British Drilling Incites Argentine Anger

The Falkland Islands are an archipelago about 300 miles to the east of Argentina in the Atlantic Ocean. The British have ruled the archipelago since 1833 but in 1982 a crisis there led to the deaths of 649 Argentines and 255 British. In Buenos Aires, the Falklands are called “Islas Malvinas” and the Argentines consider the residents of this place fellow Argentineans. However, the 300 or so residents of the Falklands are committed to British rule.

A British oil and gas company, Desire Petroleum, will start to drill today and it is stirring up bad blood. Desire estimates that the North Falkland Basin could contain 3.5 billion barrels of oil as well as having "significant gas potential." The exploratory drilling is expected to last around 30 days, the spokesman said. Last week, in response to the rumor of British drilling, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner signed a decree requiring all ships navigating from Argentina to the islands to carry a government permit. Argentina claims that the area around the Falklands should be protected for conservancy reasons and because the area is under diplomatic dispute. The British consider the question of the Falklands to be no question at all. It believes that those who live on the Island have a right to British sovereignty and a right to start an oil industry.

In a recent Latin American summit, Argentina protested to other South American and Central American nations to back their claims to the island and to protest against British prospecting. Venezuela and Nicaragua have shown support.