[News] UK more isolated as LatAm supports Argentina

[Anti-Imperialist News]

UK more isolated as LatAm supports Argentina

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/238035.html
Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:9PM GMT

The warmongering tactics of David Cameron, the 
British Prime Minister and William Hague, the 
Foreign Secretary, are indeed backfiring as 
Argentina gains almost 100 percent support from 
Latin American countries over the Malvinas 
(Falkland Islands) and who historically owns them.


I could just imagine the Argentinean President 
responding to our Prime Minister:

“You know that the Malvinas were handed over to 
us by the original settlers; there is clearly no 
question about the true sovereignty of these 
islands so bring it on Mr. Cameron! We are much 
better prepared than before and have the whole of 
Latin America behind us “as we say “Que la 
corrida de toros comienzan” - “tenemos los 
mejores toreros” (let the bullfight begin - we have the best Matadors).

It is clear to me having studied the history, 
marine navigation and International Maritime Law 
that these islands do belong to Argentina.

Latin America was colonized by the Spanish. The 
only British involvement was that of “Piracy”- we 
have always been good at stealing from others. 
It’s hard to be critical when reflecting on the 
days we established the “Great British Empire” 
raped and pillaged so many countries all under 
the good name of “Queen Victoria.

I know that Spain committed some terrible 
atrocities in Latin America but what country 
didn’t in those early days! One cannot forgive 
what we the “Brits” did to India the scars of which remain there to this day.

French government conceived the project of 
colonizing the “Malouines” (Falkland Islands). 
These islands were at that time almost unknown 
until a French Explorer, Louis Antoine de 
Bougainville, undertook the task at his own 
expense. He set out with the French frigate “Eagle” and the sloop “Sphinx.”

But the settlement he established in 1763 at what 
is now Port St. Louis, excited the jealousy of 
Britain and the Spanish government. The small 
French colony however was not to last as the 
Spanish feared it would become a rear base to 
attack her Peruvian gold, Bougainville was 
ordered by the French government to dismantle his 
colony, and sell the islands to the Spanish (the 
King of Spain paid him 603,000 pounds for the islands).

On 31 January 1767 Bougainville met with Don 
Felipe Ruiz Puente, the future governor of the 
Malvinas Islands (Falklands), in Rio de la Plata 
to take possession of the islands. The two 
arrived at Port St. Louis on the 1st April 1767 
and commenced evacuating the tiny French colony. 
Maps of the islands clearly show the French Port 
St. Louis which was named after Louis Antoine de 
Bougainville the person who discovered it and created the first settlement.

What happened in the interim period and just 
prior to this formal hand over of sovereignty was 
a very tactful and conniving move by the “Good 
old Brits” under the command of Capt Byron who in 
1765 claimed the West Island Group for King 
George III and was totally unaware the French colony on the East Island Group.

During this time, British sailors tried to settle 
in the of Port de la Croisade in 1766, that they 
renamed Port Egmont. Bougainville wrote: - “In 
December 1766, the frigate HMS Japan dropped 
anchor in Port Louis opposite to the fort. 
Captain Mac Bride landed uttered threats and went 
away on the same day.” It was he who attempted to 
set up an illegal base in the western group of islands.

The islands were formerly transferred to Spain in 
1767 under a Governor subordinate to the Buenos 
Aires Colonial Administration and renamed Puerto 
Soledad (In Spanish, East Falkland known as Isla Soledad).

In 1770, Spain attacked Port Egmont and expelled 
the British presence

.and rightfully so!!

The British again returned to the islands and 
again settled on the Islands but in 1774 were 
again forced to leave to back up their activity 
in the US leading up to the American 
Revolutionary War. The British left behind a 
plaque asserting their continued claim. Spain 
maintained its governor until 1806 who, on their 
departure also left behind a plaque asserting 
Spanish claims. The remaining settlers were withdrawn in 1811.

In 1820 privateer Heroina took shelter in the 
islands and Captain David Jewitt raised the flag 
of the United Provinces of the River Plate and 
read a proclamation claiming the islands. Luis 
Vernet established a settlement in 1828 with 
authorization from the Republic of Buenos Aires 
and Great Britain. In 1829, after asking for 
assistance from Buenos Aires, he was proclaimed 
Military and Civil Commander of the islands. 
Vernet asked the British to protect his settlement if they returned.

Argentina played the leading role in the 
settlement of the Malvinas and in November 1832 
sent Commander Mestivier as an interim commander 
to establish a penal settlement. This didn’t last 
long because in January 1833 the British again 
returned and forcibly requested the Argentinean 
Garrison to leave. Captain Don Pinedo of the 
Argentina warship ARA Sarandi, reluctantly left 
the island but the Vernet settlement remained. 
The settlement continued until August 1833 when the leaders were all killed.

 From 1834 - 1840 the British Navy controlled the 
area by force until they fully established a 
permanent colony which was totally and utterly illegal.

Sovereignty over the islands later became an 
issue when Argentina saw the creation of the 
United Nations as an opportunity to pursue its 
claim. Talks between British and Argentine 
foreign missions took place in the 1960s but 
failed to come to any meaningful conclusion. A 
major point in all the negotiations was that the 
inhabitants preferred that the islands remain British territory.

