tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/malvinas-2274/articlesMalvinas – The Conversation2022-04-19T16:04:44Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1813642022-04-19T16:04:44Z2022-04-19T16:04:44ZThe Falklands War, 40 years on: why ‘Las Malvinas’ are still such an emotive issue in Argentina<p>At this time of year, the Falkland Islands (or <em>Islas Malvinas</em>) take centre stage in public and political life across Argentina. April 2 marked the 40th anniversary of what many Argentines think of as the “recovery” of an integral part of their national territory from the UK. The “recovery” was only to last for 74 days before a British task force defeated Argentine troops and reclaimed what the UK government recognises as a British overseas territory – the Falkland Islands.</p>
<p>This year, the conflict has been marked with a <a href="https://en.mercopress.com/2022/03/31/tierra-del-fuego-malvinas-war-commemoration-events-includes-a-time-capsule-to-be-opened-april-2082">calendar of events</a> as Argentina continues to try to come to terms with what happened between April and June 1982. The framing of the military campaign in Argentina as territorial “recovery” is important for understanding the continued resonance of the Malvinas sovereignty claim and the emotional legacies wrapped up with the war. </p>
<p>Writing in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/02/falklands-war-britain-sovereignty-uk-un-resolutions">UK’s Guardian newspaper</a> on the 40th anniversary of the invasion of the islands, Argentinian foreign minister, Santiago Cafiero, stated that “the recovery of sovereignty [of the Malvinas] is an inalienable objective of the Argentine people”. </p>
<p>This is hardly surprising, given that an <a href="https://publicofficialsfinancialdisclosure.worldbank.org/sites/fdl/files/assets/law-library-files/Argentina_Constitution_1994_en.pdf">amendment to Argentina’s Constitution in 1994</a> effectively demanded that all subsequent governments commit to “the recovery … and the full exercise of sovereignty” of the Malvinas and other south-west Atlantic territories, which include <a href="https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/south-georgia-and-south-sandwich-islands">South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands</a>. </p>
<p>Between 2003 and 2015, presidents Néstor and Cristina Kirchner placed increased attention on the Malvinas, installing it as a priority issue both in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/10/why-fernandez-reopening-falklands-wounds">domestic politics and foreign policy</a>. In 2014, Cristina Kirchner established the <a href="https://www.cancilleria.gob.ar/en/ministry-foreign-affairs-international-trade-and-worship/secretariat-malvinas-islands-antarctica-and">Malvinas Secretariat</a> to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/07/falkland-islands-argentina-malvinas-secretary">coordinate Argentina’s strategy</a> in relation to the Malvinas sovereignty dispute. It was recently reinstated by the current Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, after being shelved by his predecessor, Mauricio Macri, during his term of office from 2015-2019. </p>
<p>Fernández has also established a <a href="https://www.cancilleria.gob.ar/es/actualidad/noticias/quedo-integrado-el-consejo-nacional-de-asuntos-relativos-las-islas-malvinas">National Council for Issues Relating to the Malvinas</a>. This consists of politicians from different political parties, academics and war veterans. The council looks to further strengthen Argentine arguments in relation to the sovereignty dispute. It also aims to develop policies that lead to the islands eventual “recovery”.</p>
<p>The extent of Argentina’s political investment in the Malvinas question is made possible by the omnipresence of the islands in everyday life throughout the country. The outline of the islands is reproduced on road signs, war monuments, company logos and most recently, <a href="https://en.mercopress.com/2021/11/22/malvinas-islands-crest-in-all-tierra-del-fuego-sportswear-and-school-uniforms">school uniforms</a> and <a href="https://www.eldiariodelapampa.com.ar/la-pampa/29867-piden-que-las-tarjetas-del-blp-lleven-una-leyenda-de-malvinas">credit cards</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1510244210963853315"}"></div></p>
<p>The slogans “<em>Las Malvinas son Argentinas</em>” (The Malvinas are Argentine) or <a href="https://twitter.com/alferdez/status/1510244210963853315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">as the Argentine president more recently stated on Twitter</a>, “<em>Las Malvinas fueron, son y serán argentinos</em>” (The Malvinas were, are and will be Argentine) reinforcing the notion of “recovery” of national sovereignty over the islands, are also a familiar sight in public spaces. A recent government initiative will require all forms of public transport to <a href="https://www.infobae.com/politica/2022/04/04/todos-los-medios-de-transporte-deberan-llevar-el-cartel-las-islas-malvinas-son-argentinas/">carry the words “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”</a>. </p>
<p>One could point to these constant reminders as evidence of Argentina’s geopolitical insecurity about its territorial claims in the south-west Atlantic. Politicians in the UK and on the islands themselves <a href="https://en.mercopress.com/2022/04/04/falklands-mla-roger-spink-we-identify-with-ukraine-because-in-1982-we-were-invaded-by-a-dictator-that-ruled-a-neighboring-country">regularly point out</a> that this campaign is a political strategy to distract public attention from its economic woes. </p>
<p>And it’s important to acknowledge that <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0962629811001582">not all Argentine citizens</a> read these territorial reminders in ways that are uniformly supportive of the government in Buenos Aires. Some young Argentines are critical of the amount of political energy spent on the “recovery” of the Malvinas. This is particularly the case given the challenges many face in their everyday lives as a result of inflation and broader economic instability.</p>
<p>The ubiquity of references to the Malvinas in Argentine public life begins in Argentina’s schools and are particularly prominent around the anniversary of the war. In primary and secondary schools, Argentine children <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/157332">are reminded</a> of “lost” national territory through the teaching of history and geography. </p>
<p>School classrooms almost always feature a map of the Argentine nation that include territories claimed by Argentina but over which it has no effective jurisdiction. A rousing hymn called the <a href="https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/marcha-malvinas.pdf">Malvinas March</a> is performed by school children across the country to coincide with the anniversary. Veterans of the Malvinas War <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0962629821000111">regularly visit schools</a> to relay their first-hand accounts, further encouraging an emotional connection with their experiences and the wider cause for which they were fighting. </p>
