SUMMARY
Argentina and the UK have been in dispute over the sovereignty of the Malvinas/Falkland Islands since 1833. In 1982, Argentina invaded the islands, but was militarily defeated by the UK. Since then, relations between the countries have normalised, but the sovereignty dispute has not yet been resolved.
IN DEPTH
A long history of disputed sovereignty
The status of the Malvinas (Argentine name) or Falkland Islands (British name), some 480 km off the coast of Argentina, has been contested since the early 19th century. The islands, then uninhabited, had been discovered by a British captain in 1592, and were given the name Falkland Islands by another British captain who was the first recorded man to step ashore there in 1690. French sailors, meanwhile, named the islands Les Malouines, from which the Argentine name Las Malvinas is derived. In the 18th century, French and British settlements sprang up on the island. The French sold their sovereignty rights to Spain in 1766, but Britain refused to accept Spanish sovereignty and the two countries nearly went to war over the right to the islands. In 1771 Spain recognised the British settlement on the islands, but the settlement was withdrawn for economic reasons in 1774.
After independence from Spain in 1816, Argentina proclaimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. The sovereignty claim was based on the fact that Argentina took over the territories formerly ruled by Spain, and that Spain had bought the right to the Malvinas/Falklands from the French. However, Argentina was expelled a few years later by forces of Britain and USA, who used the islands as a base for sealing and whaling. In 1833, Britain established sovereignty, claiming that it had never given up its rights to Spain and was therefore the rightful ruler of the islands due to having discovered them. Meanwhile, unconfirmed rumours have said that Britain secretly sold their rights to Spain in the late 18th century.
The Falkland Islands have been governed by the UK since 1833, and most inhabitants are of British descent. While Argentina has continued to challenge British rule on the same basis as it did in the early 19th century, the UK has shifted to basing its position on the rights and interests of the inhabitants of the islands, most of whom favour continued British rule. Meanwhile, Argentina extended their claims to include South Georgia (situated 1285 km east-south-east from the Falklands) and the South Sandwich Islands (750 km south-east of South Georgia) in 1927 and 1948, respectively.
In 1947 and 1955, the UK attempted to bring the sovereignty dispute before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) but Argentina refused. Between 1966 and 1982, negotiations were held under UN auspices over the status of the territory.
Invasion and recapture of the Malvinas/Falklands in 1982
In late December 1981, Argentina’s foreign minister, Nicanor Costa Mendez, stated to Argentine journalists that the government would regain the Malvinas/Falkland Islands before the end of 1982, by force if necessary. The islands were of strategic military importance to Argentina, which was at the time also in conflict with Chile over the Beagle Channel, another key South Atlantic territory. Retaking the islands would also improve the popularity of the military regime, led by Leopoldo Galtieri. During the spring of 1982 relations between the parties worsened, and continued UN-led negotiations failed to avert the crisis. On 19 March, a group of Argentine scrap merchants landed illegally on South Georgia and raised the Argentine flag. The UK government ordered them to leave or face removal by the British patrol ship HMS Endurance, and also reinforced the small group of British soldiers on the Falklands. Meanwhile, Argentina denied prior knowledge of the landing and argued that the presence of the Endurance constituted aggression.
In the early hours of 2 April 1982, Argentine forces launched an invasion and seized strategic installations in Port Stanley on East Falkland, announcing the “recovery” of the Falklands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands “for the nation”. The takeover followed a brief battle between the Argentine forces and the around 70 British marines stationed on the Falklands. The British Marines were expelled, and the British Governor was deported and replaced by General Benjamin Menendez. On 3 April, the Argentineans also captured South Georgia after a battle with 22 British marines, resulting in a few deaths. Britain responded to the news of the invasion by breaking off diplomatic relations with Argentina and by dispatching a large naval contingent, the “Task Force”, to the area.
Immediately after the Argentine invasion, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 502, urging an immediate cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of Argentine forces, and calling on the parties to find a diplomatic solution to the dispute. Several negotiation and mediation attempts were launched in order to resolve the Malvinas/Falkland crisis, under US, Peruvian and UN auspices. However, all attempts at a negotiated solution failed due to the Argentine refusal to relinquish their sovereignty claim, coupled with the British insistence that the first step to negotiations must be the withdrawal of Argentine forces. Furthermore, the British were adamant that the status of the islands must be based on the wishes of the inhabitants, most of whom were of British descent and supported continued British governance.
