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[–] 109 points 2 years ago (21 children)

There was a fight for them and they're still British. There was a referendum and the islanders overwhelmingly want to stay British.

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    [–] 92 points 2 years ago (23 children)

    'Get them back'. What does 'back' even mean in this statement? Of all the countries that have ever legitimately ruled the Falklands, Argentina was never one of them.

    The penguins have a better claim to the Falklands than Argentina...

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    [–] 78 points 2 years ago (26 children)

    Just a reminder: that there was no one living in the Falklands prior to the UK and France showing up. My understanding is that no one even wanted the islands until they found oil nearby. While it's weird that the UK has a colony all the way down at the tip of South America, there's no reason to argue for Argentinian ownership of the Falklands. Hell, Argentina taking ownership of the Falklands is more colonialist than UK maintaining ownership due to the population being mostly British and French.

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    [–] 63 points 2 years ago* (69 children)

    I met an Argentinian, and she is still upset about the Falklands. It made an impression on me that Argentines are still not over it. Don't get me wrong, she is a nice lady, but I'm guessing that nationalism is Argentina's past time instead of fixing their own more critical domestic issues. Tribalism is a time tested tool used to distract and manipulate people, anyhow.

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  • [–] 34 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (9 children)

    Argentinian leaders use nationalism as a distraction for their economic woes – it's why the Falkland war started in the first place, the president wanted something to make citizens focus on other than the declining state of the country, and grabbing some land from a greater power to get a bunch of glory seemed like a great option, especially considering they didn't think the UK would actually retaliate or even care. The reason they went for it is they thought the British didn't give a damn about the Falklands, seeing as how they constantly denied giving the island economic support. Oh boy, were they wrong.

    Because of the war, Argentinians now see not having the Falkland islands as a detriment to their national pride, they think it's soveirgn Argentinian territory... even though everyone living on the island has always been and still is almost entirely Anglo-Franco-descendent, and not once did Argentina actually have claim to the islands until recently in history...

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    [–] 42 points 2 years ago (10 children)

    Because “getting them back” worked so well for the (not for long) ruling regime of Argentina last time around. Lol.

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  • [–] 46 points 2 years ago (9 children)

    Just for who didn't know the story: in order to distract the population from a 120% inflation, the ruling far right dictator decided to take back the islands, (sounds similar?) thinking that the us would support them and that the UK wouldn't fight back.

    Anyway the UK is very far and it would take months to send reinforcements, right? And the US loves us, just because we're not communists like other neighbors. We gonna just take them back with a special military operation, no war declaration needed.

    While for a short time it worked as the local media was ecstatic about getting back the Malvinas islands and didn't talk anymore about the rampant inflation, it eventually backfired spectacularly and the fascist regime was overturned.

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  • [–] 61 points 2 years ago (8 children)

    That government was put in power after a US-backed coup overthrew the democratically-elected Isabel Perón. Henry Kissinger was instrumental in orchestrating the coup.

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  • [–] 59 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    Kissinger has done a supernatural amount of damage to the world.

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  • [–] 34 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Are we just doing out of order reruns of the 20th century?

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    [–] 32 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    Lol I was wondering just yesterday how long it would take this guy to bring up the Falklands after getting elected.

    Normally right-wingers in the UK would be pleased to see someone like him elected, but because of the Argentina-Falklands connection, they're going to hate him lmao

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    [–] 28 points 2 years ago (22 children)

    On a differrent note: What would anybody want of the Falkland Islands? I mean, it is a lousy island with 3000 inhabitants and half a million sheep, and they live of fishing, wool, and day tourism from cruise ships.

    On the one hand, maintaining a military presence equivalent to more than half the number of native inhabitants costs the British a shitload of money. On the other hand, starting another bloody war with the UK in the middle of an economic catastrophe over a piece of rock with sheep does not make any sense for Argentina, either.

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  • [–] 26 points 2 years ago

    On a differrent note: What would anybody want of the Falkland Islands?

    Oil in the nearby ocean ownership is the reason why.

    Its the way international treaties work as far as claiming ownership of resources in the ocean.

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    [–] 25 points 2 years ago (11 children)

    He has said he wants a diplomatic solution similar to the one that Britain reached with China over Hong Kong.

    Wonderful example. What happened to Hong Kong is something that no place in the world really wants to experience.

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    [–] 19 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    This happens every couple of years, as a populist move in Argentina to avoid tackling the real issues.

    The UK will have a nice chuckle, will make some empty threats about protecting its people if needed, and we'll all move on.

    What worries me is that this seems to improve the opinion of those in power, and last time the Falklands came up Theresa May loved every second of it because she could act out her Thatcher cosplay fantasies.

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    [–] 17 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Soooo trouble in Middle East is back from standby and Argentina is making demands about the Falklands. How about we just stop there and let other famous Conflicts in pease. * sweats in german *

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    [–] 17 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (11 children)

    Argentina: we will retake Las Malvinas!

    Royal Navy: Oh really? Try it. We'd really like a chance to demonstrate the combat effectiveness of our QE2 Class Carriers. And Bob here hasn't shot his destroyer's deck guns since '82 and he's bored!

    RAF: (Rapidly dusting off the Vulcans and Nimrods)

    Royal Marines: (Lights up a Benson & Hedges cigarette)... Right... (Slaps knees and stands up)... Grab yer Bergens and Bayonets lads!

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  • [–] 39 points 2 years ago

    I really hope Argentina doesn't hand the UK's faltering Conservative government a nice patriotic war just before the next election. If they hadn't done that in 1982 we might have seen the back of Thatcher before the worst damage was done.

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    [–] 17 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    Well, if another curbstomping by Britain is what it takes to run this addle-brained right wing moron out of office in short order, then perhaps that's a silver lining.

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