Falkland islands

A weekly round-up from around the world

UK says “hands off our islands”

Argentina, the world press tells us, intends to rename its top soccer league the “Cruiser General Belgrano First Division”, in honour of the Argentine ship sunk by the Royal Navy during the 1982 Falklands War. Far be it from any outsider to prescribe how a country honours its war dead, but honour is not what the move is about: it’s part of a continuing, exhausting barrage of Falklands agitprop from Argentina’s Kirchner government. Kirchner is scrambling to keep Argentine economic growth rolling, barracking businesses and workers in the classic caudillo manner as inflation outpaces the dubious official statistics. She has tried, with some success, to close off Southern Hemisphere ports to boats flying the maritime flag of the Falklands and to weld traditionally UK-friendly neighbours into a regional bloc against “colonialism”. Tensions are high and the Falkland Islanders are feeling besieged.

Argentina plans to raise Britain’s “militarization” of the Falkland Islands at the UN, the BBC reports. The islands, long a sore spot between two countries, have been the site of increasing tension in recent months. Britain recently sent their newest naval destroyer to the region (along with Prince William, a helicopter rescue pilot assigned to the ship). Argentina, meanwhile—along with other South American nations—closed its ports to ships from the islands in December. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez De Kirchner will launch a formal complaint over Britain’s actions at both the UN Security Council and General Assembly.

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