EDITORIAL COMMENT: LATEST ON THE FALKLANDS
We learned this morning that Argentine longshoremen blocked the departure of a luxury cruise ship from an Argentine port because they learned that it was to call on the Falklands as part of its itinerary. As we have noted previously the Falklands had been visited by British, American, and Spanish ships seeking shelter from rough South Atlantic winter weather prior to 1833. The British originally claimed it by right of first discovery. There was one attempt at settlement by "The United Providences" a collection of newly independent former Spanish colonies one of which would eventually become Argentina. There has never been any Argentine presence on the Islands except for invasion forces successfully repelled. The one attempt at colonization by the "United Provinces" was actually conducted under British license. When the United Provinces started acting like they had sovereignty over the islands the British dispatched war ships. Throughout the entire episode the leader of the British licensed attempt at colonization continued to send reports to British representatives as required as a condition of the license.
When the British arrived they found a colony in disarray with most of the population wanting to return to the South American mainland. Since all of the requirements of the license had been upheld the British offered protection to the colonist that wanted to stay and allowed those who wanted to leave to depart. The British actively paid some Gauchos that were needed to keep the colony in beef, from what had become feral cattle, to stay. They paid their unpaid back wages from the colony organizers in silver. Later when the British proposed paying the gauchos in paper currency five of them went outlaw, committed a series of murders and robberies which the Argentines now claim was a rebellion by the "United Provinces" settlers ( remember there is still no Argentina at this point). There are some Spanish surnamed families on the islands today, like their colonial era ancestors, all happily loyal British citizens. Some may have actually had an ancestor who was once a citizen of a former Spanish colony on the mainland or the "United Provinces", but none were ever Argentine nationals and rather obviously none want to be.
International law is clear. The most solid claim to sovereignty over a remote place is effective settlement. The Falklands were settled by the British starting with licensed South Americans and then native British nationals and effectively held and administered from 1833 until today except for a two month period that it took to expel an Argentine invasion force in the 1980s. Argentina is not the successor state of the United Provinces which broke up into several Latin American States and the United Provinces never had a real claim on the area anyway. Everything about Argentina's claim to the islands is false. Despite this we note that several Latin American nations have formally backed Argentina's claims to the UN. We firmly believe that if the UN were to uphold such a blatantly false claim there is no hope in the institution as an upholder of international law. It has simply become a mouth piece for any nation in the general assembly with a grievance against anyone in the English Speaking World. If The UN were to actually side with Argentina, Great Britain and the United States should withdraw from the organization. Britain should continue to defend the islands by force of arms as long as the inhabitants continue to cling to their British citizenship. Britain has previously announced its willingness to let go of the Falklands if the inhabitants wanted to affiliate with someone else. If the Argentines ever launch another invasion Britain has every right, since the Falklands are part of its sovereign territory, to invoke the NATO treaty and ask for the assistance of the United States and other NATO members. Should that happen, the war making capabilities located on the Argentine mainland should be destroyed.
Not all of the citizens of Chile and Uruguay which have joined Argentina in their drive to steal the Falklands agree with their government's actions. We think this quote from a voice of dissent posted to the Internet on August 31, 2012 in response to the news of the possible backing of Argentina by Uruguay and Chile says it all:
"Well in gratitude for Uruguay's unflinching support, you (Argentina) sabotaged their canal dredging project and screwed with their tax set-up. In gratitude to Chile's support you went behind their back and supported Bolivia in their efforts to snatch a piece of Chile's coastal territory.
Let's face it, if Latin America is a family . Argentina is the kleptomaniac. methsa-addicted, mentally disturbed second cousin that nobody trusts. If Pepe and Pinera don't have the balls to to stand up to your grubby self serving country and its total lack of decency I wouldn't be surprised if they get a well deserved boot up the arse from the voting public come the elections".-August 31, 2012 posted to Merco Press South Atlantic News Agency site
I don't think we could have said it any better.
Johnas Presbyter, Editor
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