In a sharp departure from established practice, Milei admits that the Falkland Islands, or Malvinas, are, to all intents and purposes, British. And he is no rush to change that.
For most Argentines, Margaret Thatcher is a controversial figure, to put it mildly. It was she who, as British Prime Minister, ordered the torpedoing of the ARA Belgrano, an Argentine cruiser, leading to the deaths of 323 people on board — practically half the total casualties suffered by Argentina during the 1982 war over the Falklands (or Malvinas, as they are known in Spanish). The attack took place outside the exclusion area the British Government had established around the islands. It is also the only case of a ship sunk in war by a nuclear submarine.
So, when Argentina’s faux libertarian president, Javier Milei, described Thatcher as “brilliant” in an interview with the BBC this week, it turned a few heads:
Criticising someone because of their nationality or race is very intellectually precarious. I have heard lots of speeches by Margaret Thatcher. She was brilliant. So what’s the problem?..
There was a war and we were the ones who lost. That does not mean that one cannot consider one’s adversaries as people who did their job well.
This is not the first time that Milei has heaped praise on Thatcher in public, but it is, to my mind, the first time he has done so since becoming president. The fact that he made these remarks during an interview with the UK’s national state broadcaster gave them added prominence. During the election campaign Milei described Thatcher as an “idol” who played a significant role in the fall of the Berlin Wall. He steadfastly ignores the fact that Thatcher’s legacy of failed privatisations and strict adherence (aka TINA) to monetarism, loose financial regulation and so-called free trade have left the British economy in tatters while, of course, being exported around the world, including to Argentina.
“In the history of humanity,” Milei told the BBC interviewer, “there have been great leaders. Mrs Thatcher was one, as were Reagan, Churchill and De Gaulle.”
In this latest interview, not only did Milei reiterate his admiration for the “Iron Lady”, he also did something that no other Argentine president of the post-Falklands War era has done: he admitted that the Falkland Islands, or Malvinas, are, to all intents and purposes, British. Asked if he considered the recent visit by UK Foreign Minister David Cameron to the Falklands to be a provocation, Milei said: “No, because that territory today is in the hands of the United Kingdom. In other words, he has every right to [visit the Falklands].”
Located 250 miles off the southern tip of Argentina and 8,000 miles from British shores, the Malvinas/Falklands, home to 3,500 mostly British people, have been the subject of a territorial dispute between the UK and Argentina ever since 1833, when a British expedition invaded the islands, evicted their inhabitants and planted the British flag. After the Suez disaster of 1956, the British government began divesting itself of most of its colonial holdings in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean (while, of course, building a vast web of tax havens in their place). However, London made sure to hold on to the Falklands, for its obvious geostrategic benefits.
Now classified as a British Overseas Territory, the islands are technically self-governing, with defence matters and foreign affairs handled by the UK government. London regularly wheels out the fact that almost 100% of the residents of the archipelago approved remaining under British control in a referendum held in 2013. During his visit to the islands in February, Cameron stated that he hopes that the territory will want to remain under the administration of the United Kingdom “for a long time, possibly forever.”
Milei, however, has a cunning plan, of the sort that even Blackadder’s Baldrick would be proud, to resolve this centuries-old territorial dispute once and for all, which he shared with the BBC during his interview. He and his ministers, he said, will talk about the issue to their British counterparts in an adult, cordial manner until the British finally agree to hand back the territory like true gentlemen. This despite the fact that the British government insists that sovereignty over the islands is not up for debate.
Here’s a transcript of the brief exchange (the Spanish sections translated by your truly):
— You have promised Argentines a road map to making the Falklands, known here as the Malvinas, Argentinian. What specifically does that road map look like?”
— We believe this always must be done in a framework of peace and as the result of a long-term negotiation in which an adult discussion takes place between countries that have a great deal in common as well as a source of discord. And we have to try to resolve it in an adult way. Obviously this is not going to be an instant solution, it will take time. So we are not going to give up our sovereignty nor are we going to have a situation of conflict with the UK. What we are looking to do is to initiate a dialogue so that at some point the Falkland Islands become Argentinian.
— What makes you think the UK will agree to that, because they have been very clear they do not want to negotiate it?
— It could be that today they don’t want to negotiate but some time later they do. Many of these positions have changed over time.
— But how will you convince them. What tools would you use to convince them?
— I’m going to try to convince them that the territory is Argentinian. I am going to try to convince them that this territory is Argentine and that according to the specifications that are usually used to define it that way, Argentina has the right and sovereignty over the islands.
But when they have said very clearly that they are not willing to negotiate and use the referendum held on the islands as proof that they do not want to discuss this issue again. How will you convince them? What tools would you use?
Well, it won’t be discussed now. It will be discussed later.
And that is pretty much it. In other words, Milei is going to appeal to the British establishment’s better nature without applying any kind of political or diplomatic pressure, as previous Argentinian governments have tried to do, albeit with little success. Nor does Milei appear to be in any hurry to press the issue. Now, he said, is not the time to discuss the territorial dispute, which, he added, could take decades to resolve…
Read the full article on Naked Capitalism
Nick Corbishley 