The Madness of President Kirchener

I wish to weigh in on the Falklands dispute currently on going between the United Kingdom and the Argentine Republic, this dispute has been going on for many years now due to the fact that Argentina insist on asserting that the Islands belong to them, a claim supported by rhetoric and much sentiment but not backed by the rules of international law, British claim to the island on the other hand can be fully supported by certain principles as set out in international law including those of “Terra Nullius”, “Uti Possidetis Uris”  and most important of all the Principle of self-determination.

This last principle is most applicable in the modern scenario as it states that the people living in a particular state or territory have the right to decide their destiny for themselves. This is precisely what happened on Monday March 11, 2013 when the people of the Falklands Islands after holding a referendum on the issue decided to remain a British Territory, the other option would be to become a province of Argentina (I found it kind of odd that a third option for full independence was not considered as well) but at the end of the day the people of the Falklands have decided their destiny and as such that should have been the end of the matter.

                    

But unfortunately that is not so as Argentine President Christine Kirchener has maintained that the vote is invalid by claiming that                                                                                                                                        

1.The Falklanders have no right to self-determination in the first place                                                                

2. The Falklands occupation is illegal                                                                                                                             

3. The Islands are adjacent to Argentina and as such belongs to them.                                                             

Looking at it from a sentimentalist anti-colonial point of view one might be tempted to agree with the President but let’s forget sentiment for a while and examine the claims made by Mrs. Kirchener. Argentina asserts that the British settlement in the Falkland is a violation of international law as such they have no right to self-determination, the truth  however is that it is Argentina and not the UK who are the real violators of  international law as set out in both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that all persons have the right to self-determination and to choose their own destiny, by denying that the citizens of the Falklands have that basic right the Kirchener administration have demonstrated that they have no respect for the rule of law.

                      

Argentina’s second claim is also invalid for two reasons. First of all  British claim to the Falklands go all the way back to 1690 when the Islands were first discovered by officers of the Royal Navy, long before Argentina even existed as a state, unlike most other areas in the Americas at the time the Falklands had no indigenous population as such the Brits were the first occupiers of the islands, Argentine claims on the other hand go back to the mid-19^th century when they launched their first invasion of the islands, such claims were short lived as they were expelled from the islands in 1833, the British descended citizens have been living peacefully in the territory ever since that time until now except for the upheaval in 1982 when Argentina again tried to unsuccessful “retake” the islands that were never theirs in the first place.  The Argentine claim that the current Falklanders are descendants of British colonialist are also invalid as the Argentines themselves are descendants of Spanish colonialist who unlike the British wiped out the previous indigenous population in order to gain control that area, how then can they call the Falkland Islands a product of colonialism when Argentina itself is a product of colonialism? If that’s not hypocrisy then I don’t know what is.

President Kirchener’s last claim is just as bogus as the ones made before, anyone following that  faulty line of reasoning   may as well conclude that Alaska belongs to Canada and not to the United States  or that Aruba belongs to Venezuela and not the Netherlands, there is nowhere in international law that states that if one territory is adjacent to another when the larger territory has the right to exercise sovereignty over the smaller one, what counts in this case is not geography  but rather the will of the people.

                   

Still not satisfied with the fact that she is being ignored as many people are starting to see this smokescreen for what is truly is, President Kirchener has gone ahead and enlisted the help of the newly elected pope, who also  happens to be Argentine, quite frankly that will achieve nothing for two reasons

1. The Pope as an Argentine Citizen can hardly be described as neutral and as such is not the best figure arbitrate on such matters

 2. The Crown is under no obligation to the Pope, the Sovereign as head of the Church of England is a religious head in her own right and has no need to fear excommunication or any other action the Vatican may take.

 Most are of the view that Francis will not get involved in the dispute as he already has too much on his plate to deal with, but the very fact that La Senora Presidente would attempt such a move shows who the real colonialist is  this move reeks of 15^th century imperialism  when  the catholic rulers of Europe tried to get the Pope to recognize their claims to the Americas, I wonder if Kircherner expects the pope to draft up a modern day Treaty of Tordesillas for her to sign?. If that what she expects then she should probably brush up on her history, The rulings of the papacy had no effect on protestant nations back then who by and large ignored the papal bulls, what makes her think that time around will be any different?

                           

 Argentina claims to support the rules of democracy and international law yet they refuse the recognize the result of a plebiscite held in a free or fair manner, the President even has the nerve to refer to it as a parody announcing days before the vote was even held that she will not accept any result that is not in her favour, how then can anyone expect Argentina to be objective and unbiased when they have already made up their minds as to what the results should be. Whether Kirchener likes it or not, the people have spoken loud and clear that the Falklanders are British Territory as such The President should stop behaving like a sore loser, accept the results for what it is and move on.