"So, how was your drink?"

"Great. They had a ribs and shrimp set-up too, I didn't have to spring for dinner tonight; and the barmaid was gorgeous. You should have joined me."

"I was tired, and I got into a show on the Malvinas War they had on TV tonight; it was pretty good."

"Malvinas? The Brits won. They get to call them the Falklands if they want."

"They won because of American treachery. The Americans gave them satellite imagery and signals intelligence, not to mention logistics support. Probably a lot more we don't know about, too. So much for the Monroe Doctrine and helping defend the Americas from European meddling."

"You're probably right about the American assistance; but you have to admit the Argies had the benefit of surprise and all the advance planning that they must have put into the invasion. They also had support from land-based aircraft and they outnumbered the English three to one in infantry, well dug-in; not to mention they had the advantage of being close to their supply and logistics. They attacked at precisely the right time, just before winter hit. The Brits had to hastily improvise a response to a war they never had anticipated or trained for, with whatever they had available at the time, and then fight it half a world away in the worst ocean on the planet. And they only had a few weeks to throw it all together and win. They were brilliant.

"How can you say that, you're Latin too, even if you were born in this country. The Americans backed the English because they're Saxons, for no other reason. The USA acted from purely racist motives."

"Bullshit, man. The reason the Argentinians lost, given everything they had going for them, was because their military dictatorship just needed an excuse to distract the country from the mess they were making of it's economy. Their army didn't know how to fight a war, after years of kidnapping and torturing civilians, they couldn't handle an opponent who actually fought back."

"Not true, it was urban warfare, the worst kind. They were fighting the Communists, the only way they can be fought, no quarter asked or given."

"Urban warfare? Street fighting? Communist insurrection? Give me a break. They were murdering college students, union leaders and newspaper editors. Anybody who dared to oppose the Junta. Their victims were snatched off the street, tortured and murdered, and their bodies dumped out at sea so they would never be found. They weren't fighting Reds, they were fighting anyone they even suspected of criticizing them, whatever their politics. And who knows how many totally innocent people got caught up in the dragnet."

"There's no doubt the Junta was a fascist dictatorship, corrupt and ruthless, their actions probably did kill a lot of innocents, but there was no choice. You forget, I was brought up in a country where the Communists took over, I know how they work. In Argentina they had to do whatever it took, just like in Chile. Sure, a lot of innocent people got killed, and probably it wasn't all for the best of motives. But it's the only way you can fight them. The Communists don't wear uniforms and fight you man to man. They sneak around in the universities, the unions, the press, and they're organized and supported from outside. To root them out you have to be ruthless, not just with them, but to those who might support them, even if they themselves are not Communists. As they say in English, 'You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs'. Innocent people get hurt in all wars. Ask the folks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

"It seems to me the only way you can fight Communists, then, is to be just like them."

"It's easy for you to talk down to me, you've spent your whole life comfortably in this country. You don't know what they're like. I was born in Cuba, I know. We lost it all, and several people in my family were arrested and they were tortured too. Some are still in prison and some were executed. We weren't even opponents of the regime, we just didn't cooperate with it. So don't give me that do-gooder liberal bullshit."

"So you're telling me that in order to fight the Reds you have to be ready to do anything, including adopting their methods. It seems to me that it's pretty hard to tell one dictatorship from another. I've talked to you before about Batista, you were no friend of his either."

"You're right. Batista was a butcher, and I'm not making excuses for the Argentinians, or the Chileans, or Somoza and his gang or any of the other right wing dictators we Latins seem to be plagued with. But there is a difference between fascist dictatorships and Communist ones. The fascists will leave you alone if you are no threat to them. They will let you run your business, they will let you travel outside the country if you want, they won't interfere with your kids' education, or indoctrinate them with propaganda, and they will let you earn your living and live your life and keep your property. And if you don't like them, you are free to leave whenever you like. As long as you don't oppose them, you have nothing to fear. That's the difference."

"I think I need another drink."