Argentina's leaders should be grateful for Falkland 'crumbs' Britain offers
Never, ever trust Argentina. Not when it comes to the Falklands. Forty years ago, it embarked on an unprovoked attempt to subjugate the Falklands by force, causing misery and appalling suffering, only to be kicked out by the British task force after just 70 days.
And now, just when the new Argentinian government, led by Javier Milei, starts to see sense, and tries to establish a more modern, cooperative relationship with the Islands, up pops the vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, to stir up a load of sabre-rattling claptrap about how poor old Argentina is somehow the victim. What complete garbage. What self-serving baloney.
“We’re being offered crumbs”, she complains. To which I’d tell her that she’s lucky to even get crumbs. The Falklands children of 1982, who watched in abject terror as a foreign army invaded their peaceful communities — imposing curfews, shoving people with their guns and taking over communal buildings at will — are now in leadership positions in the islands. And take it from me, they are in no mood to compromise on their desire to remain British. The memories of 1982 are all too vivid.
“Do they take us for fools?” whines Villarruel. No, Ms Villarruel, we take you for unapologetic invaders. Your country had no right to act as it did in 1982, and the scars are still raw. Be thankful for the crumbs you’ve been offered and shut up.
But we in Britain all know what the main problem is now. In 1982 we had the formidable Margaret Thatcher in charge – a woman who wouldn’t concede a single inch to the oppressor. Quite right too. Fast forward 40-odd years, and who’s now in charge of foreign policy? David Lammy. I find myself wincing at the thought of what he might do next.
Just today, we see that the UK has given up the Chagos Islands. Now, alright, the Chagos Islands and the Falklands are very different cases. The Falklands never had an indigenous population and Britain claimed sovereignty over them in the late eighteenth century well before Argentina even existed. British people have made the Falklands their home for nearly 200 years, and today visitors to the Islands (I’ve been lucky enough to go four times) see a culture and community more British than afternoon tea.
Even so, the surrender of the Chagos Islands can only embolden the aggressor. Notwithstanding its grubby yet failed attempt at conquest in 1982, followed by decades of economic bullying that have served only to make the Falklands even more British, Argentina still covets those islands like a hungry monster slavering at the prospect of dinner.
Can we trust David Lammy on this? Can we trust Keir Starmer? I am not their greatest fan, but I believe we can. Well, we’d better be able to. Starmer has flipflopped on just about everything he stood for in 2020 when he was elected Labour leader. But if he flipflops on the Falklands, it would be the ultimate betrayal. I would never forgive him. For that reason alone, and I desperately hope this doesn’t come back to bite me, I reckon he’ll stand by the Falkland Islanders.
As for Victoria Villarruel I suggest she studies the 1982 conflict and gives herself a basic education in what it means to subjugate. She was only seven when her country, under an odious dictator famous for assassinating opponents by dropping them from helicopters, launched that war. Perhaps she’s too young to remember just what a violent, disgraceful act it was on the part of the country she now represents. But I can assure her that the Falkland Islanders will not forget. Or forgive.