<p>The fact that most of these soldiers were conscripts, some of whom were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/02/argentina-falklands-veterans-day-of-sadness">mistreated by their superiors</a> during the war, only serves to amplify the poignancy associated with the war’s memory for schoolchildren and adults alike. This is because many young lives were lost in a war that most Argentines continue to see as “just”, partly as a result of the Argentine territorial nationalism described above and hostility towards the history of British colonial influence in the region. </p>
<p>Yet many Argentines also recognise that, just or not, it was a war orchestrated and corrupted by a <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/the-general-who-took-and-then-lost-the-falklands-1.345872">murderous dictatorship</a> that was responsible for the abuse of civilians and conscripted soldiers alike. </p>
<p>These elements continue to animate the majority of Argentina’s electorate 40 years after the 1982 war <a href="https://cancilleria.gob.ar/es/mas-del-80-por-ciento-de-la-poblacion-argentina-respalda-el-reclamo-de-soberania-sobre-malvinas">according to a recent poll</a>. The poll found that more than 80% of respondents believe that Argentina should continue with its claim for the exercise of sovereignty over the Malvinas. </p>
<p>This overwhelming public support means the Malvinas are an effective rallying call for any government in Argentina, and for this reason efforts to “recover” sovereignty over the islands are unlikely to fade any time soon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181364/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Benwell has previously received funding from the Leverhulme Trust (ECF-2012-329).</span></em></p>Four decades after it’s invasion was defeated by a UK ‘task force’, Argentina remains committed to ‘recovering’ the Falkland Islands.Matthew Benwell, Lecturer in Human Geography, Newcastle UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/664652016-10-06T13:06:25Z2016-10-06T13:06:25ZArgentina’s president makes the ultimate diplomatic mistake – talking about the Falkland Islands<p>As part of his mission to rebrand his country as finally open for business again, Argentine President Mauricio Macri recently voiced his enthusiasm for turning over a new leaf in Argentine-British relations, and the positive prospects this would have on South Atlantic affairs. He even hinted that the British government <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/21/argentine-president-mentions-falklands-in-brief-chat-with-theres/">might be willing to open discussions</a> about the sovereignty of the disputed <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-and-argentina-agree-joint-statement-on-areas-of-mutual-cooperation">Falkland Islands</a> or as they’re known in Argentina, the Islas Malvinas. </p>
<p>This was a mistake – a silly, amateurish, unforced mistake. Macri’s apparently idle comments immediately incurred a barrage of criticism at home, even among allies. The Argentine foreign minister, Susana Malcorra, immediately had to <a href="http://www.telam.com.ar/notas/201609/163880-malcorra-malvinas.html">put a gloss on Macri’s comments</a>, with Congress calling on her to clarify the “new strategy”. The British Foreign Office, meanwhile, issued a blunt statement that sovereignty matters were not on the table.</p>
<p>Clearly, Macri has yet to master the nuances of this issue, which ties governments in knots on both sides of the Atlantic. </p>
<p>Macri is exuberantly advancing a new foreign policy across the board, realigning Argentina with the liberal world order, reintegrating the country into the <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2016/09/economist-explains-15">global economy</a>, and <a href="https://rusi.org/publication/newsbrief/examining-argentina%E2%80%99s-new-foreign-policy-under-macri">defrosting relations</a> with influential Western countries and institutions. </p>
<p>In the case of the UK, this includes broadening bilateral relations beyond the islands in question. Foreign Secretary Susana Macorra – who was a candidate for the post of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-un-ended-up-with-antonio-guterres-as-its-new-secretary-general-66625">UN secretary general</a> – explained that the islands are simply part of the 20% of policy on which both countries disagree, and that Argentina’s plan is now to <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/37bcf3a8-190a-11e6-b197-a4af20d5575e">focus on the other 80%</a>.</p>
<p>But Macri needs to understand that there’s a very big difference between what can be done about the issue and what can be said about it – and that in the world of diplomacy, words can cost a government dearly.</p>
<h2>No way out</h2>
<p>Until now, perhaps the only point of agreement between political elites and public opinion in both Argentina and the UK has been that as far as normal bilateral relations go, there will be no discussion about the islands’ sovereignty. The challenge is to find ways to collaborate without unnecessarily forcing the issue.</p>
<p>This is easier in Britain than in Argentina. The British government can afford to go about its business without even acknowledging the dispute, but Argentina’s leaders have no such luxury. The islands are not an ancillary foreign policy concern in Argentina, but a highly contentious domestic issue. The country’s constitution commands to advance the question of their sovereignty, and the Malvinas are referenced everywhere; their geography figures on some 50 peso notes and decorates the names of streets, schools, and municipalities across the country.</p>
<p>Whoever leads, Argentina has to take a stand one way or another. As detailed by Argentine scholar Juan Gabriel Tokatlian, this means the country’s strategy tends to <a href="http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1940045-malvinas-para-tokatlian-las-palabras-de-macri-fueron-un-paso-en-falso">oscillate between extremes</a>. </p>
<p>Under first Néstor Kirchner and then Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the government was <a href="https://theconversation.com/argentine-election-the-kirchners-falklands-policy-has-backfired-spectacularly-50105">steadfastly uncooperative</a>. It isolated the islanders, denounced the situation <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23596312">at the United Nations</a> and elsewhere, and made it difficult for British companies to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/17/argentina-launches-legal-action-to-prevent-falklands-oil-and-gas-drilling">exploit natural resources</a> near the islands. This sort of strategy did nothing to win over the islanders or Britain, much less to advance the situation to Argentina’s benefit – but it was good politics at home. </p>
