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Malvinas

In 1829, Argentina created the Malvinas Political and Military Command and appointed Luis Vernet as governor of that territory. Then, in 1833, the United Kingdom occupied the archipelago and evicted the Argentine inhabitants and authorities. In 1965, however, the United Nations decided that Argentina and the U.K. should hold negotiations to seek a solution to the dispute. In April 1982, Argentine troops landed on the islands to defend the sovereignty of their territory. Three months later, however, they surrendered to British forces. At the Malvinas war, 255 British, 3 islanders, and 649 Argentines died.

The Malvinas Islands were discovered by Spain in 1520 and since then they appeared on Spanish maps and charts with different names. They were under the undisputed control and jurisdiction of Spain, recognised by all European nations, including Britain, by means of several international treaties signed in the 17th and 18th centuries. There was no indigenous population on the islands. The first inhabitants were French, who settled in 1764 and called them îles Malouines. Spain protested as soon as it was aware of the French settlement and obtained the explicit recognition of Spanish sovereignty from the King of France. The settlement was then transferred from the French to the Spanish.

In the periods 1765-70 and 1771-74 a small British garrison was established on one of the islets of the archipelago,which was first forced out by the Spanish authorities and in 1774 evacuated by the British, leaving the whole of the Malvinas Islands under the full control of Spain. From 1767 until the time of Argentine independence from Spain, 32 consecutive Spanish governors administered the Malvinas Islands, appointed by the authorities in Buenos Aires.

At the beginning of the Argentine independence movement, the islands were part of the territories inherited from Spain. In 1820 the Buenos Aires Government formally took possession of the Malvinas Islands. The Times of London reported the event without raising any protest or action by the British Government. After several years of Argentine presence on the islands, in 1829 Buenos Aires appointed Luis Vernet as political and military commander. He undertook pioneering work on the islands. His wife, Maria Saez, recalls in her diary how difficult those early days were. Their daughter, Malvina, was the first person registered as born on the islands. The settlers brought by Vernet built houses and salteries. The Governor promoted the settlement of livestock workers and providers of services to fishing vessels calling at the islands.

Since the 18th century, Great Britain had sought control over the South Atlantic but Spain prevented it. It was against this background that the British unsuccessfully tried to invade Buenos Aires in 1806 and 1807. When Britain consolidated its position as the foremost naval power in the world after the Napoleonic Wars, it increased its strategic interest in the South Atlantic, which still prevails.

In 1831 a U.S. warship, the Lexington, ravaged the population of the Malvinas Islands in retaliation for the Argentine Governor’s seizure of American ships that were hunting seals around the islands. The U.S. force destroyed the facilities and defences in place. The attack deeply affected the community and many islanders went back to the continent out of fear of further attacks. However, the settlement was not abandoned and new authorities were sent from Buenos Aires.

Under these circumstances, Great Britain sent two warships to the Malvinas Islands with orders to seize them. On 3 January 1833 the United Kingdom expelled the Argentine authorities, the military garrison and their families, forbidding their return. The Argentine authorities immediately protested in the face of such aggression, carried out at a time of peace between two friendly nations. The claim has been continuous since the very moment of the occupation. The Duke of Wellington himself, when Prime Minister, wrote to the Foreign Office: “I have perused the enclosed papers respecting the Falkland Islands. It is not clear to me that we have ever possessed the sovereignty of all these Islands.”

Since the occupation,the UK Government started a process ofsettling families of British origin on the Malvinas Islands, preventing Argentine immigration and purchase of land. At the same time, the British Government categorically refused to discussthe Argentine protests and to resolve the conflict.

The United Nations defined the Question of the Malvinas Islands in General Assembly Resolution 2065 (XX) and subsequent ones, as a special colonial case that involves a sovereignty dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom, which should be settled by means of negotiations between both parties, taking into consideration the interests of islanders. Since 1965 various United Nations organs have passed over 40 resolutions calling on the two parties to find a peaceful and definitive solution to the sovereignty dispute. The Question of the Malvinas Islands also includesthe South Georgias Islands, South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas.

From 1966 until 1982 both countries held negotiations and Argentina made a great effort to improve the living conditions of islanders through practical measures. Possible solutions such as transfer, joint administration and leaseback were considered. Documentswere drafted, agreed and initialled by negotiators, in which the United Kingdom accepted to recognise Argentine sovereignty. The intransigent attitude of groups with economic interestsin the islands prevented a solution.

In April 1982 the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina dragged the country to war in an attempt to stay in power and continue to impose an economic model of structural adjustment and misery. The attitude of both governments prevented a peaceful settlement. The conflict did not alter the nature of the dispute, which continues to be pending negotiation and resolution, as the United Nations General Assembly recognised in November 1982 and in several subsequent resolutions.

The international community as a whole repeatedly called for dialogue through a large number of resolutions and declarations, not only from the United Nations but also from the Organisation of American States (OAS), MERCOSUR, the Union of South American Nations, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Central American Integration System (SICA), the Ibero-American summits, the Summit of South American and Arab countries (ASPA), the Summit of South American and African countries (ASA), and the G-77 plus China (131 countries). The Malvinas Islands are a regional cause and a global cause. All countries in the region recognise the Malvinas Islands as an integral part of Argentine national territory and show their rejection of a colonial enclave in the south of the continent. Likewise, the region rejects unilateral British activities of exploration and exploitation of renewable and non-renewable natural resources in the Argentine continental shelf, as well as the British military presence and exercises. There is a population of about 2,800 people out of which only 1,339 were born on the Islands and over 1,500 are soldiers.

On 19 November 2021, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez announced that his administration is designing an agenda of actions to reinforce Argentina’s claim to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, which have remained under United Kingdom occupation since the 1982 war. "The Malvinas were, are, and will be Argentine ... There is no doubt about the right that we have over those lands", he said and explained that the "Malvinas 40 Years Agenda" will include strategies for the dissemination and awareness of the claim of Argentina's sovereignty over the Malvina islands, South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, and the surrounding maritime spaces.

This agenda will be focused on the reaffirmation of Argentine sovereignty, the call for the resumption of negotiations with the United Kingdom, the ratification of the Argentine commitment to peaceful means for the resolution of controversies, and a tribute to soldiers who fell in war and former combatants. "We are going to fight until the Malvinas Islands are ours again. It is not a President who is determined to do so. It is Argentina seeking to recover a territory that was stolen from us," Fernandez stressed, adding that his administration will continue to work diplomatically to "convince the world that the Malvinas are Argentine."

Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said his country will continue on the path to achieve a "peaceful solution" to the conflict, but without ceasing to assert its voice when denouncing the unjustified British military presence in the islands.