Falkland Islands Watch

For many years, I have been following developments regarding the Falkland Islands and the South Atlantic and in recent years the kind of events I have witnessed look like a repetition of what happend before the invasion of 1982. The propaganda war against Britain has been intensified. Nowadays, you can hardly open a newspaper or listen to a radio or television broadcast without listening to or seeing reports regarding Argentina’s intention to take over British territories in the South Atlantic.



Given the sense of urgency given to this issue by President Cristina Fernández that during speeches delivered during her Presidential campaign promised that the Falkland Islands would be taken over by Argentina in 2012, I reckon that British authorities are not taking this matter seriously enough. All we have is declarations by British Ambassadors to Latin American countries criticizing statements made by MERCOSUR, the Latin American Trade Block.

But, what is really happening on the ground? Chile remembers the many conflicts it faced when Argentina tried to take over Chilean territory and one of the most notable cases was the conflict regarding the Beagle that could have led to a war between Argentina and Chile, conflict that very much put Chile on the British side in 1982.

The cards are on the table and the incident created by a naval blockade is just the beginning of series of events that would lead to a much more serious confrontation.
Argentina finally accepted that the Argentine government lied about the sinking of the troop-transport Belgrano. The Belgrano was not heading away from the Falklands. The Argentine ship was heading straight towards the Falkland Islands when it was sunk by a British submarine. The Belgrano was sent straight towards the British Islands as a direct act of provocation and therefore the Argentine government was directly responsible for the deaths of more than 300 Argentine sailors.

With the Argentine confession, the British version of events was finally proven to be the correct version of events.