Seeking Support for Moribund Negotiations: Argentina Presses the Falklands/Malvinas Dispute
• Argentine foreign minister Rafael Bielsa yesterday addressed the UN C24 Decolonization Committee after raising the
Falklands sovereignty question twice last week, first at the OAS summit in Ft. Lauderdale and later in a June 10
“Assertion Day of Argentine Rights” document.
• Almost simultaneously, an Argentine court renewed the ineffective demand that former UK Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher be put on trial for the 1982 sinking of Argentina’s cruiser, the Belgrano.
• Current Argentine President Néstor Kirchner, despite a history of opposition to his country’s brutal military junta of
1976-1983, his rejection of neoliberal economic policies and his advocacy for the forced retirement of Dirty War
officers, continues to aggressively promote one of the bastard children of that era, the Falkland dispute. As such, he
follows in the reprehensible footsteps of former Argentine President Carlos Menem.
• Fishing and oil exploration on the Falklands are booming, bringing far too much economic incentive not to fuel a
continuing struggle that served as a cover for a raw power grab by the cynical military junta that attempted to
substitute nationalism for memory of the massive human rights violations committed by Argentina’s armed services.
Meanwhile, the Falkland Islands inhabitants' rights were ignored.
As anticipated, Argentine foreign minister Rafael Bielsa raised the Falklands, also known as Malvinas, question at the
Organization of American States (OAS) summit in Ft. Lauderdale (June 5-7, 2005) and again in a pointed document on June
10, all as a lead-in to his June 15 presentation on the issue before the UN C24 Decolonization Committee. The
decades-old, ongoing sovereignty dispute is between Argentina and the UK over the South Atlantic islands, whose 3,000
inhabitants are currently self-governed by a tiny civilian administration and protected by a British garrison as a UK
overseas territory. The OAS has decked the issue by holding, in a number of past declarations, that the dispute is “of
permanent hemispheric interest” and that the issue should continue to be examined until Argentina and the UK reach “a
definitive solution,” a relatively non-committed stand that Bielsa cited during his presentation.
Argentina’s appeal to the OAS and Bielsa’s statement at the UN were the latest developments after a summary rejection of
the country’s proposals to negotiate the Falklands dispute at the UN decolonization seminar held in mid-May at St.
Vincent and the Grenadines. On this occasion, Argentina called for greater restrictions on Falkland islanders’
self-determination only to be skillfully rebutted by Gibraltar Opposition Leader Joe Bossano. Last weekend, the lower
house of the Argentine Parliament passed a motion demanding that former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher stand trial
for her order to sink the Argentine cruiser Belgrano during the 1982 Falklands war, which, Argentina claims, was sunk
after a cessation of the conflict had been declared. All of this goes to prove that the heat generated by the
territorial conflict is far from over and is certainly not likely to be resolved peacefully while Argentina sticks to
its relatively hard-line, no-compromise position.
Early History
The 1982 war was brief but consequential; it was a political turning point for the Argentine military junta under
General Leopoldo Galtieri and for the British government under Thatcher. The war was initially popular in Argentina, as
it was instigated by the Galtieri administration’s calculated desire to feed off the bounteous anti-British sentiment in
the country, and to divert growing domestic opposition to his brutal junta and the country’s increasingly ruinous
economy under its jurisdiction. However, such demagoguery lost its power when the war ended in disaster for Buenos
Aires. Military rule was pressured to end in favor of a return to constitutional government and Galtieri was persuaded
to resign even before the formal end of the conflict. In Britain, winning the war was a lustrous boost to Thatcher’s
standing, and she was able to remain in power until 1990.
The sovereignty issue itself, which has murky foundations, dates back hundreds of years before the 1982 war. Both
parties have previously occupied the islands for long periods at a time, and Britain forcibly seized control of them in
1833. Argentina bases its ownership claims on papal bulls inherited from Spain, continuous colonization and geographical
proximity; the UK points to its maintenance of the islanders’ right to self-determination and to its long-term
administration of the archipelago.
