Falkland Islands: between victimization and cynicism

“You can fool everyone for some time. You can fool some people all the time. But you can't fool everyone all the time.” This phrase by former President Abraham Lincoln describes as few the actions of the British elite of the Falkland Islands and its lobby in London.

In recent weeks, those who control the voices of opinion in the Islands have appealed in the crudest and most disrespectful way possible to certain parallels between the humanitarian crisis that the population of Ukraine is going through - as a result of the use of force by the Russian Federation - with the experience experienced by the islanders during the 74 days of the armed conflict of 1982.

They have also tried to flagrantly misrepresent the facts surrounding charter flights for those inhabitants of the Islands, mostly of the Chilean community, virtually stranded there for two years without being able to return to their homes, renew expired documentation or simply see their relatives.

It does not escape any moderately attentive reader that these actions respond to a clear and premeditated strategy for the 40th anniversary of the armed conflict, in order to try to show itself to the international community as the victims of a nation that, according to them, violates their human rights and oppresses them. The islanders' unusually aggressive language at the Decolonization Committee meeting last June 2021 has been a clear example of this.

However, it is nothing other than tricks to justify British intransigence to settle the sovereignty dispute and end colonialism in all its forms; that is, to fulfill its obligations under international law.

Firstly, with regard to the alleged parallel between Ukraine and the treatment received by the inhabitants of the Islands by the Argentine Forces in 1982, while it is understandable that any armed conflict undoubtedly generates anguish, fear and uncertainty, it is no less true that there is a gulf between the atrocities that are suffering the Ukrainian people and the experience lived by the islanders. Such a comparison is meaningless.

Without prejudice to condemning that Argentine military action, it is not possible to compare the war in Ukraine (or in Iraq, or in Bosnia) with what happened in the Malvinas. On April 2, the Argentine forces had orders not to attack even the British military and any action against civilians was prohibited, with any offence being tried immediately. There were no violations or attacks on civilians during the 74 days of the conflict. In fact, the only three civilians killed were by the action of British forces. The inhabitants of Puerto Argentino had been assured that there would be no military clashes inside the town and this was strictly fulfilled. Finally, it was the British who put not only the Islands, but the region as a whole at risk by introducing nuclear weapons into the South Atlantic.

The civilians confined to Darwin and Ganso Meadow were, precisely, to avoid possible casualties amid the confrontation between Argentine and British forces. On the other hand, British forces advanced an ultimatum of bombing the village, with civilians inside, if Argentine troops did not surrender.

If you compare all that to the atrocities in Bosnia, Iraq or what is happening today in Ukraine, you cannot help but conclude that the comparison is not only profoundly unfair but, moreover, an offense to those victims of the atrocities of those wars.

In turn, we are faced with the British pantomime and the island elite to show themselves as the ultimate defenders of Ukrainian territorial integrity. The selective application of the defence of this fundamental principle of international law is, to say the least, derisory: they defend Ukrainian territorial integrity to the utmost extent, while flagrantly violating Argentine territorial integrity (as well as those of Mauritius and Serbia, other examples of this double standard ).

With regard to charter flights, the action of the Islands' British elite has been a regrettable rhetorical game to defend their political and commercial interests while playing with the need of the inhabitants to travel to their homes. The alleged island government informed with fanfare that a LATAM charter plane was ready to travel to Punta Arenas and Santiago. They announced it, set the date and time of departure and then, in the face of the correct refusal of the Argentine government, they appealed, again, to the role of victims and to demonize our country, arguing that it is he who prevents these “humanitarian” flights. The reality is different.

It was the Argentine government, unlike London, that has been concerned with respect for the interests and way of life of the islanders.

During the most critical moments of the pandemic, it was Buenos Aires that was concerned with helping the people of the Islands in various ways. Precisely, the last of these actions was the offer of humanitarian flights with a flag airline to transport residents of the Falklands who needed to travel to other destinations to attend to personal procedures or visit their families, especially during the holidays. Faced with the first refusal that the flight was destined for mainland Argentina, the Argentine government offered that this flight should go direct to Chile, there was again a British refusal and finally, despite everything, Argentina requested - precisely taking into account the interests of the islanders - the resumption of the regular Punta Arenas flight. Gallegos-Malvinas River.

All these offers were systematically denied by London and the British elite of the Islands. The result is clear: people who have been “stranded” in the Islands two years ago cannot visit their relatives or renew their documents or simply return to their homes.

This result is the sole responsibility of London and the British elite. The Argentine government has done everything possible to resolve this situation for several months. The role of victims and the search for a scapegoat will not serve to justify the unjustifiable, you cannot lie to everyone all the time.

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