'Ms' Fernandez? Pffft Says it all. Was watching some bummf earlier as to a 'flight' being stopped from the S American region to the Falklands and how it would rip the urine out of all the 'locals' from the mainland being able to work, visit etc etc. I didn't know just how many South Americans worked on the 'Malvinas' in this day and age. The bint has apparently slit her own political throat along with a high percentage of 'locals' who give more than a flying fook. Must be that time of the minute eh?

Shouldn't she be running some knicker factory in Wetherfield in about 20 yrs or so? Suits you Mrs. Ohhhhh, Ohhhh

I would though.

Originally Posted by sunnoficarus

We have a Security Council Veto - ENDEX Argentina.

My thoughts entirely with the added - Fuck you China, Fuck you Russia, before those clown states start.

How can the Argies ever get over the hurdle of the locals wanting to stay British?

By dint of sheer towering petulance, it would seem. I especially like the Argies' attempt to dictate which part of their realm a member of the Royal Family may or may not visit. Presumptuous, much?

Originally Posted by filthyphil

How can the Argies ever get over the hurdle of the locals wanting to stay British?

Simple, they can't.

They seem to do a great job of reinforcing the stereotype of latins being posturing bigmouthed wops though.

As a few others have noted this is turning into a long-term offensive which will do us no benefit in the long-term - no matter how right we are.

This is propaganda and mis-information targeted at a non-British audience (i.e. rest of world) not versed, or bothered by, the actual history and situation there.

The only way to counter this is if our political establishment re-iterates three short facts whenever the issue is raised:
1) we believe in self-determination for the Islanders;
2) we are willing for the ICJ to judge on sovereignty;
3) it was Argentina not Britain who in the history of the islands was belligerent.

I doubt our establishment has the courage or the wherewithal to trot that out every time the loon speaks but it speaks volumes of our case.

Originally Posted by filthyphil

How can the Argies ever get over the hurdle of the locals wanting to stay British?

I suppose Argentina would point out that the UK had no problem in deporting the entire population of Diego Garcia from their ancestral homeland in order to hand the place over to the Pentagon. What the locals wanted had nothing to do with anything -- the UK certainly wasn't interested in giving them a vote on the issue.

Indeed, any Argentine diplomat who wanted to show up Whitehall as a pack of lying, thieving, self serving, completely immoral bastards would only need to read out this 2009 WikiLeak to the UN:-

"HMG would like to establish a “marine park” or “reserve” providing comprehensive environmental protection to the reefs and waters of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), a senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) official informed Polcouns on May 12. The official insisted that the establishment of a marine park – the world’s largest – would in no way impinge on USG use of the BIOT, including Diego Garcia, for military purposes. He agreed that the UK and U.S. should carefully negotiate the details of the marine reserve to assure that U.S. interests were safeguarded and the strategic value of BIOT was upheld. He said that the BIOT’s former inhabitants would find it difficult, if not impossible, to pursue their claim for resettlement on the islands if the entire Chagos Archipelago were a marine reserve."

It does seem slightly perverse that they rail (is that the right spelling?) against the colonialist Brits and yet insist that the 'Malvinas' are Argentinian on the dubious grounds that they inherited the rights from their former colonial masters.

As mentioned above we need to go on a diplomatic offensive in the rest of Latin America and the world

The message we need to give is:

The self determination of the islanders is paramount. The only way that Argentina is ever going to get sovereignty of the Falklands is by persuading the islanders to vote for it.

Argentina has no legitimate claim on the Falklands.

Britain can and will defend the islands from any attempt at military action.

The last is very important. We must not allow the Argentinians to make the same mistake they made in 1982.

We must make sure that if they go looking for allies those allies know that an invasion is not a viable option and will tell them so.

It would be a strategic disaster for the UK's interests if the Argentinians attempted to invade and we ended up sinking a load of ships full of conscripts. (think Belgrano) It would be even worse if they had allies involved.

We need to deter them, and if that deterrence fails we need to be in a position where we can say 'we warned you' and the whole world knows it.