On 25 April, British forces recaptured South Georgia, following the landing of a small group of soldiers a few days earlier. Soon thereafter, the British Task Force arrived in the Falklands area, and on 1 May the Royal Air Force (RAF) began bombing raids against the Port Stanley airstrip. On 2 May, the Argentine battle cruiser General Belgrano was sunk by a British submarine, killing 368 on board. Air and naval battles continued during May, amidst failed attempts at peaceful resolution, with both sides suffering losses. On 4 May, British destroyer HMS Sheffield was struck, killing some 20 people. British forces landed on West Falkland in mid-May, and a few days later on East Falkland.
After about a month of clashes between the British and Argentine forces in the Falklands area, the Argentine forces formally surrendered on 14 June 1982. The surrender followed a British advance on Port Stanley 12-14 June. The commander of the Argentine forces, General Mario Benjamin Menendez, met with British commander Major-General Jeremy Moore at the government house in Port Stanley and signed the surrender document, which stated that East and West Falklands and their dependencies were surrendered to the UK.
Internal repercussions and bilateral relations after the conflict
The defeat in the Malvinas/Falklands conflict had a significant impact on internal political developments in Argentina. Instead of the desired outcome of a successful invasion bolstering support for the fledgling military regime, the conflict led to the fall of the junta and subsequent democratisation. On the same day as the Argentine troops surrendered, 14 June 1982, Leopoldo Galtieri resigned as commander in chief under heavy pressure. He was replaced by General Cristiano Nicolaides, who in turn appointed retired general Reynaldo Bignone as caretaker president. The new regime announced democratic elections, which were held in October 1983, resulting in the presidential victory of Raúl Alfonsín.
In Britain, meanwhile, the recapture of the Falklands was seen as a major victory and strengthened the popularity of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Party government. The 1982 conflict also resulted in a government policy of stronger political interest and commitment given to the Falkland Islands, with both economic investments and strengthened military fortifications.
The new democratic regime in Argentina continued to dispute the sovereignty of the Malvinas/Falkland Islands, although they rejected the use of force and instead sought a diplomatic solution. Argentina continued to pursue the issue in international forums, hoping to create international pressure on the UK. However, despite gradual improvements in relations between Argentina and the UK and some agreements regarding their relationship in the South Atlantic, no substantive progress was made on the central issue of sovereignty over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands in the coming decades.
During the presidency of Raúl Alfonsín, 1983-89, there were attempts to bring the parties to the negotiating table and to normalise relations between them. However, these attempts were impeded by the fact that the Argentine government affirmed that sovereignty must be a topic of any negotiations, whereas Britain, having defeated Argentina militarily in 1982, refused to discuss the sovereignty issue. A breakthrough was made after the Argentine elections in 1989, which resulted in the presidential victory of Carlos Menem. During Menem’s presidency, Argentina accepted to negotiate without addressing the sovereignty issue, and an “umbrella clause” was introduced which implied that the agreements made by the parties on other issues would not affect their respective sovereignty claims. There was also a shift during Menem’s presidency in that Argentina for the first time officially recognised the need to consider the inhabitants of the islands in any solution.
The improved relations in 1989-90 resulted in a formal cessation of hostilities and a normalisation of diplomatic relations. However, since then no formal attempts have been made to resolve the sovereignty issue, despite recurrent appeals for negotiation by Argentina as well as by international bodies such as the UN and the Organisation of American States (OAS). There were beliefs by some that the end of Conservative rule in the UK in 1997 would lead to increased willingness to discuss sovereignty. However, the new Labour government soon reiterated the position that sovereignty would not be negotiated.
The basic incompatibility in the Malvinas/Falkland Islands conflict thus remains unresolved, despite the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the UK and Argentina. However, one major convergence of positions over the years since the conflict has been that both parties now recognise the need to incorporate the views of the inhabitants of the islands in any solution regarding sovereignty. The islanders continue to support British governance, while simultaneously having gained more autonomy. In 1985, a Falklands Constitution was adopted that gives the islands some self-governance as the Legislative Council is directly elected rather than appointed by the Governor. In 1997, the new Labour government, while affirming the position on sovereignty, further strengthened the notion of autonomy with a new policy by which the dependencies (including the Falklands) instead became known as Overseas Territories.