Sovereignty talks between Britain and Argentina were instituted in 1964 by the UN Committee for Decolonization and were
haltingly underway when forty Argentine scrap metal workmen were sent by their foreman to the South Georgia islands on
March 19, 1982 to dismantle a defunct whaling station. They landed without permission of the British Antarctic Survey
base at Grytviken, raised the Argentine flag, sang their national anthem and refused to leave. This was the second
unauthorized landing by a scrap metal contingent in roughly one month. Britain lodged a formal complaint and began to
anticipate hostilities. On April 2, Galtieri led his country into a war that he could only have won with total Latin
American support, U.S. neutrality, or a more diplomatic response from Britain. However, the ruling Argentine junta was
disappointed on all counts.
In Search of Allies
The OAS initially condemned the Argentine invasion as a violation of its non-intervention agreement, negating the
possibility of highly organized Latin American support. Galtieri had well-founded grounds for expecting the Reagan
administration, with its policy of courting Latin American dictators, to at least remain neutral in the war, in light of
the known pro-Argentine proclivities of UN ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick. However, the U.S. finally tipped its initial
uncertainty about the issue in favor of lukewarm support, in the form of intelligence data and some resupply of
weaponry, for its faithful NATO ally. Most frustratingly to the Galtieri junta, despite signs to the contrary, such as
the British Nationality Act of 1981, where islanders’ rights to British citizenship were curtailed – Britain refused to
be ousted under duress and responded with full military force to the Argentine invasion in an impressive display of
ingenuity and brilliant strategy.
During the war, Argentina broke its own pledge not to interfere with the Falkland islanders’ mode of life, by doing so
in numerous ways. For example, once the capital Port Stanley was occupied, Spanish was made the official language and
islanders were required to drive on the right side of the road. These regulations strengthened the already formidable
local resentment and distrust of Argentina. From the beginning, Buenos Aires has emphatically ignored the clear opinions
of the islanders, who are almost all of British descent and who repeatedly assert their preference that the Falklands
remain self-governing while maintaining strong ties to Britain.
To this day, Argentina has not wavered in its position that the islanders were unlawfully planted by a colonial hegemon
and as such, deserve to have their voices and rights curtailed. Argentina thought this stance would find acceptance at
the UN seminar at St. Vincent and the Grenadines, but found nothing but fierce opposition. Bielsa maintained this as a
key point in his June 15 speech to the UN, while also stressing the illegitimacy of Britain’s 1833 seizure of the
Falklands. In 1996, Argentina, under former President Carlos Menem, warned the UK not to pursue a UN resolution on the
self-determination of the islanders, threatening to halt oil and fishing talks with London if the British initiative
were to move forward.
Enterprising Argentine Maneuvers
Despite Argentina’s disparagement of the islanders’ right to self-determination, it has made remarkably bold overtures
to them in the past, especially under Menem and his foreign minister, Guido di Tella. Though Menem vowed in 1998 that
his country would never again try to take the Falklands by force, in the mid-nineties, he repeatedly tried to win the
islanders over with heavy financial incentives. Sources dispute the exact size of the offerings, with estimates ranging
from $800,000 per family to $1.55 million per person for a rejection of British sovereignty.
Argentina’s other method of attack has been to scour the international community for any possible signs of support for
its cause. While both the EU and the U.S. are firm British allies, the OAS and the UN recognize a need for further
negotiations. Brazil and Chile are at the head of widespread but weak Latin American sympathy for the beleaguered
Argentine cause.
Individual Argentine stratagems have run the gamut. Opposition to mentioning the Falklands as a UK overseas territory in
the draft of the EU constitution for fear that it would institutionalize the Falklands' British status was
understandable and found easy support in the Latin American community. However, a pledge of mutual support between Menem
and former Chilean President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle in 1999 to push Argentina’s claim to the Falklands and to obstruct
an out-of-country trial for human rights pariah Augusto Pinochet illustrated the problematic lengths that Argentina will
go to in resuscitating the Falklands dispute. The disagreement over the island can still serve as the “last refuge of
the scoundrel:” a place where the worst offenses and ambitions are purposely disguised by the fine drapery of
patriotism.
