgré La Madrid, new director of the Malvinas Museum: “I came to represent all Argentines”
Days ago, the Government announced that a retired military officer will take charge of the Malvinas and South Atlantic Islands Museum. DEF spoke with the colonel, who is also a war veteran, about his expectations and the role that the combatants will have in the Institution.
With some fear – because he would have to lead a group of men who were even older than him – he went to the 6th Infantry Regiment, based in Mercedes, province of Buenos Aires.
There he met soldiers, non-commissioned officers and other officers, without knowing that it would be with them that he would live some of the hardest hours of his life
A few days later, they announced to him that he was moving to the islands. There, he not only rose to the occasion, but led his men during the last counterattack through the Malvinas.
He fought with the British on the front line and saw up close the courage and heroism of many of his comrades. He also witnessed the death in combat of several of them.
The return to the continent, after the ceasefire, brought him a new challenge: the post-war period. He did not sit idly by in the face of the indifference and suffering of the ex-combatants, but, on the contrary, he continued to fight.
He laid the foundations within the Army for the subsequent creation of the Armed Forces Health Center, of which he was director, and, later, the national authorities assigned him other roles, such as integrating the Veterans Commission in the Ministry of the Interior.
In 2023, he said goodbye to the Army. After almost 42 years of career, he put an end to active service. But, once again, he was presented with a proposal that he would not hesitate to accept: at the end of February he was appointed to direct the "Malvinas and South Atlantic Islands Museum", located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Núñez, on Santiago de Calzadilla Street. 1301. The decision made noise and generated controversy in the military, and even had repercussions in the media. "We must think about how to ensure that the public leaves satisfied," he stated, in an exclusive dialogue with DEF.
A Museum of the Malvinas, not of the war
The meeting between DEF and Colonel Esteban Vilgré La Madrid happened shortly after he showed up to work at the Museum.
However, the former military man had already visited him: "As an audience, I didn't like it, but now I understood it much more. As I explained to the Museum workers, I would have gone to war for anyone, I didn't do it because Galtieri told me ".
"In fact, I would also do it again now. I think that, of all the museums, the one in Malvinas that I have to direct is perhaps the most passionate. Because, for example, the Urquiza house, in Entre Ríos, no one questions it "I get rid of the veteran, the military and my own ideological vision and try to be objective, understanding that I am a bird of passage who may be lucky enough to leave permanent things for the country," he added.
"Many of those who come leave upset"
Regarding the criticism, the colonel explained to DEF that some veterans who visited the Museum left angry precisely because, from the war, there is very little.
But there is an explanation. The Museum "seeks to find a way to include these Argentine ex-combatants," since, he emphasizes, "they are also the Museum's audience and we must ensure that they leave satisfied."
In fact, in the search to fill that space, the need arose that the families of those who fell in the Malvinas and those injured in the war also have. "Many say that the Museum must be changed. But it is not necessary to do so, because, ultimately, this place has a certain idea: the defense of national sovereignty through education."
According to the new director, the focus is not on the war, but on the children who visit him every day, who are the ones who must take a backpack full of values from each visit.
"There is a path for these kids – which must be previously agreed upon – that includes a part of the war, but not from the bloody and painful point of view. Although, suddenly, there may be a school that wants to include the war part" , he comments, but not before insisting that those who criticize the Museum should go visit it so that, later, they can express what they liked and what they would change: "Because, when one wants to modify something, it is not a matter of whim, but it must have a didactic foundation".
"I want this to be an educational hub and that, if during a visit, in which there are adults in the audience who want to see themes of the war, we can go through the timeline – which is never a bad thing for us – and also take away an idea of what the war was like," he explains from the extensive facilities of the place that, among other elements, exhibits objects and models from the times when Luis Vernet, the first Argentine political and military commander of the Malvinas Islands, at the beginning of the 19th century, he settled on the islands with his family and some gauchos.
The Malvinas cause above all ideological positioning
According to the new director, the focus is not on the war, but on the children who visit him every day, who are the ones who must take a backpack full of values from each visit.
"There is a path for these kids – which must be previously agreed upon – that includes a part of the war, but not from the bloody and painful point of view. Although, suddenly, there may be a school that wants to include the war part" , he comments, but not before insisting that those who criticize the Museum should go visit it so that, later, they can express what they liked and what they would change: "Because, when one wants to modify something, it is not a matter of whim, but it must have a didactic foundation".
"I want this to be an educational hub and that, if during a visit, in which there are adults in the audience who want to see themes of the war, we can go through the timeline – which is never a bad thing for us – and also take away an idea of what the war was like," he explains from the extensive facilities of the place that, among other elements, exhibits objects and models from the times when Luis Vernet, the first Argentine political and military commander of the Malvinas Islands, at the beginning of the 19th century, he settled on the islands with his family and some gauchos.
The Malvinas cause above all ideological positioning
During the meeting, Vilgré La Madrid was forceful: "There is no war museum. Argentina does not have one. In fact, the relatives do not have a place to exhibit the history of the fallen."
"A mother of a fallen member of my regiment sent me a very nice message: 'Esteban, I congratulate you, now I will be able to return to the Museum because I went once and I didn't like it.'" He said this because the Museum has a place dedicated to the fallen with tablets that tell each person's story, but the electronic devices were malfunctioning. In addition, there is a room that shows, in perspective, the Darwin cemetery, but in a dark room. "That mother came and told me that she didn't like it because she thought it was a dark and cold space and she doesn't want her son to be remembered that way. In fact, she is looking for a place with light and joy. And she is right.".
In this regard, he explained to DEF that it was a positive review made by the mother of a fallen man. "She is over 80 years old, how many years do she have left to see her son represented in the Museum? It is not an ideological or political question, but it is a mother who wants her son to be represented in another way."
So, Vilgré insisted, the best thing is to convene the Relatives Commission to "collaborate to beautify these spaces, as well as the associations of war veterans, regardless of the political position of each of them," he added, but not without before emphasizing that he does not embody the Museum nor does he intend to do several things that were said about him.
It happens that comments circulated in the military sphere that said he was going to fire people. "It was funny to me because no one gave me a line. I believe that the Museum's employees must be respected. In fact, since I arrived, I met with them. Because my intention is to achieve something transcendent for the country and that escapes the ideologies".
"The Museum is located in a space for memory and has a cultural idea realized. I want the Museum to represent the cause and, for that, I need the consensus of the employees," he remarked.
In that sense, the current director says that, while walking around, he noticed the passion of the workers. "From the architect, who told me about the meaning of the water park, to the worker who explained to me the operation of the modern machinery that the Museum has. I have to be respectful of them, because they are the ones who managed the project, which, in addition, is the same one that exists now, because I didn't change a single comma," he confesses.
"Having deaths in close combat gave me the right to demand that our leaders live up to the task"
"I would not be here if I were not a war veteran. Malvinas gave me the pride of being Argentine and knowing the supreme value of giving one's life for one's country. And, because I had deaths in combat nearby, it gave me the right to demand that our leaders that they are at the level of those fallen", he highlighted during the interview.
What does Vilgré La Madrid want? "Let the history of the Malvinas be known so that we can feel pride in our warriors. Furthermore, I believe that the Museum has to do justice from its place as an educational and cultural hub. And that there must be memory of what was done in the heroic deed Of the homeland".
And he concluded: "I came to represent all Argentines and war veterans in a museum that is not about war, but that tells the story of the Malvinas. When the timeline reaches 1982, I want the public to feel that it is worth the It is a shame to be honest, the sacrifice of a nation and that today there may be people who, although they walk with their ghosts of war, are willing to continue.
Fuente: DEF