Dear Editor,
Lately in 2011, in an act of pure defiance, vessels started carrying the Falklands/British flag, and in support of Argentina, all Latin American countries and most of the Caribbean agreed to refuse these ships harbour unless the vessels exchanged the flag, if not necessarily for an Argentinean one, at least for a British flag.
It is understandable that Guyana sympathizes with its mother country, and since the Guyanese people have been exposed mainly to the British side of the story, I wish to outline Argentina’s account for a better understanding of the issue.
Just like our city council got rid of the squatters on Lamaha Canal when it needed the space to run some power lines, Argentina wishes to get rid of the squatters installed on its islands.
Argentina rightly refuses to go to the International Court of Justice, which mainly deals with country limit issues, not with expropriated land, and most certainly refuses to accept the decision of the islanders to choose citizenship, since they were brought to the island by Britain.
Argentina is once again appealing to the United Nations to reinstate ownership of the islands and requests the support of Guyana and the Caricom nations in this quest. It is up to Guyana and the Caricom states, as free countries, to choose righteousness.
It is not possible to tell what the future will bring. It surely did not seem too smart for Guyana to tighten relationships with Venezuela and that country’s controversial President, but yet Guyana and Caricom have benefited tremendously from the PetroCaribe deal and for the last two years Guyana’s rice has been given a preferential market in Venezuela at a far better price than Europe ever paid.
Despite the geographical and linguistic barriers, the cultural, economic and political relationship between Argentina and Guyana has begun to grow, and the commercial exchange is already under way. According to respectable local businessmen who are already dealing with Argentinean companies, the partnership shows good potential.
Brief history: After the discovery, just like the coasts of our country, the Îles Malouine, as they were first named by the French settlers, more or less belonged to anyone who was there – first the French, then the British, then the Spanish, and so on, but after a period of time everyone left. In 1828 Captain Vernet returned and legitimately ruled the islands until January 3, 1833 when Captain James Onslow, of the brig-sloop HMS Clio, arrived at Vernet’s settlement at Port Louis to request that the flag of the United Provinces of the River Plate be replaced with the British one, and for the administration and the civilians to leave the islands. Being overpowered and outnumbered, Vernet and its few inhabitants were forced out of the islands and the new British colonizers established themselves there. So, the squatters proved to be stronger than the right owners and kept possession of the islands until now.
Because the islands are within its continental platform, and because according to Treaty of Tordesillas Argentina earned the right to rule them when it gained independence from Spain. In addition, Argentina had rightful possession of the islands after they were abandoned until in 1833 Britain took them by force. For all these reasons, the Malvinas Islands are Argentinean.
Yours faithfully,
Pierre Boucher