<p>Now Argentina finds itself at the other extreme, pursuing Macri’s benevolent strategy to <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-argentina-find-a-constructive-way-to-engage-with-the-falkland-islanders-54013">improve relations with the islanders</a> while opening negotiations with Britain on trade, fishing, and oil exploitation.</p>
<p>The problem for Macri, Britain and the islanders alike is that the mere mention of sovereignty immediately inflames issue on both sides, rapidly raising the stakes, hardening the parties’ positions, and restricting diplomatic space for all concerned. </p>
<p>President Macri could soon learn that he has little to gain from being nice, and be forced into a less co-operative position. To avoid this, he should keep in mind his own instruction and focus on the better 80% of British dealings, all while accepting what Britain already knows: that bilateral relations can improve without major concessions on South Atlantic issues, either from London or Buenos Aires. </p>
<p>As he scrambles to recalibrate after his clumsy intervention, he might also remember Wittgenstein’s famous dictum: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66465/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alejandro Milcíades Peña does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The decades-old dispute in the South Atlantic is the third rail of Argentine politics – and Mauricio Macri has blithely tripped over it.Alejandro Milcíades Peña, Lecturer in International Politics, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/569562016-03-29T22:06:49Z2016-03-29T22:06:49ZFalklands row adds up to much ado about not much in the South Atlantic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116682/original/image-20160329-18939-ql0kko.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Falkland Islands (Las Islas Malvinas): a rocky outpost at the centre of a centuries-long dispute.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Falkland_Islands_topographic_map-en.svg">Eric Gaba</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Has a United Nations international boundary committee really “sided with Argentina” by expanding its maritime limits in the South Atlantic by a third to include the disputed Falkland Islands, or Islas Malvinas, as <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/argentina/12206179/Argentina-celebrates-UN-decision-to-expand-its-maritime-territory-to-include-Falkland-Islands.html">has been widely reported</a>?</p>
<p>In fact, the announcement from a subcommittee of the <a href="http://www.un.org/depts/los/clcs_new/clcs_home.htm">Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf</a> (CLCS) does no such thing. The CLCS was established by the <a href="http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/closindx.htm">1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea</a> to do one thing: verify the scientific data that a state submits to determine the limits of its outer continental shelf, and therefore the extent of the area to which it has exclusive access to seabed resources. </p>
<p>A state’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) runs from 12-200 nautical miles from shore, and beyond that lies the outer continental shelf, extending as far as 350 nautical miles or potentially even further. Because the scientific basis for making such claims is highly technical, the UN established the CLCS to assess states’ submissions. Right from the beginning it was recognised that in many cases states’ claims could legitimately overlap. </p>
<h2>Claim and counter-claim</h2>
<p>For instance, imagine a situation where Country A and Country B are 500 nautical miles apart from each other. Country A makes a submission proposing that there is a contiguous seabed that goes all the way to Country B. In such a case, the 200 nautical miles closest to Country A would clearly be part of Country A’s EEZ, the 200 nautical miles closest to Country B would clearly be part of Country B’s EEZ, and the 100 nautical miles in the middle would seemingly be awarded to Country A.</p>
<p>However, while disputes over territory on land or in territorial waters near the coast are zero-sum games – where one country’s gain is necessarily another’s loss – in this case the science that supports the geological contiguity of the seabed backing Country A’s claim is very likely to also support the same claims made by Country B. </p>
<p>This is acknowledged under the Law of the Sea through separating the verification of the science from the actual drawing of boundaries. Having certified the scientific basis for any claims, the CLCS turns the matter to arbitration or to a tribunal that then can divide up the shared space between the states with legitimate claims to it. Often this involves just drawing a line down the middle. However, that line may be adjusted – due to differences in the competing states’ populations or historic factors, for example. Or the two states may decide to administer their overlapping seabeds jointly and share resource revenues equitably.</p>
<h2>Share and share alike: it works in the Arctic</h2>
<p>Despite popular conceptions of an ongoing rush for Arctic territory, states with competing claims have recognised their shared interest in <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-truth-about-politics-and-cartography-mapping-claims-to-the-arctic-seabed-46043">establishing scientific data universally agreed by all</a>. So although Canada, Denmark, Russia, and the US are all ultimately competitors for what lies beneath the seabed of the Arctic Ocean, they generally recognise that acknowledgement of each state’s claim – including their own – is dependent on universal recognition of scientific data. They have therefore been working closely together to map the ocean floor, sharing costs, exchanging specialised expertise and equipment, and uploading data to an openly accessible website: the <a href="http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/bathymetry/arctic/arctic.html">International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean</a>.</p>
