The Government of the Falkland Islands has announced that it will hold a referendum on its "political status" in 2013, in a bid to scupper Argentina's long-standing claim to sovereignty over the islands. David Cameron has been quick to say that the UK government will support the result of the vote, which suggests he has an inkling of how it's going to turn out.
And why wouldn't he? If you take several thousand people of British extraction and plunk them down on a piece of uninhabited territory, and then spend millions of pounds (and hundreds of lives) in defending them, how would you expect them to vote?
A Kim Jong-Il style 99.9% result is inevitable but will prove absolutely nothing. Argentina knows perfectly well that the islanders consider themselves British. Buenos Aires's claim to the territory is based on its geographical position. It's not a strong claim; the islands have never been occupied by Argentines, and even their "Argentine" name, las Malvinas, is a reference to the French fishermen from St Malo who landed there centuries ago. The referendum will solve nothing, unless the aim is to rile not just Argentina but most of Latin America as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment