http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23596312
..."Yawn"!!...that's the only response I can come out with.

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The Kite Fliers

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Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

The islanders voted overwhelmingly on a referendum held in March to remain British.

I think the only people you need to ask are the ones living there. and they clearly said NO to Argentina.

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In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

The islanders voted overwhelmingly on a referendum held in March to remain British.

I think the only people you need to ask are the ones living there. and they clearly said NO to Argentina.

Would you say the same if the squatters were in your house?

That is essentially the issue here, except it has been going on for a very long time. They should both sue the estate of the map maker that said there were two sets of islands and collect from it.

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The islanders voted overwhelmingly on a referendum held in March to remain British.

I think the only people you need to ask are the ones living there. and they clearly said NO to Argentina.

Would you say the same if the squatters were in your house?

That is essentially the issue here, except it has been going on for a very long time. They should both sue the estate of the map maker that said there were two sets of islands and collect from it.

There are two sets of islands, Gary....East Falklands and West Falklands.
First discovered by the Portuguese, but not officially reported at that time.
Later to be rediscovered by the British 50-odd years later and named. Then later
along come the French and colonise a part of the East Falklands followed a year
later with the British colonising the West Falklands then subsequently laying
claim to the whole of the Falklands Isles on prior discovery rights. The French
later gave up their half of the Falklands to the Spanish because the Spanish
had colonised Argentina. The Spanish then assumed rights over the whole of the
Falklands Isles because they stated that it laid in Spanish waters. At best the
Spanish only ever had a claim to half of the Falkland Isles, the East Island.
Since the Falkland Islands sits 300 miles away from Argentina this claim was
a bit rich to say the least but if you accept the old ways things were done
in those times then fair enough. To accept the latter then you would have to
accept the old adage of times gone by, "Possession is 9/10th of the law and that
the British finally settle the score by kicking all off the Islands as soon
as Argentina gained independence in 1816. Argentina's claim on the Falklands
comes via the Spanish who acquired "Part" of the Falklands from the French. So
in reality Argentina can only claim sovereignty over the East Falklands but not
the West Falklands. Britain states it owns the whole of the Falklands because
it discovered the whole lot before the French plonked themselves on part of
it. The Portuguese who first discovered it aren't at all interested in these
Islands so next in line to claim them by right has to be the British...so knob-
off Argentina for the Spanish never had rights of ownership in the first place
and were not their's to pass on to you...if ever they did in the first place.
One thing for sure, France only ever knew of the Falklands once the British
had put it on the map, one thing the Portuguese failed to do officially. So the
French then colonising the East Falklands was a bit of a liberty take so at best
they were only there as visitors as far as the British were concerned. Yet this
situation was acceptable to the British at that time but what got their backs up
was when the French passed it over to the Spanish and they then kicked our
encampment off the West Falklands...the latter nearly resulting in a war
between us and the Spanish. In the end all was sorted out and we re-colonised
the West Falklands again. As it stands today, all concerned know that Argentina
can only ever gain sovereignty over the Falkland Isles if the British wish to
relinquish their rights over it. For as it currently stands, the Briitish have
the legal rights but not the Argentines....else we would have given these
Islands over to them a long time ago.

As regarding squatters in your house, this is a case of the French squatting on
our Island then passing these squatting rights over to the Spanish as ownership rights...
...no legal standing I'd say.

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The Kite Fliers

--------------------
Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

Most places these days, when you know of squatters and don't throw them off you can lose possession. So way back when the French were on it and England didn't mind them being there, they lost title. Now the situation is reversed and Argentina has lost title, unless they have been attempting to get England off all along.

If you want some advice, England is going to have to keep a military presence on the islands and in the seas down there. That costs some sum of money. Perhaps Argentina is willing to shut up and cede all claims for somewhat less than that cost as a payment for say X years. Then it becomes a win win. Otherwise a decade or three down the line some more blood is going to get spilled, in the name of colonialism.

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Most places these days, when you know of squatters and don't throw them off you can lose possession. So way back when the French were on it and England didn't mind them being there, they lost title. Now the situation is reversed and Argentina has lost title, unless they have been attempting to get England off all along.

If you want some advice, England is going to have to keep a military presence on the islands and in the seas down there. That costs some sum of money. Perhaps Argentina is willing to shut up and cede all claims for somewhat less than that cost as a payment for say X years. Then it becomes a win win. Otherwise a decade or three down the line some more blood is going to get spilled, in the name of colonialism.

By that reckoning Gary, The native Americans didnt throw us squatters off the land right off the bat so we have the outright claim to the US?

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[/quote]

Old James

Gary, one difference here -- the Argentine never had rights to the Falklands -- ever.

Gary, one difference here -- the Argentine never had rights to the Falklands -- ever.

