Alberto Fernandez Visits Antarctica on Argentine Antarctic Day

The President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, makes an official visit to the Marambio Base in Antarctica on the 119th anniversary of the permanent and uninterrupted presence of the South American nation on the white continent.

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This is the fourth visit by an Argentine head of state to the white continent. "I am the first to do so [visit Antarctica] after more than 20 years and for that, I confess, I am deeply moved," Fernandez said.

On the occasion, the President led the inauguration of three laboratories, built by the Ministry of Defense and financed by the Ministry of Science, located at the permanent bases of San Martín, Orcadas and Esperanza.

Fernández inaugurated a branch of the University of Tierra del Fuego in Ushuaia, capital of that jurisdiction. Then, he traveled with her entourage to Marambio Station, the country's main logistic base on the white continent.

Happy Argentine Antarctic Day to our compatriots working in the Antarctic continent! You mark the continuity of 119 years of permanent and uninterrupted presence of Argentina.

The President thanked "the effort, perseverance and patriotism" of the scientists, Armed Forces members and workers who live at Marambio Base. "This ground we are stepping on is Argentina and for the State to be here is an act of justice for our history and our identity," said Fernández. 

The Argentine President, the first in 26 years to celebrate the Argentine Antarctic Day at the Marambio Base, called for the promotion of territorial integrity, the strengthening of the productive pole and the development of energy in the South.

Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said this visit "expresses Argentina's goal of becoming the Antarctic vanguard" and added that work is being done to make the country the one with the most and best science in the region.

The Argentine Antarctic Day is celebrated on February 22, in commemoration of the inauguration, in 1904, of the Meteorological Observatory on Laurie Island, South Orkney, where the permanent Orcadas Base was later installed. This was the first Antarctic station in Argentina, which currently has seven permanent and six transitory bases, active during the summer period. 

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