Chapter Thirty-Eight Argentina

  Mar del Plata, which means "Silver Sea" in English, is a city located 40 kilometers south of Buenos Aires and is a seaside resort on the Atlantic coast. It is the most popular holiday destination for Argentines and is the only city in Argentina where gambling is allowed.

  So the most eye-catching building in the city center is the casino, which is built on Bristol Beach, surrounded by luxurious hotels and restaurants.

  Everyone knows that the biggest arms smugglers are governments, and it's the same in every country.

  Apart from normal inter-state arms deals, there are many government-backed but covert orders.

  There is also a need to understand the connotation of smuggling. Generally, most smuggling involves weapons entering a country without going through customs, while the country where they are flowing out does not count as smuggling.

  Civilian smuggling of firearms is of poor quality but extremely large in quantity, mostly traded in third world countries.

  Generally, arms dealers have a military and government background, without which this business cannot be done.

  In 1948, Argentina and Chile sent naval forces to the Falkland Islands area, which was protested by Britain.

  The issue was raised at the United Nations in 1958, ten years later.

  In 1964, an Argentine pilot landed on the Falkland Islands and raised the Argentine flag.

  In the same year, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization began to consider the Mauritius issue and recommended that the committee invite the two governments to hold negotiations to seek a peaceful settlement of the dispute.

  In 1965, the UN considered the Mauritius issue for the first time.

  Argentina emphasizes that the Malvinas are a natural part of the Spanish colonial system and should be returned to Argentina in accordance with the territorial integrity principle recognized in the Anti-Colonial Declaration.

  The UK maintains its sovereignty over the Falklands and stresses the right of self-determination for the islanders.

  The Assembly finally adopted a resolution urging the parties to negotiate immediately and settle the issue peacefully, and several subsequent Assemblies have made similar agreements or resolutions.

  In 1966, 18 young Argentines hijacked a plane and landed on the Falklands, demanding that the islands be returned.

  The UK and Argentina then signed an agreement, under which the UK agreed to gradually incorporate the islanders into Argentina, in order to resolve their identity document issues, allowing them to move freely and access higher education throughout Argentina.

  In 1971, Argentina built an airport 5 km from Puerto Argentino, with regular flights.

  In the early 1970s, surveys indicated that there might be rich oil and gas deposits, as well as other minerals, in the waters south of the Falklands, and the atmosphere surrounding Anglo-Argentine negotiations suddenly deteriorated.

  British diplomats negotiating with Argentine representatives in the United States proposed that sovereignty over the Falklands be transferred to Argentina, but that Argentina lease the islands back to Britain for a long period of time. Argentina rejected this proposal.

  When the British government submitted this plan for discussion in Parliament, it was strongly opposed by some people.

  The British government then stated that the Falkland Islanders should have the final say in deciding to which country the Islands should belong.

  There are also disputes between Argentina and the UK over South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

  According to Argentine sources, on June 29, 1756, the Spanish ship León first landed in South Georgia near the island that its captain named San Pedro.

  In 1775, British mariner John Cook surveyed the islands and mapped them, naming them the Islands of George the Third, from which South Georgia derives its name.

  November 16, 1904, a group of Argentine sailors landed on South Georgia Island.

  On January 1, 1905, they established a weather station at Gretvik harbor.

  On July 4, 1908, the United Kingdom declared that the vast region south of latitude 50°S and between longitudes 80°W and 20°E was a British dominion. This included the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, the South Shetland Islands, part of Santa Cruz Province in Argentina, southern provinces of Chile, and all of Tierra del Fuego.

  In 1928 Argentina first presented a formal claim to sovereignty over South Georgia through diplomatic channels.

  In 1950, the British raised the Union Jack on South Georgia and seized all equipment from the Argentine meteorological station, sending it back to Buenos Aires.

  In 1969, the British established a South Atlantic survey station and a whaling processing factory on the island.

  According to relevant information, the first person to arrive at South Sandwich Islands was Russian Bellingshausen, in 1819.

  On July 4, 1908, Britain declared the island to be under British jurisdiction but did not send anyone to occupy it.

  Argentina, driven by internal politics, diplomacy and economics, in order to maintain national dignity, state sovereignty and territorial integrity, to thoroughly eliminate the long-standing scourge of colonialism, decided to take other forms including military action to end British colonialist armed rule over the Malvinas, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and began active war preparations at home.

  July 5th, 1959, at three o'clock in the morning, inside Galaxy's largest - Jewel Club, gamblers were throwing away thousands of dollars, and the atmosphere was electric.

  The hall was filled with a thick, choking atmosphere, the smell of cigarette smoke and sweat hanging heavy in the air. The people crowded around the gaming tables were consumed by greed, fear, and anticipation, making the mood tense and uneasy, and causing the gamblers to be on edge, their minds and bodies exhausted.

  In this atmosphere, Guo Guoyong showed a great deal of difference: he judged the situation and withdrew from the battlefield in time, avoiding losing everything when physically and mentally exhausted and slow to react.

  He calmly left the roulette table he had been playing at and stepped outside the railing for a brief rest.

  Jin Qiang was still playing roulette, apparently he was still sitting in the banker's seat, in front of him were piles of white chips with spots, each representing one hundred dollars, under the shadow of his sturdy left arm were stacks of large yellow chips worth one thousand dollars each.