<p>A similar situation could exist in the South Atlantic, but for the long-running dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands which has at times broken into open military conflict, most recently during the Falklands War of 1982. There is no equivalent dispute over land, rather than ocean, territory among the Arctic nations.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116680/original/image-20160329-13679-5s0nmy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116680/original/image-20160329-13679-5s0nmy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116680/original/image-20160329-13679-5s0nmy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116680/original/image-20160329-13679-5s0nmy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116680/original/image-20160329-13679-5s0nmy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116680/original/image-20160329-13679-5s0nmy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116680/original/image-20160329-13679-5s0nmy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116680/original/image-20160329-13679-5s0nmy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Competing South Atlantic territorial claims by Argentina and the UK.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/resources/south_atlantic/">IBRU/Durham University</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>No end in sight yet</h2>
<p>Well aware of the dispute, the CLCS has moved carefully in the South Atlantic. In 2009 the UK and Argentina both made submissions to the CLCS with significant overlap, as demonstrated by this map produced by <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/">IBRU, the Centre for Borders Research</a> at Durham University. </p>
<p>This is a case where shared scientific research could support both sides’ claims. When the CLCS empowered a subcommittee to make a preliminary determination on Argentina’s claims in 2012 it noted that a final determination could not be made until the Falkland/Malvinas sovereignty dispute was settled. So even while this subcommittee has now endorsed Argentina’s science, and regardless of the fact that it’s been promoted as a “win” for the Argentine government (and, by implication, a “loss” for the UK), it doesn’t, in fact, move the process forward. There can be no progress until the sovereignty issue is settled. </p>
<p>Indeed, the CLCS finding that Argentina’s science is sound is also likely to strengthen the UK’s claim to the contested seabed around the islands. Should the UK’s claim to the islands be recognised, the CLCS finding makes it more likely than ever that the seabed between the islands and the Argentine mainland will need to be shared.</p>
<p>In the long run the UK and Argentina will have to move toward finding a shared interest – perhaps even the two states can achieve <em>détente</em> through science (and the hope of a share of the region’s oil and mineral wealth). Unfortunately in the short term the ruling has invoked only passions and political posturing that does nothing to move towards a solution for the South Atlantic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56956/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Steinberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A UN committee has agreed with the science underpinning Falklands boundary claims, but without solving the sovereignty issue the dispute is no closer to a solution.Philip Steinberg, Professor of Political Geography; Director, IBRU: Durham University's Centre for Borders Research, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/501052015-11-23T06:27:12Z2015-11-23T06:27:12ZArgentine election: the Kirchners’ Falklands policy has backfired spectacularly<p>For the first time in 12 years, the new occupant of the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace in Buenos Aires, will no longer bear the surname Kirchner.</p>
<p>This is the constitutionally mandated end of a political chapter that began with the <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/1788367">election of Nestor Kirchner</a> as president in 2003 – and which survived the political <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/29/argentina.rorycarroll">succession of his wife Cristina</a> in 2007, Nestor’s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10627873">death</a> three years later, and Cristina’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/24/cristina-kirchner-win-argentina-elections">re-election</a> in 2011.</p>
<p>Many on the centre-left of Argentine politics will fear the gradual rolling back of the popular (and populist) social welfare measures that have defined “<a href="http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21676824-and-beginning-saner-economic-policies-perhaps-end-kirchnerismo">Kirchnerismo</a>”. Many on the political right will scent an opportunity to tackle corruption and resuscitate the zombie-like Argentine economy, which has been dogged by defaults on international loans and the manipulation of <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21548242">official economic data</a>.</p>
<p>For Falkland Islanders, the political passing of the Kirchners might seem justifiable cause for raucous celebrations in the pubs and government offices of Stanley. After all, their lives and livelihoods have been hit hard by aggressive Argentine policies during the Kirchner years. </p>
<p>Trade links between the Falklands and Latin America have been curtailed, vital cruise ship tourism has been threatened and the Argentine government has sought to turn the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/las-malvinas-or-falkland-islands-british-or-argentinean-6106">Malvinas</a>” dispute into a pan-Latin American fight against the last vestiges of colonialism. </p>
<p>And yet, over the same period, the Falkland Islands has engineered a remarkable social, political, cultural and economic revival. The islands’ government, far from succumbing to Kirchnerismo measures, has been emboldened by it, with Cristina Fernández de Kirchner an ideal (if unintentional) villain.</p>
<h2>Blind alley</h2>
<p>The direction of travel for Kirchnerismo foreign policy was clear from the outset. As soon as Nestor took power, the policy of automatic alignment with the US was ditched in favour of stronger ties with Russia, China and Latin American neighbours and the government quickly began prioritising the distinctively “southern” concerns of its <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/argentina/9076133/The-Argentine-president-and-her-empire-in-the-south.html">Patagonian leaders</a>. </p>
<p>Within months of Nestor’s inauguration, his government proposed discussions with the UK over scheduled flights from Argentina to the Falkland Islands. This seemingly reasonable suggestion came with two rather important caveats: that any discussions would be strictly bilateral ones between the UK and Argentine governments and that all charter flights to and from the Falklands would, with immediate effect, be <a href="https://falklandsnews.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/argentina-to-negotiate-with-the-falkland-islands-government/">banned from passing through Argentine airspace</a>.</p>
<p>Bilateralism deliberately excluded Falkland Islanders from participating in discussions on their own future; the charter flights issue revealed a new willingness in Argentina to undermine the Falklands’ economy by restricting connections to other countries. Unsurprisingly, the negotiations never took place.</p>