British Retorts
The European Community instituted sanctions against Argentina during the war and, similarly, one of Britain’s immediate
responses to the conflict was to institute an arms export embargo against Argentina that remains in place today, but is
reviewed on a case by case basis. For example, the embargo was relaxed when internationalist Menem dispatched
Argentina’s troops into a series of UN peacekeeping commitments: Argentina served alongside Britain as part of the UN
taskforce in Kuwait in 1990 and again in the peacekeeping force in Cyprus in 1993. The UK has also continually
maintained its “Fortress Falklands” policy since the war by maintaining a substantial garrison on the islands, now
numbering about 500 troops.
Less from genuine moral outrage than from her capacity for selective indignation, Thatcher condemned the Argentine junta
as a “tin pot” dictatorship throughout the Falklands conflict. In fact, the UK won the war with significant assistance
from Pinochet, whom Thatcher has since lavishly thanked for services rendered – presumably, he is not a “tin pot”
dictator in her estimation. This may be because Chile was a de facto UK ally during the war but has since switched
sides, much to the confusion of the UK.
Whitehall has not shown any serious desire to alter the crux of the Falklands debate since the war, though it made
numerous conciliatory gestures before 1982 that were rejected by the islanders. It also had sent a secret task force led
by a nuclear-powered submarine to the Falklands in 1977, out of the fear that a full-scale invasion could take place
after 50 Argentine scientists landed there illegally. Argentina and the UK reestablished diplomatic relations in 1990,
and the UK ultimately relented regarding Argentina’s requests for establishing flights and visitation rights to the
islands, but the question of sovereignty itself has not been up for discussion. As current UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
explained in a 1998 BBC reference, the UK does not regard it as a “fruitful line” to pursue.
Kirchner: No Break with the Past
The recovery of the Falklands islands is an Argentine state policy goal as well as a constitutional mandate. The issue
is addressed in the first temporary provision of the Argentine constitution, in which Argentina “ratifies its legitimate
and non-prescribing sovereignty over the Falklands, Georgias del Sur and Sandwich del Sur Islands and over the
corresponding maritime and insular zones.” The constitution asserts that these islands are an “integral part of the
national territory” and it contains a pledge to recover them with deference to international law and the islanders’ way
of life. The mechanism by which this way of life will be protected is, however, not a policy matter or mandate. An
Argentine Embassy official told COHA in a recent interview that speculating on how Argentina would treat immigration
issues if it gained internationally recognized sovereignty over the Falklands is as unclear as “looking in a crystal
ball.” The official also confirmed that Argentina still refuses to accept the islanders as an official third party to
the negotiations or to recognize the legitimacy of the Falklands government.
As a former member of the 1995 Constituent Assembly, current President Kirchner participated in the amendment of the
Argentine constitution; he should be no stranger to the above expanded claims to the Falklands islands which were
inserted during the 1995 revisions. Kirchner apparently has not at all rethought Menem’s unabashed ambition regarding
the Falklands, and as COHA’s Argentine Embassy source explained, Argentina will never settle for anything less than
complete sovereignty over the islands. Argentina also views every increase in normalization of relations with the
Falklands as a step towards cementing its sovereignty claims, as Menem repeatedly had asserted while president.
Kirchner, justifiably hailed as one of Latin America’s most admirable New Left presidents, is noted for his cleanup of
the Argentine Supreme Court, hounding of military junta human rights violators and his rejection of the cutthroat “Los
Chicago Boys” school of neoliberal economics. But most of all, he has become a historic figure for daring to stand up to
the IMF and the country’s bond holders by renouncing Argentina’s foreign debts. However, his uncritical acceptance of
the nationalist Falklands cause is a disconcerting blip on his record as the Argentine position actively spurns the
islanders’ right to self-determination as protected by the first chapter of the UN Charter. Kirchner thus is promoting
continued rancor by championing a flawed territorial cause that was violently appropriated by Galtieri and his disgraced
military junta’s cabal during the Dirty War. Next it was bolstered by the junta’s specious apologist, Menem, when it
should have been consigned to the dustbin of history on the lost cause basis of territorial sovereignty or settled on
the basis of the allocation of earnings from maritime resources found in the Falklands basin. For once, a little less
consistency on a diplomatic initiative might have been more desirable. The Argentine cause needs a substantial
reconceptualization to become legitimate enough to have a prospect for bringing about a definite solution to the
conflict, which is testified by the lack of progress at yesterday’s vanished opportunity, the UN Decolonization
Committee meeting that is held but once a year.