On 2 April 1982 Argentina invaded the Malvinas 
(Falkland Islands) in an attempt to regain its 
own sovereign territory but the mission 
failed
.not without a fight
..the Argentinean Air 
Force almost gained control when the Royal Navy 
lost many ships and aircraft. It was purely a 
fluke that they didn’t manage to find the 
Carriers otherwise the outcome would have been totally different.

Diplomatic relations were again established in 
1990 but turned sour in 1994 when Argentina again 
stood its ground and added its claim to the 
islands to the Argentine Constitution under the 
principles of International Law.

Kirchner who was campaigning for President in 
2003 regarded the islands as a top priority, 
taking actions such as banning flights to the 
Falklands from Argentine airspace. In June 2003 
the issue was again brought before a UN and 
attempts made to open talks with the UK to resolve the issues but to no avail.

In 2007 Argentina reasserted its claim over the 
Falkland Islands, asking for the UK to resume 
talks on sovereignty. Gordon Brown in March 2009 
stated at a meeting with the Argentinean 
President that there would be no talks over the 
future sovereignty of the Falkland Islands. As 
far as the governments of the UK and of the 
Falkland Islands are concerned, there is no issue 
to resolve. The Falkland Islanders consider 
themselves as almost entirely British and 
maintain their allegiance to the United Kingdom.

In October 2007 Britain submitted a claim to the 
UN to extend seabed territory around the 
Falklands and South Georgia, in advance of the 
expiry of the deadline for territorial claims 
following Britain’s ratification of the 1982 Law 
of the Sea Convention. This claim would enable 
Britain to control activities such as fishing 
within the zone, in areas not conflicting with 
the Antarctic Treats. Argentina said it would 
challenge any claim by the British to Antarctic 
Territory and the area around the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.

Argentina made a similar claim in 2009 and the UK 
protested. Later a World Summit on Fishing 
Sustainability took place and delegates from the 
Falkland Islands were invited causing the 
Argentine delegation to protest and walked out of the conference.

In February 2010, the Argentine government 
announced that ships traversing Argentine 
territorial waters en route to the Falklands, 
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 
would require a permit, as part of a dispute over 
British oil exploration near the Falklands. The 
British and Falkland governments stated that 
Falklands-controlled waters were unaffected.

So here we are some 30 years on since the 
Falklands War and still the “Tit for Tat” 
continues. Argentina certainly does have a very 
good arguable case as to whom is the legitimate 
owner of these islands. However, David Cameron is 
clearly at war with everyone and everything 
covering a vast area from Libya - Syria - 
Afghanistan - Somalia and now in true “Thatcher 
Style” is once again wishing to bring yet another conflict to the islands.

My comment however would be “Don’t bite off more 
than you can chew”
..the entire scenario has 
changed since the last war in that we do not have 
a carrier or the Harriers who had the upper hand when it came to aerial combat.

Argentina no longer stands alone and has the 
entire South American Continent standing shoulder 
to shoulder with her and the outcome, should a 
conflict occur, could well be totally different. 
Despite our PM’s on going arrogance it is clear 
that he has made three very important mistakes:

· He’s not aware of the incredible shortfalls in our military
· He’s ignoring the enormous support for Argentina from Latin America
· He’s fraudulently using a non existent oil 
field for commercial leverage (Oil for Britain) 
and is promoting fake or virtual oil companies.

Legality of these islands show that originally it 
was settled by the French who then clearly and 
legally handed it over to Spain whose territory 
at the time included Argentina and many other colonies in Latin America.

Argentina also has the right to claim the 
territory in its coastal and offshore islands 
under the existing United Nations Convention on 
the Law of the Sea ( UNCLOS) which I have studied 
in depth during my time in the Royal Navy and 
whilst working in the offshore oil and gas 
industry on the navigational aspects of this law.
.
Every country, colony or even small independent 
island groups have a legal right to own their 
coastal fringe as well as an extended Exclusive 
Economic Zone (EEZ) so as to benefit from the 
natural resources that may exist within their territory...

Let’s now apply the UNCLOS rulings to the 
Malvinas and you will clearly see that Argentina 
wins this game hands down based on the following:

Territorial Waters extend out to 12 nautical 
miles from the baseline, the coastal state is 
free to set laws, regulate use, and use any resource.

Contiguous Zone: A further 12 nautical miles from 
the territorial sea baseline limit, the 
contiguous zone, in which a state can continue to 
enforce laws in four specific areas: Customs, 
Taxation, immigration and pollution...

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): Extend from the 
edge of the territorial sea out to 200 nautical 
miles. Within this area, the coastal nation has 
sole exploitation rights over all natural 
resources. The term may include the territorial 
sea and even the continental shelf.

Continental Shelf: The natural prolongation of 
the land territory to the continental margin’s 
outer edge, or 200 nautical miles from the 
coastal state’s baseline, whichever is greater.

The US clearly takes advantage of its Continental 
Shelf and as they say “what’s good enough for the 
goose is good enough for the gander” and in this 
context it would be advantageous for Argentina to use the same tactics.

Archaeological finds have revealed settlers 
arrived from Tierra Del Fuego (Argentina) and it 
remains clear to me that the rightful / legal 
owner of the Malvinas (Falkland Islands) is Argentina.

The only right the UK has on these distant 
islands is the fact they took them by military 
force and kicked out the legal owners.

Peter Eyre - Middle East Consultant

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article 
and its contents are the sole responsibility of 
the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV.

MOL/HE



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