<p>Four years later, in 2007, the Nestor Kirchner government scrapped the “Joint Declaration” (signed in 1995) that had <a href="http://fiassociation.com/shopimages/pdfs/7.%25201995%2520Joint%2520Declaration%2520on%2520Cooperation%2520Over%2520Offshore%2520Activities%2520in%2520the%2520South%2520West%2520Atlantic..pdf">guaranteed joint UK-Argentine cooperation in oil hydrocarbon exploration</a> in the southwest Atlantic. Energy companies active in the Falkland Islands were, in turn, banned from also operating in Argentina.</p>
<p>Cristina de Kirchner has continued her late husband’s approach. In December 2011, the other Mercosur countries agreed, at her urging, to <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2011/12/29/falklands-flagged-vessels-another-diplomatic-victory-for-president-fernandez">close their ports to ships flying the Falkland Islands flag</a>. This was followed in 2012 by a ban on all British-flagged ships (including Royal Navy vessels on official tours) entering the province of Buenos Aires. In 2013, it was announced that oil executives linked to drilling in the Falklands <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/28/argentina-jail-threat-over-falklands-drilling">would be arrested</a> if they set foot in Argentina.</p>
<p>Running alongside these economic sanctions, Cristina has thrown her weight behind high-profile public campaigns that have both pushed Argentine sovereignty claims and challenged islanders’ claims to self-determination. Many of these have been developed by <a href="https://twitter.com/FilmusDaniel">Daniel Filmus</a>, a loyal Cristina supporter and Argentina’s first Secretaría de Asuntos Relativos a las Islas Malvinas (Secretary for Matters Relating to the Malvinas Islands). She has courted <a href="https://rhulgeopolitics.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/celebrity-geopolitics/">celebrity endorsements</a> for Argentina’s cause and publicised them widely – often on her <a href="https://twitter.com/cfkargentina">own Twitter account</a>.</p>
<p>She has offered the presidential seal of approval to TV and newspaper adverts that deal with the issue, including a <a href="https://rhulgeopolitics.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/383/">secretly filmed advert</a> which showed Argentine Olympic hopeful Fernando Zylberberg “training” on the Falkland Islands during the run up to the London Olympics in 2012. The ad was notable for its complete and rather eerie absence of Falkland Islanders.</p>
<p>And yet, for all the Kirchners’ hard and soft geopolitics, the Falkland Islands have arguably never been economically stronger, more politically determined or more diplomatically confident. </p>
<h2>Growing confidence</h2>
<p>Falkland Island waters, already home to well-managed and sustainable fisheries, may well yield <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/11545640/Race-is-on-to-tap-1bn-barrels-of-oil-in-the-Falkland-Islands.html">substantial hydrocarbon resources</a> in the not-too-distant future. The <a href="http://www.falklands.gov.fk/self-governance/the-constitution/">revised 2008 Constitution</a> has strengthened the Falklands as a democratic and self-governing territory and the <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0032247413000326">2013 Referendum</a> provided both a resounding commitment to remaining a British Overseas Territory but also a globally visible demonstration of Falkland Islands self-determination at work. </p>
<p>On the diplomatic stage, too, islanders have met Argentina’s challenge and have proven to be articulate spokespeople at the UN and elsewhere. Younger islanders have been particularly effective advocates on social media, sharing their message <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfdx4Nwl3TQ">in Spanish</a> as well as English.</p>
<p>Far from squeezing the economic life out of the islands, the Kirchner years have turned them into a media-savvy and politically active community. With their vote-chasing grandstanding, the Kirchners have turned one and perhaps two generations of Falkland Islanders <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/windswept-remotewho-would-want-to-live-in-the-falkland-islands-8577203.html">firmly against any kind of co-operation</a> with Argentina. </p>
<p>Herein lies the lesson for the Kirchners’ successor. Until Argentina once again treats the Falklands-Malvinas issue as both a diplomatic and fundamentally human problem and not an object of domestic political opportunism, the islanders will continue to turn away from their nearest neighbour and forge their own future.</p>
<p>As the Argentine political scientist Carlos Escude <a href="http://en.mercopress.com/2014/11/12/falklands-malvinas-current-policy-is-a-losing-option-and-leads-nowhere">conceded</a>: “If policy was intelligent we could discuss agreements that could bring certain benefits to Argentina. What we have currently generates no benefit at all. It has become a problem for a long list of governments to come.”</p>
<p>Reversing this position will not be easy. The incoming president will need a new vision for the South Atlantic – and the political strength to change course.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50105/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alasdair Pinkerton has received funding from the ESRC, the Shackleton Scholarship Fund, and was an Accredited Academic Observer of the Falkland Islands referendum in 2013.</span></em></p>With 12 years of vote-winning diplomatic stunts, the Kirchners have galvanised the Falkland Islanders against Argentina for years to come.Alasdair Pinkerton, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/61062012-04-02T04:17:00Z2012-04-02T04:17:00ZLas Malvinas or Falkland Islands: British or Argentinean?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9053/original/8ns5kfkt-1332898714.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Graves of Argentinean servicemen killed by UK forces in the 1982 war.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/EPA/Flight Sergeant Andy Carnall</span></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9052/original/3gwd5jbh-1332898660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9052/original/3gwd5jbh-1332898660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=719&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9052/original/3gwd5jbh-1332898660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=719&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9052/original/3gwd5jbh-1332898660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=719&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9052/original/3gwd5jbh-1332898660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9052/original/3gwd5jbh-1332898660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9052/original/3gwd5jbh-1332898660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protestors hurl paint at the HSBC bank in Buenos Aires after the UK announced Prince William would be posted to Las Malvinas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/EPA/Leo La Valle</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The first buildings in Las Malvinas – or the Falklands as the British call the islands in the South Atlantic – were houses made of stone and were built by Argentinean hands. </p>