Minerals and Fishing
Surely Kirchner recognizes that gaining undisputed sovereignty over the islands would not necessarily benefit Argentina
beyond the simple stoking of national pride. What is really of importance is the distribution of resources in the
region. As early as April 2, 1982, the day of the Argentine invasion, COHA reported that oil might well be a significant
factor in Galtieri’s aggression. With the UK and Argentina currently splitting the revenue from the Falkland Islands
government’s lucrative sale of fishing licenses (which help make the Falkland Islanders’ GDP per capita one of the
highest in the hemisphere) and oil exploration fees, the allocation of earnings from resources are what is important in
today’s dispute over the islands’ status. The UK and Argentina signed a Joint Declaration of Cooperation over Offshore
Activities in the Southwest Atlantic in 1995, which established a “special area of cooperation” in the most uncontested
part of the quarreled-over zones. In this area the parceling is at its most balanced. Companies are expected to operate
in this zone on a joint venture basis, with half of the area licensed by the Falklands government and the other half by
Argentina.
Currently, seismic exploration for oil is moving full-steam ahead. The Spanish petroleum company Repsol YPF is planning
heavy investment in Argentina and the South Atlantic in association with Enarsa, the Argentine government’s energy
corporation. The British company FOGL also has decided to expand its oil search, especially in light of its late May
finding of plentiful drill site possibilities. Conditions for petroleum drilling have proven surprisingly favorable on
the islands, according to the Falkland Islands Government Department of Mineral Resources. Of course, disputes over oil
in the Falklands might be used as a springboard for wrangling over oil exploration in the greater Antarctic region,
where Argentina and Great Britain have additional overlapping claims.
Gold and diamonds are also suspected to be part of the islands’ resource base. Gold grains have been panned from
numerous streams while the presence of diamonds is somewhat less certain. The expectation of finding such treasures
rests on that fact that the Falklands were once connected to South Africa along the edge of the Gondwanaland
supercontinent and might share exploitable natural similarities. Both fishing and minerals exploitation carry risks. An
oil spill off the Falklands coast could affect Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Antarctica, and over-fishing has
threatened the survival of the Illex squid and of its superiors in the food chain. Additionally, there are 117
well-marked but still dangerous mine fields left over from the war implanted with roughly 25,000 mines that could blow
up personnel or vehicles, though this hasn’t seemed to function as a deterrent to any company or even struck the
islanders as a matter of pressing concern.
Smokescreen Solidarity
Even under Kirchner, with a constitutional government trying to legally resolve a territorial dispute, Buenos Aires
refuses to recognize that self-determination ought to be the goal of anti-colonial efforts. Additionally, Argentina has
at times not erected wholly wise standards in its search for allies; too often, the support it manages to elicit comes
from governments or movements with domestic and international records sometimes as questionable as those underlying
Galtieri’s original invading junta. In 1982, Argentina received serious military aid from its ideological rival Cuba as
well as backing from Sandinista Nicaragua and the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) guerrillas in
El Salvador, all backing a government that otherwise despised them and which was killing their counterparts daily in
Argentina. In the mid 90s, Buenos Aires found its major ally in Chile, a country trying to save face for Pinochet’s
leadership role in Operation Condor, the covert 1970s’ South American alliance of dictatorships which systematically
oppressed and murdered leftist opponents.
Argentina’s most respectable support has recently come from the Rio Group (GRIO), which counts 19 South American
countries as members, but if it wants to find a final, satisfactory and legitimate way of extracting more benefits from
the small islands, it needs to mobilize the UN. Buenos Aires would be wise to revise its approach to an organization
that repeatedly has declared the implementation of the right to self-determination should be “carried out freely and
without outside pressure,” in a form that recognizes the “authentic interests and aspirations” of the people to be
decolonized. Because Kirchner’s government cannot reconcile itself with this mandate, Bielsa found the same indifferent
response at the UN Decolonization Committee meeting that just took place in New York that he got in May at the St.
Vincent and the Grenadines UN conference, with the settlement of the sovereignty dispute not making any discernable
progress even more than two decades later.
This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Kathryn Tarker.