Argentina responds to "grotesque provocations" concerning Islas Malvinas.
| Autor | Gaudin, Andres |
Thirty-three years after the start of Argentina's war with Great Britain over the disputed Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands, a strategic South Atlantic territory that the Crown has occupied for nearly two centuries (since 1833), the two countries are once again facing off, only this time in a diplomatic rather than military sense.
Argentina, with nearly unanimous backing from the international community, accuses the European power of refusing to adhere to 40 UN resolutions obliging the two countries to resolve their competing claims through dialogue. The government in Buenos Aires is also upset by what it describes as a series of "grotesque provocations" by Great Britain. The offenses include Britain's decision to substantially increase its military budget for the "defense of the islands," evidence of espionage that was leaked by former National Security Agency (NSA) agent Edward Snowden and reported by the US online news site The Intercept, and concessions that British authorities issued allowing a group of oil companies to prospect in the disputed maritime territory and eventually extract oil there (NotiSur, June 25, 2010).
The issues that have come to light in recent months--between March and June--coincide with the anniversary of Argentina's failed attempt, starting April 2, 1982, to occupy the Malvinas. The misadventure was ordered by the country's civil-military dictatorship (1976-1983) and cost the lives of nearly 1,000 young Argentines (NotiSur, Jan. 17, 2003). It ended, 10 weeks after it began, with an "unconditional surrender."
On March 24, the anniversary of the 1976 coup that launched what would prove to be Argentina's bloodiest dictatorship since 1930, British Secretary of State for Defense Michael Fallon announced that the government of conservative Prime Minister David Cameron had decided to boost its military budget for the Falkland Islands, as the Malvinas are known in Britain, by US$277 million. The top official said that Argentina poses "a very live threat" to British security. "We have to respond to it," he said. Fallon said the budget increase was motivated in particular by unconfirmed reports that Argentina may lease a squadron of Russian fighter planes. Authorities in Buenos Aires say no such rearmament plans are in place.
Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman responded by saying that Britain's "disproportionate increase in military spending and claims of a supposed and implausible Argentine threat are an open...
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