Argentina's Falklands obsession thrives 40 years after war

[Ries]

There are many different argentine takes on history, its far from monolithic.
My buddies at Grupo Bondi produce these malvinas ice cube trays, commemorating the perhaps apocryphal story of Galtieri basically bungling the malvinas war because he was constantly drinking scotch on ice...


la forma es una
la historia siempre otra
hielos que son rocas
islas que son argentinas
lucha no es guerra
historia no es pasado
el agua de nuestra mesa
tambien es soberania

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[Bajo_cero2]

The prevailing opinion among Argentines is that the war was unnecessary and that the military government lost the war because of incompetence (heavy artillery was not sent, conscripts were sent instead of enough professionals, they did not wait for more exocet missiles or for the arrival of the winter and, like Zelinsky, they believed that the US would support them, which not even a child believes, etc.). You don't have to know it but Argentina has a military tradition where it has repelled all the invasion attempts and blockades of the super powers like Spain, France and the UK and has won all its wars, except this one. Colonialism must end and the Malvinas is one of the last colonial bastions.

 

[Ries]

In 15 years, and with many many argentine friends, I have never found a "prevailing opinion" about anything.
If there is one thing true about Argentines, its that they disagree.

I am all in favor of ending colonialism, and cannot defend the foreign policy or warmaking of the USA, or most Euro countries. I think the Malvinas war was stupid from both sides, and its a windblown desolate place hardly worth fighting over.

 

[Redpossum]

In 15 years, and with many many argentine friends, I have never found a "prevailing opinion" about anything.
If there is one thing true about Argentines, its that they disagree.

I am all in favor of ending colonialism, and cannot defend the foreign policy or warmaking of the USA, or most Euro countries. I think the Malvinas war was stupid from both sides, and its a windblown desolate place hardly worth fighting over.

"its a windblown desolate place hardly worth fighting over."

I understand that this appears true on the face of it, but there are many less obvious reasons why it is false. UNCLOS, or the UN Convention on the Laws of the Sea, contains some of the most pressing reasons. Holding the Malvinas will vastly increase Argentina's EEZ, or Exclusive Economic Zone. Also, it's not just the Malvinas themselves. There is a whole archipelago of tiny islands occupied by the UK, called the BOT of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Again, the islands themselves are of minimal importance, but the manner in which they enable claims upon the surrounding ocean is of potentially huge importance.

The other reasons would require involved explanations, and some would spark heated arguments, but the UNCLOS issue is indisputable fact.

Certainly I agree with Bajo that the war was unnecessary, but that's not the same as saying the Malvinas aren't worth fighting for. Doing that fighting within the diplomatic, PR, and economic spheres is a much better idea than going military, but they are still well worth fighting over.

However, re-establishing Argentina's sovereignty over the Rio Paraná and the other coastal areas is more urgent, and even then the Mile 201 issues, (about which I have written before), are at least as urgent as recovering the Islas Malvinas.

 

[JMHarris]

Has anyone read Fogwill's Los Pichiciegos? Does anyone have recommendations for other novels about the war?

 

[perry]

"its a windblown desolate place hardly worth fighting over."

I understand that this appears true on the face of it, but there are many less obvious reasons why it is false. UNCLOS, or the UN Convention on the Laws of the Sea, contains some of the most pressing reasons. Holding the Malvinas will vastly increase Argentina's EEZ, or Exclusive Economic Zone. Also, it's not just the Malvinas themselves. There is a whole archipelago of tiny islands occupied by the UK, called the BOT of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Again, the islands themselves are of minimal importance, but the manner in which they enable claims upon the surrounding ocean is of potentially huge importance.

The other reasons would require involved explanations, and some would spark heated arguments, but the UNCLOS issue is indisputable fact.

Certainly I agree with Bajo that the war was unnecessary, but that's not the same as saying the Malvinas aren't worth fighting for. Doing that fighting within the diplomatic, PR, and economic spheres is a much better idea than going military, but they are still well worth fighting over.

However, re-establishing Argentina's sovereignty over the Rio Paraná and the other coastal areas is more urgent, and even then the Mile 201 issues, (about which I have written before), are at least as urgent as recovering the Islas Malvinas.

I fully agree with your analysis as this region controls a very important part of the Southern Atlantic ocean as well as being a gateway to Antartica . Not to mention the vast natural resources that are in the Malvinas inclusion zone that have made the Falklanders very wealthy with by far the highest standard of living in Latin America

 

[perry]

One of my favourite quotes of all time on the Malvinas Falklands was the most famous one from Jose Luis Borges Argentinas most famous writer

Jorge Luis Borges Quote: “The Falklands thing was a fight between two bald men over a comb.”

 

[JMHarris]

One of my favourite quotes of all time on the Malvinas Falklands was the most famous one from Jose Luis Borges Argentinas most famous writer

Jorge Luis Borges Quote: “The Falklands thing was a fight between two bald men over a comb.”

Hmmmm...love Borges, but maybe he forgot to include Maggie Thatcher in his criticism...

 

[perry]

The Falklands or Malvinas has been very controversial topic forever . How can anyone ever forget that documentary of that argentinian journalist called Fuckland that was banned in the islands and caused a diplomatic spat between the United Kingdom. and Argentina . It was made in the year 2000 I believe

 

[TWB103]

Las Malvinas is a political tool that became a religion. However Catholicism and cult of Gauchito Gil make more sense than the cult of Malvinas. If Argentina really cared it would have launched more than one 'recovery' attempt in 2 centuries. The more obvious Argentina's decadence became the more important the Islands have become to Argentina. Funny that. Britain made the most effort to claim and establish itself on the barren unpopulated Islands and did so without armed conflict. So Britain took the prize. Meanwhile Argentina systematically murdered, enslaved, subjugated, raped and displaced it's original inhabitants. Whatabout Britain in Africa and India?! = whataboutism.