<p>It was in 1831 when forty men – led by Luis Vernet, the first Argentinean commander in Las Malvinas – settled here. Along with him came his wife, María who gave birth a girl who was christened Malvinas. The Argentinean settlement in this merciless land didn’t last long though. </p>
<p>In 1833 the British colonial power invaded Las Mavinas, and what happen afterwards is now called “ethnic cleansing” – hundreds of English settlers were artificially introduced while all Argentineans were expelled. </p>
<p>The British invasion and the thorny question of who owns Las Malvinas - has been reignited with unprecedented fervour on April 2, the date marking the 30th anniversary of the Argentinean and British war, in 1982. The tension between Buenos Aires and London has escalated. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9051/original/6cq98swj-1332898589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9051/original/6cq98swj-1332898589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9051/original/6cq98swj-1332898589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9051/original/6cq98swj-1332898589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9051/original/6cq98swj-1332898589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9051/original/6cq98swj-1332898589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9051/original/6cq98swj-1332898589.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Union Jack is torched outside the British embassy in Buenos Aires.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/EPA/Daniel Feldman</span></span>
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<p>The war of 1982 was a folly led by the madness of the then Argentinean dictator General Leopoldo Galtieri, who couldn’t find anything better to do than recover the islands by force. The conflict, which lasted 74 days, caused the death of 649 Argentinean soldiers, 255 British and three civilians. His military jaunt – more of an attempt to divert attention from his crumbling dictatorship than anything - had nothing to do with the genuine aspiration of Argentina to recover Las Malvinas. </p>
<p>The current push by Argentina to recover Las Malvinas, encapsulated by the energetic diplomatic offensive of the Argentinean president Cristina Kirchner, is today not only genuine but also legitimate. President Kirchner has described the recovery of Las Malvinas as a “struggle against colonisation”.</p>
<p>Kirchner has transformed the recovery of Las Malvinas into a central piece of her renewed political mandate; she was re-elected recently with an overwhelming majority. And - in contrast to the military adventurism of 1982 - President Kirchner’s renewed claim for La Malvinas is not a political “gambit”, as the British media and commentators have tried to discredit it. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9089/original/x5jqh2z3-1332976779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9089/original/x5jqh2z3-1332976779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9089/original/x5jqh2z3-1332976779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9089/original/x5jqh2z3-1332976779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9089/original/x5jqh2z3-1332976779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=649&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9089/original/x5jqh2z3-1332976779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=649&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9089/original/x5jqh2z3-1332976779.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=649&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">“A struggle against colonialism”: Argentinean President Cristina Kirchner.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/EPA/Leo La Valle</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>President Kirchner is articulating a genuine national aspiration and she is playing by the rules. Her foreign minister Héctor Timerman has been tireless running up and down the corridors of the UN trying to get the British government to sit down and discuss a peaceful solution to the conflict. He has sought mediation at all levels of the UN, General Secretary, General Assembly and the Security Council. All of them have pledged to help. </p>
<p>But London has plainly ignored the diplomatic efforts made by Buenos Aires and has stated that it will not negotiate over the sovereignty unless the inhabitants of the islands wish to do so. </p>
<p>Similarly, the UK has never acknowledged the United Nations 1514 resolution – the Declaration over the Independence of Countries and Colonial People - that establishes that any attempt to break the national unity and territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the principles and purposes of the UN. </p>
<p>The uncooperative approach taken by London has been further worsened by the UN British ambassador Mark Lyall Grant “warning” Argentina that any attempt to use the April 2 anniversary to launch a “military adventure” would be confronted by a “robust defence.” As if the Argentinean government was planning to do so. </p>
<p>Lyall Grant’s unhelpful statement is a reflection of the aggressive approach taken by London, one that has been accompanied by the British government’s hasty militarisation of Las Malvinas and the Southern Atlantic. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9054/original/4y78yq2p-1332899597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9054/original/4y78yq2p-1332899597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9054/original/4y78yq2p-1332899597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9054/original/4y78yq2p-1332899597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9054/original/4y78yq2p-1332899597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9054/original/4y78yq2p-1332899597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9054/original/4y78yq2p-1332899597.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">“British out from Las Malvinas: we shall return” - graffiti in Buenos Aires.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Antonio Castillo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the last few months this remote part of the world has witnessed the arrival of several Typhoon II – the latest generation of warplanes (they have been used in Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq); HMS Dauntless – the most advanced war ship of the British navy; and HMS Vanguard – a nuclear submarine. This in contravention of the 1967 Treaty of Tlalelolco that banned nuclear arms in Latin America, the Pacific and Caribbean region. </p>
