Wargaming: Argentina Reinvades the Falklands 

The problem with Argentina's desire to 'reclaim' the islands is that they never owned them in the first place! A little history to explain. Before Argentina even became a state, the Falkland Islands were claimed by both England and Spain and it almost led to a war in the 18th century. In seeking recognition by England, the United Provinces of the River Plate sent a representative to London and he published the exact parameters of their state and it did not include the Falkland Islands. By subterfuge, the Province tried to 'acquire' ownership of the Islands by officializing a settlement expedition that had already sought permission from Britain to be on the Islands. Only this expedition failed when they engaged in piracy of American vessels. This caused the US Government to intervene and then the British to send warships. Troops of the River Plate which had landed on the Islands were told to leave and four settlers went with them. The rest of the settlers decided to stay on the Islands under continued British control. The Province protested this both before and after they became the Argentine Republic. However, they signed another treaty with Britain in 1850 which ended all disputes, including the territorial claim on the Islands. Argentina has created this myth that the Islands belonged to them and used it on numerous occasions to whip up national fervor for recapturing something that they claim is theirs because Spain once claimed it. The only problem with this myth is that they never really owned the Islands in the first place. Not even when they invaded in April 1982. The myth restarted when many in Argentina thought that Britain would surrender to the Germans in WW2. They staked their claim in anticipation that the victorious Nazis would give them the islands. The Falkland Islanders are the descendants of the people who stayed on the Islands from the settlement expedition. They comprise a variety of nationalities from all over the world, but now call the Islands their home and claim British citizenship. Argentina has sought to suggest at the UN that they are colonials in someone else's land. Argentina cannot apply to the UN for decolonization because there is no indigenous population for the settlers to be colonials. Under the right of self-determination, the Islanders have stated that they want to be British and told the UN. Argentina lacks the military ability to take the Falkland Islands by force. During peacetime, they've lost a Type 42 and a submarine to maintenance faults and they cannot patrol their own waters from fishing pirates. They are no longer a threat to their neighbors and might not even be able to fend off an invasion. The Argentine economy is all but moribund, which is a pity because of all the newly formed states in South America, the British considered that Argentina had the greatest potential and many Brits settled there. There's been continual political mismanagement of the economy during the later part of the 20th century and the start of this one. Argentina is unlikely to divert funds to the military when they have far more pressing needs. Yet the politicians continue to trot out the claim to the Islands because they gain political kudos when they do, even though they know that they can do nothing to change the Status Quo. The solution is to reconsider a military mission to take the Falkands. Argentina would do far better if they were to take a 'Hearts and Minds' approach. Being a 'Good Neighbor' to the Islanders would be far better than being hostile to them in the military or political arena. If Argentina were willing to trade with the Islanders, provide a hub for goods to be transported to them by sea and air, then over time, they may gain respect. There's a large contingent of Chileans on the Islands and Chile has no claims to them. Yet they are almost as close as the Argentines. The Chileans have become part of the Island's community and there's trade with Chile too. By establishing good relations, Argentina could do far better. You attract more bees with honey than vinegar! There is continued animosity between the Argentines and the Islanders. The small number of Argentines that visit the Islands to see the battlefields and the graves of the fallen also have a habit of leaving graffiti that they will return as they did in 1982. They also plant Argentine flags and vandalize anything British. These criminal actions are dealt with but only continue the distrust of Argentina as a nation. What is needed is a new approach. Children in Argentine schools should be taught the full history of the Islands so they are not 'indoctrinated' to believe that the Falkland Islands were stolen by the British in 1833. The land was claimed by Britain and France (France then gave their part to Spain) when it was empty of people. The current Falkland Islanders have lived peacefully on them except for 1982 and to make up for that mistake, Argentina needs to become such a good neighbor that the Islanders would want to Argentine instead of British. I doubt that the Islanders would change their allegiance though.

Interesting question, but here in Argentina no one (at least no serious policymaker) thinks about recovering the islands by military means. And current president Javier Milei, bent on an ideological and complete alignment with the "free western world", has avoided giving compromising answers on the subject. Current Minister for Foreign Affairs, Diana Mondino, even support the principle of kelpers self determination UK cooperation and she has been really dismissive with the Malvinas cause. Argentinian military capabilities never recovered after the war, hurted by serious defunding, lack of planning and longterm Defense vision.

Considering the unlikelihood of this occurring perhaps time would have been better spent examining another theatre. Maybe Sudan again or Syria?

Thanks

Yeah if this happens i doubt Argentina will still exist in the same form.

The sadness in Tim's voice as he describes how small the Argentinian military is compared to 1982 makes me want to distract him with countries expanding their military.

Clickbaity title, but good info.

dont forget that the south atlantic british island, (which is south of raf accension island), called st helena, (where napolion died) now has a brand new airport, that britian built, on which runway a raf C17 globemaster heavy lift transport aircraft recently was filmed landed on! a big uk investment for the small island, some of whos island people now have found work on the now prosperous falklands islands! why would the uk build runway that if they were not intending to stay in the falklands!

It would have been more interesting to have "refought" the ORIGINAL 1982 Falklands war with the resources both sides had at the time. The Argentines made way more mistakes in 1982 than Britain did.

Thanks