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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not understand why some Argentinians seem to want the Falkland Islands so much?

210 replies

Jane3212 · 24/09/2026 23:46

I really like Argentinian literature and would like to know more about the country- I don't know much at the moment.

However, I have read up on the Falklands War, especially after Milei's grandstanding and the World Cup, and I'm confused as to why there still seems to be a strong sense it was 'stolen' and 'needs to come back', and disregard for the wishes of the Islanders, among some Argentinians (I know many don't feel this way).
The war was terrible and Argentinian men were conscripted. But that was the fault of Galtieri. Argentinians suffered under the brutal junta: we had to defend the Islanders, or they would have suffered under it too. And aside from that, the Islanders don't want to be ruled by Argentina. Virtually no Argentinians live there, and it's not particularly large or rich in natural resources : why the obsession among some? It also seems odd to frame Argentina as a sole victim of colonisation by Britain when the modern country itself was founded upon colonising the indigenous peoples.

I was disgusted with Trump's behaviour : I'm sure he'd scoff at anyone saying that the US is an illegitimate settler state, but he appears to be leaning to Milei for his own ends.

AIBU?

OP posts:

Thread gallery

likelysuspect · 25/09/2026 21:59

LuckyHazelFox · 25/09/2026 08:22

You really do hate Britain, don't you?

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I think you've misunderstood the poster

Original poster

Jane3212 · 25/09/2026 21:55

Uricon2 · 25/09/2026 11:07

The Falkland Islanders want to stay British and it is hard to see their presence as brutal colonisation at any point in the history.

I remember the Conflict very well, deeply regret the loss of young life on both sides and it is to be hoped Milei does not repeat the mistakes of Galtieri.

The loss of young life was terrible..

Milei doesn't seem great (the hypocrisy of a man who tells women to have more babies but calls his cloned dogs his children sticks in the craw, among other things!) but he is elected, and he isn't heading a junta. There isn't popular support for a war. I doubt it will happen but they have more defences now as a deterrent, at least.

OP posts:

Original poster

Jane3212 · 25/09/2026 21:49

Ansjovis · 25/09/2026 09:03

Having visited Argentina recently I have not furthered my understanding of the core issues but I do now have an appreciation for how intensely ordinary Argentine people feel about this. Even young children feel extremely strongly about it, which to me is utterly bizarre. How many teenagers do we have in this country who know anything about it at all?

It's definitely put me off going back, that's for sure.

Can I ask : how did you hear these views from young children? Did you visit a site where it was discussed? Or was it brought up in some other context?

OP posts:

Original poster

Jane3212 · 25/09/2026 21:46

Ansjovis · 25/09/2026 09:03

It's definitely put me off going back, that's for sure.

I can understand the war being raw because unlike here, there was conscription and casualties were over 600, so a higher number of people were directly affected- moreover, it's tied to the Dirty Wars trauma and perhaps serves to alleviate focus on issues past & present within Argentinian society.

However, yes, it certainly is very odd people are still fixating on it as 'stolen' and ignoring the fact that the war was Galtieri's fault and an act of aggression to innocent civilians. It should be remembered though that most Argentinians don't want another war & it's unlikely the 1982 war would have happened if it hadn't been under a military junta.

OP posts:

Original poster

Jane3212 · 25/09/2026 21:39

GoldMerchant · 25/09/2026 08:36

Genuine question - does some of the Argentinian fixation on the Falklands link back to the historic presence of British people in mainland Argentina?

My understanding is that Britain sought economic influence there, British settlers claimed land, British companies exploited natural resources, there were small but powerful Anglo-Argentine elites - obviously Spanish-Argentines were part of colonial exploitation too, I'm not blaming the British solely here. The Peronist regime blamed the Anglos for a lot of the countries problems, nationalised British companies, tried to end British influence completely. I don't know enough to know if some of the current Argentine rhetoric about the Falklands harks back to this.

That sounds likely.

There still are British links, and obviously stuff like football and polo dates back to the British influence. There's a joke attributed to Borges that an Argentinian is someone who 'is Italian, speaks Spanish, and thinks he is English'. I hope one day they can live in peace with the Falklanders or at least a bit more like Gibraltar and Spain.

Incidentally, I read an interesting article a while back about Anglo-Argentines during the Falklands War ; a difficult position, as you can imagine...

