Ernest H. Spencer

“ This however also seems a very unlikely scenario whilst the political establishment in Argentina continues to rely as heavily as they do on the ‘Malvinas election platform’. Clearly politicians are terrified to adopt a conciliatory position for fear of losing votes. This attitude is cherished as a key principal in maintaining the well established myth of a ‘Greater Argentina’ wronged by the world in general, where external factors are blamed for all its economic and political ills, and Great Britain in particular for usurping Argentina’s ‘rights’ in the Falklands. ”

“ Argentina’s failure to recognize the rights of Falkland Islanders to the full measure of self determination, which they similarly claim for themselves, and are granted to Falkland Islanders de facto by United Kingdom law and the Charter of the United Nations goes right to the heart of the weakness of their case. ”

“ It is therefore a fact that in a true historical perspective the Argentine position of claiming sovereignty over the Falklands is untenable in the twenty first century if only for the very reason that the majority of the American states both of the North and South owe their very existence, present borders and formation to violent revolution, the suppression or usurpation of the native populations by European invaders and colonizers over a period of many hundreds of years and sometimes violent competition for the territory to be included within their ultimate framework. ”

“ The islanders, like the majority of their mainland counterparts, are also descended from European settlers of colonial territory. What they claim is no more nor less than equal rights to self-determination. In point of fact the families of some islanders have lived in the Falklands in many cases for more generations than those of their modern Argentine counterparts whose origins as Argentine citizens can be traced firmly back to recent 19th and 20th century European immigration. ”

“ Like all states, which emerge as the result of violent revolution, its present boundaries encompass only such territory as it was able to gather by force or subsequent agreement or which it was able to maintain actual governmental control over. ”

“ Notwithstanding the foregoing, which gives some context to the present claim, I wholeheartedly agree that the most reasonable path of all is to look forward to what the future could hold rather than looking back into the past calling upon historical events, real or imagined, to support a political position. ”

“ This recognition, except perhaps by some residual indigenous groups, is wholly legitimate, subject to the acceptance of the indigenous peoples, because not to do so would place millions of otherwise innocent descendants of the original settlers in the impossible situation of not legitimately belonging to and being deprived of human rights and rights of tenure or self determination in the country of their birth. ”