But they own the Malvinas lock stock and barrel.

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There are rumors of substantial oil reserves around the Falklands.
With North Sea oil reserves dwindling i can't see the UK throwing in the towel anytime soon.

Nor will Argentina for the same reason. And blood will spill.

Better to pay now, when it is a rumor than pay a much bigger price after rumor becomes fact. Or they pull some stunt at the UN getting the waters declared some sort of sanctuary preventing the extraction. Well, that would be good for global warming.

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By that reckoning Gary, The native Americans didnt throw us squatters off the land right off the bat so we have the outright claim to the US?

SCOTUS isn't buying that but there are treaties involved in the native American cases. They are making the government pay the price of the land when it was stolen plus interest, making it into an eminent domain case.

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I guess the Brits ought to consider providing aid to Paraguay so they can recover land from the Argentine as well...

Nick, that was one of your best posts, well done, impressed :-)

Thanks Chris...

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The Kite Fliers

--------------------
Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

in the name of colonialism.

Has it's good points Gary, for it's what bought the USA about in the first place.
In the process, yup, some blood was spilt there but in the end the Brits packed
their bags and came back home letting bygones be bygones. The latter being a
trait I suspect unique to just our two countries.....so it seems.

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The Kite Fliers

--------------------
Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.

HMS Westminister

How about changing it's destination & crew? Crew it with all the muppets in SW1A & send it to the Falklands?

Saying that though, with Del & Nancy boys as Captain & Executive Officers it might end up at the North Pole!

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Americas entry into WWII in Europe undoubtedly saved many thousands of allied lives, and ended the war earlier than it would have done otherwise.

Might have changed what language you speak as well.

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I see Fernandez got a good kicking in the mid term elections, but unfortunately will still hang on till end of her term.

Analysis: Argentina's Fernandez weakened by vote but still in charge

(Reuters) - Argentine President Cristina Fernandez may be a lame duck after her coalition was thumped in a mid-term primary election, but with two years left in power she can still impose more of the capital and currency controls that have cut confidence in Latin America's No. 3 economy.

Fernandez's candidates won just 26 percent of the nationwide vote in Sunday's primary, much less than expected, and her hand-picked congressional candidate lost in the must-win province of Buenos Aires, home to 40 percent of the country's electorate.

HMS Westminister

How about changing it's destination & crew? Crew it with all the muppets in SW1A & send it to the Falklands?

Saying that though, with Del & Nancy boys as Captain & Executive Officers it might end up at the North Pole!

Quote from that article:

But the Spanish government has accused Gibraltar of laying the blocks "without the necessary authorisation" in "waters that are not theirs", contravening environmental laws and damaging Spain's fishing industry.

Thought the Spanish fishing industry was all in the English channel anyway.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

There are rumors of substantial oil reserves around the Falklands.
With North Sea oil reserves dwindling i can't see the UK throwing in the towel anytime soon.

Well lets get drilling quickly. Once it's all drained then we'll negotiate with Argentina, see how much they still want them.

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Life on earth is the global equivalent of not storing things in the fridge.

Perhaps Cameron hopes to pull the same trick as Thatcher did.

Though I doubt that either country can afford to wage war any time soon. Argentine still has a major debt issue and the UK also should be careful when it comes to their finances, or they are next on the list of countries who's economy get speculated to pieces.

For starters, the UK and Argentina did not formally declare war on each other in 1982, they just simply commenced hostilities. And they are unlikely to declare war in the future either even if shots are fired. And no, Thatcher did not pull a trick as you put it. As the PM at the time she authorised a Task Force to go down there and re-claim our own sovereign territory from an invasion by another country. We would, and can, react militarily in quite a different way today if it became necessary. With modern satellite technology, No.10 would know within seconds of the first Argentine soldier stepping on board a troop ship aimed at the Falklands.

The trick I referred to was that before the Falkland war, Thatcher was getting less popular by the day. But then she won the Falkland war and her popularity soared up.

And sure, you can react militarily. But armies cost a huge amount of money. And if they were to invade, you'd still have to send ships and soldiers, probably a number of airplanes as well, and those things cost money. Lots of money.

Oh really? Economic expert are you? Have some advice for the Chancellor do we? Take this elsewhere to another thread and I'll refute you.

One does not have to be an economic expert to know that armies cost a lot of money, and that once you start using them, they cost even more money. And you also don't have to be an economic expert to know that the UK has quite a massive debt. Waging a little war might cause some brokers and economic experts to wonder whether the UK will ever be capable of paying off its debts, which might lead to speculation, which causes uncertainty, raising interest rates, and before you know it the UK has its own little debt crisis. And really, it does not matter one little bit whether you can actually pay off your debts, there is simply a lot of money to be made by speculating a countries economy to hell.