<p>“Great Britain has transformed Las Malvinas Island into a key military base for the control of the South Atlantic, the inter-oceanic access and projection into the Antarctica securing the exploitation of the natural resources of the South Atlantic that belongs to the Argentinean people,” an Argentinean Ministry of Foreign Affairs communiqué said. </p>
<p>Buenos Aires has no doubt that the militarisation of the zone – a bit disproportionate by all accounts - has nothing to do with the defence of the 2,500 British citizens living in Las Malvinas. But it has everything to do with the control of the vast natural resources in the area.</p>
<p>The British government announced an ambitious plan to drill in the area that seems to contain, according to some experts, the equivalent of 60 million barrels of crude oil. </p>
<p>The British action is in contravention of the United Nations ban on unilateral development and exploitation of territories still under dispute. On this, one has to concur with Argentina’s foreign affairs minister Héctor Timerman that the British government is acting “above the judicial international order.” </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9066/original/cnkrx8h5-1332901350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9066/original/cnkrx8h5-1332901350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9066/original/cnkrx8h5-1332901350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9066/original/cnkrx8h5-1332901350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9066/original/cnkrx8h5-1332901350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9066/original/cnkrx8h5-1332901350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9066/original/cnkrx8h5-1332901350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Prince William poses with a map of Las Malvinas ahead of his posting to the British possession.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/EPA/Sgt Andry Malthouse Abipp</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The militarisation of the South Atlantic and certainly the British colonial presence in the region has not gone down well in Latin America. After all, this is a region that has suffered to this day the damaging effects of imperialism and colonisation; first under Spanish colonial rule and then under US imperialism. </p>
<p>No wonder Las Malvinas’ sovereignty is no longer an Argentinean aspiration only. It has become a Latin American claim. The largest majority of Latin American countries have acted in block to support Argentina’s legitimate claim, including Chile - a traditionally pro-English country that under the military dictatorship of General Pinochet provided logistic support to the British in the war of 1982. Last December several Latin American countries announced they would block any ships navigating under the “Falklands” flag. </p>
<p>In addition several Latin American leaders have expressed their support for Argentina’s claim. Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa wrote on Twitter an impassionate message: “Las Malvinas is a Latin American cause, dear Argentina not one step back!” </p>
<p>In the light of this overwhelming domestic and regional support, it is very unlikely that President Cristina Kirchner will take a step back. On the contrary, she will strengthen her position around a legitimate post-colonial ideal sharply expressed by Cuba’s leader Fidel Castro – “the English have nothing to do here, they have to negotiate and leave.” </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/6106/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Antonio Castillo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The first buildings in Las Malvinas – or the Falklands as the British call the islands in the South Atlantic – were houses made of stone and were built by Argentinean hands. It was in 1831 when forty men…Dr Antonio Castillo, Program Director, Journalism, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/52822012-02-09T19:28:01Z2012-02-09T19:28:01ZBald men and combs: the Cameron-Kirchner Falklands showdown<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/7495/original/pd8hgs4f-1328747818.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=159%2C159%2C3876%2C2571&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is part of a renewed push to reclaim the Falkland Islands.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Leo La Valle</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Argentinean wordsmith <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/74100/Jorge-Luis-Borges">Jorge Luis Borges</a> could be cryptic. But his powers of perception were always daunting. Borges came up with an excellent description of the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/200775/Falkland-Islands-War">10 week conflict in 1982</a> that took place over the Falkland Islands, or Las Islas Malvinas, as the Argentineans call them. </p>
<p>He said it was a battle by two bald men over a comb. </p>
<p>This rather costly comb still resides with the British – and it has proven after the war to be non-negotiable. Thirty years after the Falklands War as <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/02/08/146593292/tensions-bubbling-again-over-falkland-islands">tensions rise again</a>, the bald men now are members of the British <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8520340.stm">Cameron</a> government on the one hand, and the Argentinian <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12284208">Cristina Fernández de Kirchner</a> administration on the other. </p>
<p>Both countries are playing to a gallery they believe is full – the British, to remind themselves that they could still win wars, deploy such ships as the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16810417">HMS Dauntless</a>, and dress in suitable military attire (as Prince William did <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/02/04/prince-william-fauklands.html">recently</a> there on deployment); the Argentineans, that they could still make some claim over the islands they have longed for since their small settlement was expelled by the British in 1833. </p>
<iframe width="100%" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=207732372817341015808.0004b87e443f2cf7b157e&ie=UTF8&t=m&ll=-49.894634,-64.863281&spn=19.740481,38.583984&z=4&output=embed"></iframe>
<p><br><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=207732372817341015808.0004b87e443f2cf7b157e&ie=UTF8&t=m&ll=-49.894634,-64.863281&spn=19.740481,38.583984&z=4&source=embed">Falkland Islands</a> in a larger map</small></p>
<p>This year provides both governments with a chance to commemorate, extol and badger their constituents over one of the most needless wars of the twentieth century. </p>
