Javier Milei might be a Thatcherite economically, but when it comes to the Falklands he’s about as Thatcherite as a bunch of striking miners. In a speech this week to mark the 43rd anniversary of the Falklands war, Milei announced that he would not only fight for as long as it takes to gain sovereignty over the Islands, but that he would persuade the Islanders that becoming Argentinian was actually in their interests. Yes, really.
‘We hope that the Malvinas people will one day decide to vote with their feet for us’, he proclaimed. ‘That is why we seek to make Argentina such a power that they will prefer to be Argentines and that we will not even need dissuasion or convincing to achieve it.’
Good heavens. Well, I don’t believe Mr Milei has ever been to the Falklands, but if he does go, he will quickly discover that there is more chance of the Islanders drowning themselves in the icy southern Atlantic than agreeing to ‘become Argentines’. Argentina could be the most prosperous country on earth, and the Islanders would still snap back: ‘not in a million years, mate’.
There is only one country I’ve visited where I saw more loathing for a near neighbour. That was Ukraine, whose visceral hatred of Russia became apparent after about five minutes in Kyiv.
Well, it took me no longer than that to discover just how the Falkland Islanders regard Argentina. On my first visit in 2013, I arrived in Stanley on a gorgeous summer’s afternoon in mid-January and, to counter the jet lag, went for a walk around town. Pretty much the first thing I saw was a hand-written sign in a front window saying ‘F… off Argentina’. Granted, these words were blunter than most other Islanders would use. But I was soon in no doubt that the sentiment was shared across the islands.
And it’s not surprising. In 1982, Argentina, then governed by the odious dictator, General Galtieri, who was best known for assassinating people by dropping them out of helicopters, launched a bloody and unprovoked attack on the Falklands to distract from economic chaos at home. The defenceless Islanders were rapidly subjugated, treated disgustingly and shoved about at the end of a gun. At Goose Green, at the south of East Falkland, Argentine soldiers incarcerated a hundred people, including tiny children, in horrific conditions for a whole month.
Of course they didn’t get away with it for long. Margaret Thatcher, hero-worshiped to this day on the Islands, wasted no time in sending a Task Force down to the south Atlantic to boot out the aggressor. It took just a couple of months and the loss of around 900 lives (mostly Argentinian) to secure a fabulous victory. Good had triumphed over evil, and Argentina was utterly humiliated.
All that happened more than four decades ago, and Argentina, of course, wishes to let bygones be bygones. But I can assure them that the people of the Falklands are in no mood to do so. The traumatised children of 1982, who witnessed their peaceful communities being overrun by a violent invading army, are now in positions of power and influence. And everyone, of whatever age, feels as strongly as ever about their right to determine their own future. Which will never be Argentinian.
So, what on earth is Milei thinking? Either he’s out of his mind, having swallowed too much propaganda about his country’s flimsy claim to the ‘Malvinas’. Or, more likely, just as Galtieri did, he’s attempting to curry favour with his own people, distracting them from other problems, while knowing full well that the Falklands will stay British.
Either way, the Islanders won’t take much notice. They are far too busy enjoying the kind of prosperous economy and peaceful community life that Argentina can only dream about. And, in any case, they are quite used to the silly rhetoric and shameless bullying of successive Argentine administrations. Frankly, compared with the awful Cristina de Kirchner, Milei isn’t too bad, even if he is still deluded about the Islands.
Milei has received rave reviews for his economic policies and for dragging his country towards financial stability. He says his aim is to embark on a ‘liberating path’ so that Argentina may be ‘the freest country in the world, once again have the highest GDP per capita in the world, and so that all the citizens of the world may fantasise about the Argentine dream.’
That might be a bit far-fetched, but you can only wish him every success. But his dream will never involve the Falklands. Argentina’s claim to the Islands is built on sand, and my bet is that Milei knows that only too well. Perhaps one day his own people will start recognising it too.
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