Did the Falklands referendum vindicate Britain?
The overwhelming vote certainly didn't convince Argentina to renounce its claim to the islands off its shores in the south Atlantic
Falkland islanders voted overwhelmingly — almost unanimously, actually — to remain under British rule. The U.K.'s prime minister, David Cameron, said the Tuesday vote count, with 1,513 of the 1,517 votes cast in favor of maintaining ties with Britain, proved once and for all that the islands were "British through and through." Argentina's president, Cristina Kirchner, said that the islands, known as the Malvinas in her country, called the referendum a "parody," labeling the pro-U.K. voters a "consortium of squatters" transported to islands off her South American nation's shores. Will the vote settle anything?
Some say the turf dispute, which came to a head in a 1982 war that cost 900 lives, should now be closed. Yes, the islands are nearly 8,000 miles from Britain and just 300 miles from Argentina in the south Atlantic. But "the people of the Falkland Islands have spoken," says Britain's Telegraph in an editorial, "and they have said that they want to remain British." Argentina's "demagogic" president obviously won't be swayed by this "exercise in democracy," mostly because she's using her "entirely mythical claim over the Falklands to whip up nationalist sentiment... to distract her people from the terrible way she runs her country." She's wrong, and now the world — specifically Washington, which has tried to stay out of this fight — knows it.
Still, Kirchner isn't alone in calling the vote by the pro-U.K. "Kelpers," as the islanders are called, a farce. "The poll was a foregone conclusion," says Seumas Milne at Britain's Guardian. "What other result could conceivably be expected if the future of the islands is put in the hands of the tiny British settler population, most of whom weren't born there but are subsidized to the tune of £44,856 ($69,000) a head to keep them in the Rhodesian retro style to which they are accustomed?"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The reality, says Adrian Salbuchi at RT.com, is that the U.K. is no champion of self-determination here. You don't have to dig too deep into Britain's colonialist history to see that for the British government to "play the 'champion of the right to self-determination' role — even if only of a very tiny group of less than 3000 inhabitants in some far-away windswept islands — is grotesque and hypocritical to say the least." This is not about democracy.
Whatever the motivation, though, some observers say a free and democratic vote ought to put the matter to rest. "But it won't," says Jonathan Manthorpe in The Vancouver Sun. Kirchner insists, as have her predecessors, that the islands' sovereignty depends on where they are, not who has been shipped there since 1833, when Argentina's administrators left after British gunboats arrived and their government established "the islands as a sheep-rearing outpost and supply base for ships rounding Cape Horn."
Maybe it's time for Argentina's government to try a different approach, says Michael Soltys in the Buenos Aires Herald. Only 29 percent of the Malvinas' inhabitants consider themselves British — they're probably just afraid they'll get gobbled up by Argentina's government if the British leave. "The islands are changing and will continue to change as oil industry development expands the need for mainland links and immigrant labor," and "Argentina could make itself part of this future" abandoning the combative, anti-colonial rhetoric that has left "islanders clinging to the imperial past."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
-
'The House under GOP rule has become a hostile workplace'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal is about more than bad bets
In The Spotlight The firestorm surrounding one of baseball's biggest stars threatens to upend a generational legacy and professional sports at large
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Will North Korea take advantage of Israel-Hamas conflict?
Today's Big Question Pyongyang's ties with Russia are 'growing and dangerous' amid reports it sent weapons to Gaza
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published