After an extensive dispute over ownership of the Falkland Islands, between the United Kingdom and Argentina, a war broke out in 1982 the conflict lasted approximately 74 days and killed 649 Argentines and 255 Britons according to Sky news. The war started after the Argentines military rulers seized the islands, and nearly 900 people died before the British naval force debarred the military rulers. Since the early 19th century, Argentina has claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands also known as the Islas Malvinas and the associated islands around it but in 1833 Britain landed there to claim this remote territory as their own, they seized the islands expelling the few Argentinean occupants that remained there and since then has rejected Argentina’s claims to the islands.
At the beginning of this crisis not a lot of Britons or anyone else for that matter knew about the group of islands Britain claimed as its own territory 8000 miles away, but as soon as the invasion took place the prime minister at that time; Margaret Thatcher made her opinion very clear in the house of commons that “It’s the Government’s intention to see the Islands are freed from occupation and returned to British administration at the earliest possible moment,” she said. This conflict was considered to be the UK’s last “colonial” war overseas.
However last week the Argentine government announced that all shipping, travelling between Argentina and the Falkland Islands, South Georgia or the South Sandwich islands would require a permit. But a British oil company is due to start drilling off the shores of Falkland Islands, and rows have started to break out once again between London and Buenos Aires over the territorial waters around the archipelago.
Argentina is infuriated by the fact that, the company ‘Desire Petroleum’ wants to begin its drilling operations in the rich seabed in an area Britain claims to own. Actually the relations between the two nations were going quite well until it was estimated that there is 60 billion barrels of oil around the Falklands, and since then the UK has tried to get explorers and drillers over there for more information on this matter
. Recently they towed a platform about 100km (62 miles) north of the islands which ‘Desire Petroleum’ says is strictly inside British waters, though the islands only lie 480km (300 miles) east of the Argentinean coast.
Argentina claims that Britain, who is a UN Security Council member, is dodging UN resolutions. Nevertheless the county’s deputy foreign minister, Victorio Taccetti, insisted there would be no repeat of the 1982 war with Britain, but also said that “The day the United Kingdom has a tough time operating (on oil prospecting), they will negotiate with us”. The UK’s defence minister Bill Rammell responded to this by saying that “There has been no change whatsoever to our policy and we have no doubt whatsoever about the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, and no change in our support to their legitimate right to develop a hydrocarbon industry within its waters”.
Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez continues to uphold the view that the Falklands are occupied by Britain illegally, she also agrees with the deputy foreign minister by saying that the UK is not complying with the UN resolutions that oblige both countries to negotiate on their future relations. Argentina has already started to lobby countries holding meetings in Mexico with the Rio Group of Latin and Caribbean leaders summit in Cancun next week to condemn what they called Britain’s “unilateral and illegal” exploration in the islands.
Other leaders like the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has already stepped into the dispute by accusing Britain of flouting international laws. Now that matters have got a little serious the foreign minister of Argentina has asked “the UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon … to stress to Britain the need to abstain from further unilateral acts,” in the meantime the UK has restated that they are ones who actually hold the sovereignty of the Falklands archipelago and that they will continue to support the Falkland government in this legitimate business.
I believe that the issues that have risen are ones that need considerable thought, there is really no way to prove which country has the real right to ownership of the Falkland Islands, it is however obvious that considering the fact that the islands are much closer to Argentina than the UK, Argentina’s viewpoint on the issue should be given importance and if Britain has signed a UN resolution than it should simply follow its conditions as set out, in other words both countries should negotiate with each other about what should be done regarding this matter.
I seriously think that there is really a need for mid level negotiations, especially in this day and age where war is not the answer to anything. Argentina should not be oblivious to the fact that Britain’s intentions really lie in the hydrocarbon industry and not in the betterment of the Falklands but undoubtedly Britain can raise the same issue against Argentina.
