This registered cover was prepared to get
an item of philatelic interest.
It was sent from Fox Bay and addressed to Buenos Aires.
Article 24 of the U.P.U. Constitution permits countries to refuse mail
franked
with stamps portraying matters politically unacceptable to the
recipient country.
The stamp is the £2 Queen Elizabeth II portrait from the 1983
issue commemorating
the 150th Anniversary of British Administration of
the Falkland Islands (SG 449).
This was definitely a matter which was politically unacceptable in
Argentina.
The Falklands
War of March to June, 1982, had recently ended and tempers had not
yet cooled
down.
On its arrival in Argentina the cover was struck with a stamp citing
authority for refusing the cover.
The address was crossed out and the item was presumably
returned to the
sender in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
The sender probably contacted a friend in the Falklands and requested
that he send the letter in hopes that it would be rejected.
The cover was postmarked in Fox Bay located on West Falkland island
toward the south of the channel separating the islands of West and East
Falkland.
Fox Bay is the home of the only woolen mill in the Falklands.
The cover was registered and a preprinted registry label was added.
It all worked as expected.
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