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24702237

Client Challenge

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24702237

OP posts:

Original poster

Jane3212 · 25/09/2026 21:29

Somethinggg · 25/09/2026 07:01

It's interesting because I've seen online lately, which could be bots tbf, quite a few claims from Argentinians to be indigenous in response to people pointing out they're a settler-colonial state. Never ask a woman her age, a man her salary or an Argentinian irredentist why the small percentage of indigenous DNA across their population is overwhelmingly from the maternal lines...

Show quote history

The Argentinian settlers definitely treated the indigenous people completely brutally.

However, it seems to me that the rest of South America isn't as different historically from Argentina as might be thought. Brazil & Mexico, among others, had policies of 'whitening' via intermarriage, as well as mass extermination of indigenous people and indigenous DNA surviving mainly through maternal lines. Brazil's methods, for one, were apparently among the most brutal (this is partly why Brazil has a higher amount of African-descended people, as they relied on them rather than indigenous people for labour)

https://valorinternational.globo.com/cop30-brazil/news/2025/11/21/erased-from-brazils-population-indigenous-dna-survives-mainly-through-women.ghtml

Otoh modern Argentina still seems keener than some Latin American countries to present itself as white European.

‘Erased’ from Brazil’s population, Indigenous DNA survives mainly through women

A USP-led survey shows that only 2.4% of Brazilians carry Indigenous genetic markers—a legacy of violent colonization

https://valorinternational.globo.com/cop30-brazil/news/2025/11/21/erased-from-brazils-population-indigenous-dna-survives-mainly-through-women.ghtml

OP posts:

Original poster

Jane3212 · 25/09/2026 20:36

MrsTerryPratchett · 25/09/2026 06:38

Argentina frankly, is a bit weird. They tell other Latinos that thay aren't Latino, they are European. Which pisses off other Latinos. Who rightly see it as a insult to Latinos.

They want the Falklands, which were never theirs and weren't inhabited before ships arrived.

And then there's the whole Nazi thing.

Starting punch ups at tne world cup.

There's a whiff of 'everyone hates us and we don't care'.

Definitely there's some strongly negative elements to Argentina : there's a lot of positive things too, but they need to move past these macho obsessions with the Falklands and football hooliganism.

Re them denying being Latino, Argentina more than other South American countries does seem to have especially wanted to play down indigenous and African influences and encouraged European immigration, although indigenous persecution and racism to both groups occurred in other Latin American countries. Indigenous and Afro-Argentines do still exist, just in small numbers.

'They tell other Latinos that thay aren't Latino, they are European.'- The racism behind this is clearly bad but I also think the 'Latino' US label can be a bit confusing. In the US in the 50s, stuff like Desi Arnaz in I Love Lucy was initially seen as a controversial 'interracial' marriage, despite Arnaz being AFAIK of Spanish Cuban descent with no indigenous heritage. I suppose Latin America confused US as their policy of 'blanqueamiento' through intermarriage was still racist but in a different way from Jim Crow. Likewise now Democrats have often classed Latinos as 'POC' even though many will be mostly or wholly European and unlikely to face racism.

OP posts:

YourGiddyGreyHelper · 25/09/2026 16:43

dustabsorber · 24/09/2026 23:59

What if the Isle of Wight belonged to Brazil? How would we feel about that? I remember when the Falklands' crisis broke, I looked at a map of the UK, expecting to find the Falklands north of the Shetlands.

Well you were pretty ignorant of the world then.

sherbetlemonade · 25/09/2026 16:39

Right now, it would appear to be the prospect of oil.

Historically, it would appear to be somewhat more complicated than that.

ginasevern · 25/09/2026 16:28

@montysmaw "Why does Britain want them so much?"

Why does Argentina want them so much? They never belonged to Argentina and they're 300 miles from them. Their "claim" is based on a papal-sanction and medieval Spanish colonial conquest. Rather ironic don't you think that a republic would seek to justify ownership of a territory with no indigenous population or even connection through this entirely risible link? The Falkland Islanders, who have been there for 200 years, do not want to live under Argentinian rule - and quite frankly I doubt many people would blame them.

Uricon2 · 25/09/2026 16:24

MixedBananas · 25/09/2026 16:12

Sorry wrong group 😂

Edited

Good luck @MixedBananas !