  Guo Guoyong sized up his partner's robust back, then shrugged and walked towards the chip exchange.

  The token exchange counter was located at the entrance, surrounded by a fence as high as the lower jaw, and the cashier sat behind the fence counter with an air of importance, very much like a small clerk in a bank.

  At this moment, he is busy counting a large amount of cash and chips, and categorizing them into the grid frames on the hanging cabinet.

  The cashier always has a big stick and a gun with him. If someone wants to climb over the railing, steal cash, and then climb back over the railing, escape through the corridor and several doors, it's a waste of effort. Moreover, the cashier is usually in pairs.

  Guo Guoyong came to the exchange counter and exchanged his chips for cash. As he stored the money in the counter, he was thinking about whether there was a possibility of being robbed here. This wasn't because he wanted to do anything bad, but just because he was interested in this matter. In the end, he determined that the possibility of being robbed here was not great.

  According to his estimate, doing such a thing would require at least ten well-trained burly men, and in today's Argentina or any other South American country, it is not easy to find ten loyal and dedicated good men.

  After ruling out the possibility of a robbery at the exchange counter, Guo Guoyong began to imagine tomorrow afternoon's routine business report meeting for the casino directors.

  Tomorrow's example report will definitely be like this: "Mr. Jin won $200,000, the amount he won is almost the same as usual, and Miss Fairfield made $5,000 in tips for Mr. Jin after doing three sets of croupier in an hour before leaving."

  Mr. Vikramjeet-Verleur played twice at the roulette and won five hundred thousand, he bet the highest amount of money, he was very lucky.

  Next up was Mr. Guo, a New Zealander, who won around $500,000 over the past two days, betting on red at table five using a progressive betting system.

  He looked calm and composed, handled things without panic, and with a smooth stroke of luck, won quite a bit. Last night's total revenue at the amusement park was... The meeting ended amidst a chorus of thanks.

  Kuo Kuo-yung thought as he walked out of the revolving door of the hall and nodded to the doorman who was wearing a night uniform.

  His duty was to check everyone who came in and out, and as soon as he found anything suspicious, he would immediately step on the electronic pedal, and the revolving door would be locked and could not be turned again.

  In the cloakroom, Guo Guoyong generously handed a $100 tip to the coat-check girl and then strode confidently down the club's steps into the quiet night.

  He took a deep breath of the fragrant and refreshing air, hoping to relax his stiff body and drive away the fatigue that was creeping up on him.

  He wondered if anyone had searched his room since he left the hotel before dinner.

  He walked through the broad, tree-lined avenue, past the gardens and back to his hotel, the Splendid, where a smiling porter handed him his key and a telegram.

  Cable from Jamaica reads: Kingston urgent cable - Argentine Mar del Plata magnificent hotel transfer to Kuo Kuo-yung, now remit to Cuba Havana cigar purchase amount one million US dollars, hope you are satisfied with this number. Best regards, Dacilva.

  This telegram means that a million dollars is already on its way.

  The day before yesterday, Guo Guoyong sent a telegram to Buenos Aires through the postal and telegraph office, which was forwarded to the Military Intelligence Bureau, requesting more funds as capital. This telegram is the reply to him.

  The Buenos Aires side informed Director Yao Shuiming about this matter, and Director Yao Shuiming smiled wryly and asked the accounting and finance departments to implement this matter.

  Kuo Kuo-yu had once worked in Jamaica and this time he came to Argentina on a mission, his cover identity was that of a very wealthy agent for the Jamaican company Carib Freight.

  He therefore had to go through Jamaica and Headquarters.

  The person in Jamaica who was in contact with him is named Fossett, a man of few words, and the head of the art department of the Caribbean's most famous newspaper, The Gleaner.

  Before the war, Foote worked as an accountant for a hosiery company. After the outbreak of war, he volunteered to leave his home in the Isle of Man and joined the military, serving as a clerk in a small naval intelligence agency in Malta.

  After the war, he was about to be demobilized and return to Grand Cayman Island, but felt that his ambitions had not been fulfilled and was very depressed. At this time, he was spotted by the person in charge of the Caribbean region of the South China Federation Military Intelligence Bureau.

  He then received rigorous and arduous training in photography and other art disciplines, before securing a position as photographer and art editor at the Gleaner newspaper on the recommendation of a prominent Jamaican.

  His main job at the newspaper was to process news photos provided by major news agencies around the world. In his spare time, he had to do some simple and easy-to-do tasks according to the telephone instructions of a superior whom he had never met before, which only required diligence and carefulness to accomplish.

  As payment for his services, he received two hundred pounds a month, nominally from a distant relative in England, credited to his account at the Bank of Jamaica.

  To assist Guo Guoyong in this special task, Fouchet must immediately transmit the instructions from headquarters to Guo Guoyong in Mar del Plata by urgent telegram, signed as Darcourt.

  His superiors told him that in order not to arouse the suspicion of local telegraph offices, all messages should nominally be commercial communications.

  He was very satisfied with his work performance, and as a reward to himself, he ordered a Morris car on installment payments. He also bought an adjustable green eyeshade which helped him look more like an art editor.