By Henry Srebrnik, [Moncton, NB] Times & Transcript
The Falklands War took place between April 2 and June 14 of 1982. The ten-week conflict was precipitated by Argentina’s invasion of the Falklands Islands, 480 kilometres east of Argentina, and then of nearby South Georgia Island. Both are British Overseas Territories.
In response, the British dispatched a naval task force to liberate them. At the end of the war, 649 Argentinians, 255 Britons, and three Falkland Islanders had died. The conflict included the sinking of HMS Sheffield, the first Royal Navy ship sunk in action since the Second World War, and the sinking of the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano, which saw 368 members of its crew lose their lives.
Due to its defeat, the military junta in Argentina collapsed, while Britain’s victory helped British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher win a landslide victory in a general election a year later.
As well, the Falklands Islands saw a significant improvement in its economic and constitutional position. Largely neglected by both Conservative and Labour governments in Britain before 1982, the post-war period saw substantial political, economic and social change.
Argentina has claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, which they call the Malvinas, since the early 19th century, but Britain seized the islands in 1833, expelling the few remaining Argentine occupants, and since then has consistently rejected Argentina’s claims.
Argentina says it has a right to the islands because it inherited them from the Spanish crown when it became an independent country in the early 1800s. It has also based its claim on the islands’ proximity to the South American mainland.
Britain rests its case on its long-term administration of the Falklands and on the principle of self-determination for the 3,400 islanders, who are almost all of British descent. The islands are internally self-governing, with the United Kingdom being responsible for defence and foreign affairs. This was confirmed in a 2013 referendum: On a turnout of 92 per cent of islanders, 99.8 per cent voted to remain a British territory.
Dick Sawle, a member of the island’s legislative assembly, called it an “absolutely phenomenal result which will send out the strongest possible message to the rest of the world about our right to self-determination - a right that was fought for in 1982, and which we have honoured tonight.”
The war does continue to be the defining event in the history of the Falklands and remains current because of the unresolved territorial dispute with Argentina. Much of the Falklands’ landscape is still shaped by the war; for example, the islands only became landmine-free in November 2020.
The economy has grown dramatically, bolstered in large part by a vibrant and profitable fisheries sector. A further industry that may well strengthen the economic position of the Falklands is oil. The hesitancy of British authorities pre-1982 to move ahead with oil exploration for fear of upsetting Argentina is no longer an issue.
However, the territorial dispute continues and so there does remain a reluctance of many multinational companies to get involved.
The oil in the Argentine continental shelf belongs to Argentina, declared Daniel Filmus, the Argentine minister for Malvinas affairs in 2015, using the Argentinian name for the islands. In 2021, two British multinationals, BP and Shell, bought licences from the Buenos Aires government to prospect for oil off the Argentinian coast. This led the left-wing politician Omar Latini to denounce Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez for not being tough enough on oil companies. So, oil remains an important factor in the sovereignty dispute.
Like many small island communities, the Falklands were both uniquely vulnerable and somewhat protected from COVID-19. But they have managed the pandemic relatively well.
Early in 2020, as the virus started to spread, international air travel ground to a halt. While this helped limit the import of the virus to the islands, it also left them without links to emergency health care and with limited food supplies.
But strong social and familial networks created a community coherence that has aided compliance of key anti-COVID measures. This was reinforced by a rooted sense of shared experience, made possible by the Falklands small population. Altogether, there have been just 124 confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Falklands until early April, with no fatalities.
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