<p>Kirchner herself has taken the approach of giving “peace a chance”, a gear that politicians immediately move into when they want to flirt with conflict or etch themselves into some contrarian corner of history. Lest we forget – till the next war bugle is sounded. </p>
<p>On Tuesday, she began her evening speech on national television by reading the decree <a href="http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/92211/rattenbachs-report-declassification-published-in-the-official-gazette">declassifying the Rattenbach report</a> ordered by the Argentina’s Junta following the nation’s defeat in June 1982. </p>
<p>Well as she might – the report itself, the bitter fruits of General Benjamin Rattenbach’s labour examining the failings of Argentina’s war effort was only previously fed in parts to the public, given its perceived sensitivity. </p>
<p>“This will show that the full responsibility of the military adventure was a spurious military Junta, not the Argentine people; the Junta was the war monger, not the people in spite of circumstantial support for the events of 1982.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/7509/original/4927p4bp-1328759210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/7509/original/4927p4bp-1328759210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7509/original/4927p4bp-1328759210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7509/original/4927p4bp-1328759210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7509/original/4927p4bp-1328759210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7509/original/4927p4bp-1328759210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7509/original/4927p4bp-1328759210.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Argentine prisoners of war at Port Stanley during the Falklands war.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia commons/Griffiths911</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kirchner herself is leafing through the book of true politics – minimise responsibility; isolate the appropriate scapegoats. War is evidently best left to people other than generals. Nor was it the outcome of madly misdirected nationalism by a nation, but the adventurist lunacy of men in uniform.</p>
<p>Kirchner’s strategy is now to remove, or at the very least anesthetise nationalist sentiment, while arguing the British have themselves submitted to mad-dog nationalism in times of desperation. (One might see mirrors here – the 1982 war began with a desperate effort by the Junta to focus attention on something offshore, away from a disastrous economic situation; the current British “<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16947668">militarisation</a>”, an effort to do the same even as Kirchner seeks a distraction of her own.) </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/7491/original/s7sn5yb5-1328747368.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/7491/original/s7sn5yb5-1328747368.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7491/original/s7sn5yb5-1328747368.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7491/original/s7sn5yb5-1328747368.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7491/original/s7sn5yb5-1328747368.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7491/original/s7sn5yb5-1328747368.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7491/original/s7sn5yb5-1328747368.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=581&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prince William timed his high-profile deployment to the Falklands with the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/SGT ANDY MALTHOUSE ABIPP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cameron’s rebuke is to speak of the welfare of citizens of the Falklands in the face of neo-colonial efforts. “What the Argentines have been saying recently… is far more like colonialism, because these people want to remain British and the Argentines want them to do something else.”</p>
<p>Las Malvinas, Kirchner claims, could not be seen to be merely of interest to Argentina, but are, in fact, “a continental cause, a South American cause.” The disease taking place in the South Atlantic is militarisation. “I have instructed our foreign secretary to submit before the UN Security Council and the UN assembly this militarisation, which is a serious risk to international security.” Put aside the war drums in favor of diplomatic techniques, but still demonstrate the country’s hang ups over the islands.</p>
<p>Even if the Argentine war horse was to be saddled up, what would it amount to? Obsolete <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FMA_IA_58_Pucar%C3%A1">Pucara</a> aircraft, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-4_Skyhawk">Skyhawk</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault-Breguet_Super_%C3%89tendard">Super Etendards</a> perhaps. </p>
<p>Other measures are being sought. Embargoes, for all their worth, are always on the cards. Kirchner has convinced the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states (<a href="http://www.celac.org/">CELAC</a>), to formally adopt “all measures that can be put into place to impede entry into its ports of ships that fly the illegal flag of the Malvinas Islands.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/7497/original/btjwtdmh-1328749895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/7497/original/btjwtdmh-1328749895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7497/original/btjwtdmh-1328749895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7497/original/btjwtdmh-1328749895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7497/original/btjwtdmh-1328749895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7497/original/btjwtdmh-1328749895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/7497/original/btjwtdmh-1328749895.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Argentinian activists protest the deployment of Prince William to the Falklands.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Daniel Feldman</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Kirchner government might do a better job convincing constituents that the Falklands is the comb that it is, a black hole for British taxpayers, a drain on the treasury.</p>
<p>Both parties, in the past and present, have behaved in an idiotic fashion. The contestants remain those hopelessly bald men in search of combs with a considerably high price tag.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/5282/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Binoy Kampmark lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne.</span></em></p>Argentinean wordsmith Jorge Luis Borges could be cryptic. But his powers of perception were always daunting. Borges came up with an excellent description of the 10 week conflict in 1982 that took place…Binoy Kampmark, Lecturer in Global Studies, Social Science & Planning, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.