Falkland Islands

[rosstheboss]

My father does a lot of business (£000,0000s p/a) with the Falklands and has been down there on a number of occasions. Ask any Falklander what their opinion is on the matter and they are all the same - proudly British, and want to remain that way.

This also goes for the large numbers who lived their before the relatively recent discovery of oil.

Argentina's president is desparately clinging on by her fingertips to power with this sabre rattling and rhetoric, she should perhaps look at her country's own colonial past in areas such at Patagonia (where coincidentally there are vast oil reserves!), or the province of Formosa, taken after defeating Paraguay in 1872. The people who live in Formosa or Patagonia see themselves as Argentine, same for the Falklanders.

Her timing of going to the UN (on the 30th anniversary of the end of the Falklands War) and the desecration of war graves for an olympic promo video are not only childish but also fairly sickening.

 

[t-stoff]

From the legal perspective.. As long as people and culture are intact, and the territory is independent in terms of what they want, they should maintain their status, in this case british. If you read the decolonization premise in the United Nations ( http://www.un.org/en/decolonization/que ... wers.shtml ) you will see that it doesn't apply to the Falkland islands. It would be a serious threat to other similar cases in Europe with France per example or Spain and Canarias. Portugal could have had the same thing with Cape Verde islands and East Timor. They wanted to be portuguese, and if it wasn't the fact we were in the middle of a Cold War, end of dictatorship and war associated with interests of two super powers, they would be still part of Portugal, as it was Macau till 1999 and not a rotten pseudo democracy.

 

[sylus]

The goverment know they are opening a pandoras box.

To stop this argentinian hissy fit and to stop the trickle games into other countries they will have a vote in the falklands as to who the islanders wish to be part of..they will of course choose britian

but by allowing a determination vote which also is on the cards for the jocks they no longer can refuse a self determination referendum in regards to britian and europe.

 

[highlandsflyer]

I haven't looked into it, but there was mention on the news that the UN supported the Argentine position?

I would rather be Argentine anyway, look at the women!

 

[t-stoff]

and by the way, security council decides anything UN related, and no way anything against the brits would pass there.

 

[rosstheboss]

The goverment know they are opening a pandoras box.

To stop this argentinian hissy fit and to stop the trickle games into other countries they will have a vote in the falklands as to who the islanders wish to be part of..they will of course choose britian

but by allowing a determination vote which also is on the cards for the jocks they no longer can refuse a self determination referendum in regards to britian and europe.

It's not really the same argument though as the Falklanders would be handing control over to a completely foreign country with an entirely different language for a start.

 

[1duck]

The empire is over. We lost it. Time to move on.

3000 islanders? that's not even a small town! ship them "home" (seen as they claim to be british) Give them some council houses on a rock, so they can feel at home and that's it all dealt with.

We would be better having the argentines as our friends than the falklanders. At most you annoy the 3000 people by shipping them back to britain, in return you gain the respect,friendship and trade possibilities of the 36 million people in argentina.

Seen as argentina is managing to gain the support of most of south america, that's a huge trading potential. It's the sensible thing to do. We're not living in the 1830's any more, just hand it back. Why Britain even has a veto at the UN is beyond me, we're not a world power any more.

 

[greenstiles]

pssst it's the oil not the people..........there just the human shield to the oil.......sssshh i said nothing

 

[1duck]

pssst it's the oil not the people..........there just the human shield to the oil.......sssshh i said nothing

How dare you suggest such a thing old chap! it's clearly about the rights of those british citizens on that rock.

 

[rosstheboss]

Yes there is oil there. That is not why the 3000 odd population live there. They live there because they were born there.