Dreams Of Malvinas

 

FALKLAND ISLANDS

Out There

The 10-week-long war over the Falkland Island, which Argentines refer to as the Malvinas Islands, claimed around 900 casualties. Argentina’s junta collapsed after they lost the war. Some say conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had proved her grace under pressure.

Dreams of the Malvinas are still alive and well, however. Writing in MercoPress, which covers South America, Johns Hopkins University Economist Steve Hank believed Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, who assumed office in December 2019, wants to reclaim the islands.

The islanders last voted to remain a British overseas territory in 2013. The outcome was 1,513 to three in favor of remaining. “Obviously it is a major principle of the United Nations that a people have their right to self-determination, and you don’t get a much clearer expression of the people’s self-determination,” Falkland Governor Nigel Haywood told the BBC at the time.

Argentina is pressing forward. Citing a 2013 Argentine law that protects natural resources in disputed areas, a judge in Tierra Del Fuego ordered authorities to seize $156 million in bank accounts, boats and other property owned by British oil companies working around the Falklands, the Independent reported. The companies don’t have property on Argentina, but diplomats will approach the United Kingdom to discuss the issue.

British officials called the move “bullying,” wrote the Express, a British tabloid.

Argentina is clearly interested in sharing a piece of the petroleum riches that have been discovered around the Falklands, a perfect staging ground for any oceanographic explorations in the South Atlantic or Antarctica.

Experts estimate that around 60 billion barrels are around the islands. As Phys.org described, researchers are already discussing how the islands will offset that carbon.

The Penguin News, a local Falkland publication, detailed how a new port under construction in the capital of Stanley would boost the fishing, shipping, agriculture and tourism industries. The latter could grow as the islands become what the BBC called a “ laboratory for food sustainability.”

Argentina is also insisting on its claims being taken seriously out of principle. Argentine officials complained when a stand at an agricultural fair in Montevideo, Uruguay used the term “Falkland” when describing the islands.

Islanders are trying to help heal the wounds of the war and perhaps bring Argentines and British subjects together. Both sides have been cooperating on a project to identify fallen Argentine soldiers with DNA analysis. The identifications facilitate family visits to the burial sites of their loved ones.

That’s land that both sides can find a way not to fight about.