The Union Jack flies over the Falkland Islands after the British victory in 1982
Photo:
AP
Argentina and Great Britain have been at odds over the Falkland Islands for almost 200 years.
In April 1982, the conflict culminated in a brief war when Argentina attacked and occupied British Overseas Territories.
After a little more than two months, the occupiers had to admit defeat.
The result of the war were more than 900 dead and the end of the then Argentine military junta, the British victory cemented Margaret Thatcher's reputation as the "Iron Lady".
On Thursday, after meeting his British colleague James Cleverly at the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi, Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero announced that the Argentine government wanted to resume negotiations on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.
He suggested meeting British officials at United Nations headquarters in New York.
Cleverly promptly countered: "The Falkland Islands are British," he wrote on Twitter.
Local people had the right to decide their own future and they had chosen to remain British Overseas Territory.
Why is Argentina putting the issue back on the world political agenda?
What exactly is the conflict about?
And why are the Falkland Islands interesting for Buenos Aires and London at all?
The overview:
History of the Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands consist of about 200 islands in the southern Atlantic.
Geographically they belong to South America.
About 3,000 people live there (not counting the British military), almost two-thirds of them in the capital, Stanley, in East Falkland.
The main sources of income on the islands are sheep farming and fishing.
The Falkland Islands were officially discovered in 1592 by British navigator John Davies.
The Brit John Strong entered the archipelago safely for the first time.
He gave the strait between the two main islands its current name in honor of the then British politician Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount Falkland, later the name was applied to the entire archipelago.
In Argentina, the archipelago is called Islas Malvinas.
The first settlers on the barren islands were French.
In 1766 Spain maintained a colony.
In 1811 Spain stopped supporting the colony.
Nine years later, the archipelago was taken over by Argentina, and in 1833 the United Kingdom established a naval base on the island of East Falkland, forcing the Argentine administration to withdraw.
In 1837 the British colonial administration was officially established.
Argentina has repeatedly protested against this.
The topic often comes up shortly before elections in the South American country.
What makes the islands interesting for Buenos Aires and London?
It's not the sheep.
Over the course of the almost 200-year dispute between Buenos Aires and London, there have been different reasons for claiming the islands.
For a long time, international maritime law regulations were relevant for Great Britain.
With control of the archipelago, London could also justify claims in the Antarctic Ocean.
Today, dominion over the archipelago no longer establishes a claim in Antarctica.
The mineral resources in the area are currently much more interesting.
In the 1990s, large oil fields were discovered off the islands.
The Falklands War
On April 1, 1982, an Argentine invasion fleet set course for the Falkland Islands.
The British War Office radioed the garrison that enemy Argentine troops could land in East and West Falkland at any time.
The 68 British marines stationed there were to hold the islands until a diplomatic solution was found.
On April 2, the Argentines overran the Port Stanley area within hours.
The British soldiers were interned as prisoners of war.
It was the start of a 74-day war.
London reacted to the occupation with military harshness.
The invasion fleet for recapture consisted of two aircraft carriers, 42 warships, 22 supply ships and 62 civilian ships.
In the end, up to 30,000 Britons landed in several places on the islands.
They encountered an estimated occupation force of 15,000 Argentine soldiers.
The counteroffensive went largely as planned.
The Argentine soldiers stationed on the islands lacked training and armaments.
They had no winter clothes;
their supply did not work.
The Argentines soon found themselves cornered.
On June 14, the British took the capital Port Stanley, renamed Puerto Argentino - and at 9 p.m. in the evening the Argentines surrendered.
More than 900 soldiers lost their lives.
The conflict was brief but fierce.
Why did Argentina start the war?
Argentina's military ruler at the time, Leopoldo Galtieri, wanted to distract from domestic political problems by »bringing home« the Islas Malvinas off Argentina's coast.
His junta had come under increasing pressure in the early 1980s.
Galtieri was looking for a confrontation with an external enemy - and who would have been better suited than the old colonial power that, to Argentina's shame, occupied the Malvinas?
Galtieri's plan worked only temporarily.
In the frenzy of victory after the invasion, many Argentines forgot their economic misery and the cruel persecution of opposition figures.
Instead of being fascists, they suddenly saw the military in Buenos Aires as anti-colonial fighters.
The Montoneros guerrilla group proposed a ceasefire to the hated junta, and Castro's Cuba also offered help.
But after the British had recaptured the Falklands, Galtieri was deposed.
A court sentenced him to 12 years in prison for human rights violations and mismanagement during the Falklands War.
Why did London get involved in the conflict?
Argentina's military ruler Galtieri apparently believed Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would tolerate the invasion.
In fact, there had already been soundings and negotiations about handing over the islands.
Now, however, Thatcher showed toughness – probably out of similar calculations as Galtieri.
She was able to blossom through the war from the highly controversial destroyer of the English welfare state to the undisputedly popular "Iron Lady".
Thatcher was hated by many Britons before the war because of her tax breaks for the upper class and the social cuts.
In Great Britain, among other things, there were workers' protests, against which the police sometimes cracked down.
Thatcher had also promoted the much-criticized privatization of critical infrastructure, including the railways and telecommunications companies.
In the year after the war, Thatcher tripled her Conservative Party's majority in the House of Commons when re-elected - despite three million unemployed, high interest rates and numerous corporate failures.
How is the status quo?
In June 2012, the Falkland Islands announced a referendum on affiliation.
In early January 2013, then-Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner wrote an open letter to then-British Prime Minister David Cameron, demanding that the Falkland Islands be handed over to Argentina.
On March 10th and 11th, 2013, a referendum was held on the future political status of the archipelago.
99.8 percent of residents voted in favor of remaining in Great Britain, only three residents voted against.
However, Kirchner had already announced in advance that he would not accept the result of the referendum.
London stated that the British government would do everything it could to defend the islands.
svs/pat