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

Britain rightly wants to protect its citizens. You be grateful for that if you lived there, I suspect.

Argentina used to be one of the richest countries in the world. Until 1930 it was in the top 10 of nations per capita (although very unequal) and it had massive gold reserves. A series of military coups from the 1930s onwards (including Peron in 1943) together with a very export-dependent economy led to massive instability and poverty.

Argentina feels that it should be a stronger country than it is. Some of the other former basket case economies are now really stable and doing well on the international stage and there is a feeling that Argentina needs to be more respected on the world stage.

In 1982, the Thatcher government was reducing the number of colonial outposts that qualified for British citizenship. Most residents of the Islands relied upon Argentina for life events such as serious healthcare. People flew back and forth. There had once been quite a strong British influence in Argentina and links were close. A failing military junta in Buenos Aires thought that the UK had essentially turned its back on the islands and saw an opportunity for a military win and a surge in support.

The Falklands is Argentina's Vietnam. They still cannot believe they lost and it is a visceral wound. All over the country there are memorial gardens and monuments. When we went to Rosario (Argentina's second city) there was a massive building with views over ornamental ponds in the shape of the islands and inside there was a display of the "heroic defence" of Government House at Port Stanley, including the Argentinian flag that had flown there and some soil. There are pictures of the islands on every bus in Buenos Aires. There is huge museum outside the city devoted to the Malvinas Argentinas. Every army barracks we passed had a beautifully tended memorial garden. We saw a government office in central BA which was devoted to the islands. The people are convinced the islands are theirs and it is a huge insult to their dignity and national pride.

And given where the economy is (and has been for decades) lots of people need a boost to that pride and that's why so many voted for Milei. They are people who need something to believe in.

I'm not saying that the vulture capitalists haven't got their eyes on the oil and the fish, but for many people in Argentina, it's about pride.

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.

The British claim originates in the fact that it was a British sailor who discovered the uninhabited islands in 1690. The French first set up a colony (the technical term is "planted") in the 1700s but abandoned it after a few years. The Spanish had a short lived penal settlement (abandoned in 1811) and then the British had a go.

The Argentine republic has only ever set foot on the islands once. In 1982.

Agree - the possibility of oil/gas being present certainly was a subject of discussion in 82 both in the context of the Islands themselves and in the context of Antartica.

Why has the IoW got dragged into this?! I can't stop laughing! I'm certainly not Brazilian, I don't know any of my friends and neighbours who are Brazilian and we're not just a holiday destination. 143000 of us call it home!

The museum is a propaganda wonderland!

@DebbieSavage

After that the Islands should be handed to Argentina alongside a frank and honest apology for the war

Now you are unwisely getting into "you started it" territory but if you really want to go there have a think about who first used lethal force in 82.

None of this makes any sense. What is the basis of any Argentinian claim to the Falklands, over any other country’s?

I have lived in Argentina. You can't argue with an Argentine that the islands don't belong to them. It's long standing, and a matter of national pride. There doesn't need to be logic. It is what it is.

Argentina is populated by the children of Spanish colonialists.
The Falklands are populated by the children of British pioneers.

What is the difference? The Spanish had to subdue a native population, i.e. exploit and exterminate. The British settled previously unoccupied territory.

The imperialist/coloniser guff coming from Argentina is risible.

Argentina feels entitled to the islands, against the will and the wishes of the islanders, because of geographic proximity. This is nonsense. If this principle were applied everywhere you would get mayhem, and power grabs with no consideration of the inhabitants language, culture or history.

And while we are at it, Britain should hand back Gibraltar, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There is no excuse in this day and age to cling on to Colonial territory.

I’m sure they’ll get right on that Deb.

Bit of a stand off then.

But since the UK built the bigger runway and stationed the RAF on the islands Argentinian control is all academic and just something for banners at football matches and a handy cause for the weird left here.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

and at the same time

Shame on you!

Cheeky fucking Argentinians, eh? Just like the Ukrainians wanting Crimea back - imagine the fucking cheek? Or the Spaniards with Gibraltar? Fucking cheek. 😂

The state of our country at the minute if they really pushed then they’d probably win the war. We can’t even stop people entering Britain so what chance would we have stopping them from entering Argentina!

You mean in the same way the Spanish did in what’s now Argentina?

Like Antarctica belongs to the polar bears.

Very good point.

The Argentines taking the Falklands would be like Russia taking Crimea.

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