MixedBananas · 25/09/2026 16:12

Sorry wrong group 😂

To not understand why some Argentinians seem to want the Falkland Islands so much?

lljkk · 25/09/2026 15:52

Mexico has a better claim to take over California or TX ;
Austria has a better claim to take over Croatia;
Lithuania has a better claim to take over Ukraine;
Guatemala has a better claim to take over southern Belize;
Syria has a better claim to take over most of Israel;
China has a better claim to take over northern Vietnam;
etc.

BirdLandedonmyHead · 25/09/2026 15:38

If the Islands were an independent country, would people still say they should be "given back" to Argentina?

Paulrn · 25/09/2026 15:16

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

I think you will find they were British before Argentina was a country. Plus every one who lives there stand fast 3 Argies voted to be British and I’m not a bot nor do I wave a flag or vote reform but happy with the shagging.

FluffMagnet · 25/09/2026 14:56

SaySomethingMan · 25/09/2026 07:35

It is odd. I hope one day all
the ridiculous territories end- Canaries, Cueta, etc, Falklands & others, Guadeloupe &others,

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Are these areas big enough to go it alone, and likewise do they want to?

ScrumbleMonkey · 25/09/2026 14:44

As a 7th generation local, this is interesting reading.
Yes we are British but we are Falkland Islanders. Big difference. We are our own country and want to remain so.

WaryHiker · 25/09/2026 13:03

JHound · 25/09/2026 11:42

This is good to know. Now I remember her posts on the Piddington thread…

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His.

Minasama · 25/09/2026 12:26

Oil

SerendipityJane · 25/09/2026 12:15

JHound · 25/09/2026 11:44

The amount of people who don’t seem to realise that Argentina is itself a settler state, a nation of colonisers is baffling to me. They speak SPANISH for god’s sake!

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And Welsh 😀

tramtracks · 25/09/2026 12:13

Oil

EmeraldShamrock000 · 25/09/2026 12:09

Fuel. The reason for the majority of barbaric wars and sneaky takeovers. “We see you Greenland” praying that you are not another fuel pawn.
The Ukrainians, Americans and Israel are deliberately knocking out power plants for a reason.
He didn’t care about the people of Venezuela, no more than he cares for Cuba, he wanted the fuel,
Trump is a foolish troublemaker who comes across as thick as mince. Without his stepping stone of birth wealth he’d be sweeping the street.
His comments on Ireland reuniting were badly thought out, disruptive and stupid.
Does he really think that it wouldn’t cause civil unrest, bloodshed, murders and every home and bus burned in the North of Ireland by a settlers, who feel as entitled to the land than the Irish. It is an extremely delicate situation that should not be taken lightly.
No one is ignorant about the reactions when things go wrong in the north of Ireland, homes burn, people flee. Maybe Trump should move in and see how simple the process is Not.

Superhansrantowindsor · 25/09/2026 12:04

People assume the Falklands Islands were inhabited and conquered by the British like pretty much the rest of the Empire. So they ignorantly state they should be ‘given back’ when they were never taken from Argentina in the first place.

Error404FucksNotFound · 25/09/2026 12:01

dustabsorber · 24/09/2026 23:59

If the isle of wight was 300 miles from the british coastline, it had never been populated by anyone before the first settlers arrived from Brazil over 250 years ago and the current population which comprised mostly of their descendants wanted to remain part of brazil?

I'd be fine with it.

Why? Wouldn't you be?

Persephonia1966 · 25/09/2026 11:57

JHound · 25/09/2026 11:51

I’m not really talking about the etymology. But how funny it is that people position Britain as the colonising entity here while fiercely referring to the territory by its Argentinian name where they speak Spanish. Which is not a language native to the Americas…

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Well yes, that as well. And the fact that Millie** himself is if Italian and Croation stock. I don't think it's just about the language either. There was also the fact that the removal of the native population was much more extensive in Argentina than in other parts of South America (complicated by the fact people downplayed any mestizo heritage they might have) and of course later on a very open attempt to decrease the black population. There are still lots of people with indigenous heritage but Argentina's whole idea of itself is that it is white/European. To do that and then cry colonialism isnt very convincing.

The name thing is just ironic to me which is why I mentioned it.

**Autocorrect but it's funny so I'm leaving it.

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